The Tradition of Non Use of Nuclear Weapon Essay

Introduction

The essay is a critical examination of the major factors that contributed to the non-use of nuclear weapons after they were first used back in 1945 in Japan’s two major cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The attacks were made by the United States of America in trying to make the Japanese surrender.

It is worth noting that the two attacks are the only ones where nuclear weapons were used in war upto date. Prior to this close to 70 cities in Japan were bombed by the U.S. All these attacks were due to failure of the Japan to surrender in Potsdam Declaration on 26 July 1945. ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man’ were dropped to Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively under the direction of the then American President Harry Truman (Hogan, 1996).

It is worth noting that the effects were far beyond human imagination as within the first 2 to 4 months between 90,000 and 166,000 individuals in Hiroshima and between 60,000 and 80,000 in Nagasaki lost their lives. It has been estimated that 50% of these deaths occurred on the first day.

The deaths were attributed to flash and flames, falling debris/objects and other causes. The update of the bombing causalities as at august 2010 reveals that close to 450,000 individuals have so far lost their lives close to 270,000 in Hiroshima and 153,000 in Nagasaki (Pellegrino, 2010).

Despite the fact that the number of those who died is manipulated for political reasons, it is no doubt that the serious negative consequences of the nuclear use are evident. Harry is quoted as saying “It is terrible to order the use of something that …is so terribly destructive beyond anything we have ever had.

You got to understand that this is not a military weapon… it is used to wipe out women and children…” (Paul, 2009: 52). From this statements rest the foundation of nuclear weapon non use tradition.

It is worth noting that since 1945 the concept of non use of nuclear weapons have occupied the minds of scholars, the general public and have remain the most and single important issues in the age of nuclear. The tradition of non use of nuclear weapon begun during the times of Truman and Eisenhower thanks to the reluctance of using such weapons during times of crisis (Paul, 2009).

Factors contributed to the non use of nuclear weapons

Before engaging in addressing the factors that fostered the tradition of non use of nuclear weapons it will be rational to bring to light major characteristics of nuclear detonation. In the strictest sense nuclear bombs usually produce energy that is heavier in millions times as compared to conventional explosions, similarly it produces instantaneously a huge and very hot fireballs, produces electromagnetic pulse which interferes completely with electronic equipment, it also transmits very huge forms of energy (heat and light) within a shorter time resulting to burns as well as causing fires and it produces within the first few seconds a penetrating radiation which are harmful to human health (Pellegrino, 2010).

According to Paul, 2009 nuclear detonations can interfere with communication signals for a longer period of time, produces residual nuclear radiation over a long period of time, produces busts that can destroy underground structures as a result of shock waves and finally it creates air blasts wave that can lead to death especially when this occurs in lower atmosphere. Broadly speaking there are three categories of reasons that prompted the non use of nuclear weapon tradition since 1945. These include strategic/tactical, reputational and moral.

Moral factors

A closer examination of the then president statements is a clear indication that it stems from a moral background probably the Kant’s point of view. The philosopher held that we opt to do good things to the majority and there is no way a bad thing can be justifiable. He called for all human races to engage in activities that will help form a universal law. Moral call us not to do bad things (Tannenwald, 2007).

It is evident that Truman realized this only after giving a go ahead attack. He says that nuclear weapons are not military weapons but a tool to destroy women, children and the innocent civilians. In terms of international law, the use of nuclear weapon results indiscriminate mass murder leaving serious consequences for a very long time.

On the same note the descendants of the survivors of the attack did show genetic abnormalities and opt to be closely monitored. This made them to leave in anxiety for decade. Similarly, the notion that the weapon has no distinction between combatants and civilians, women and children its use is a clear infraction of human right based on international law (Pellegrino, 2010).

It is also worth noting that the need to conserve the environment played another role in contributing to reluctant use of nuclear weapons. As a super power to be by then, U.S had the obligation of showing the world that it deeply cared about the world’s environmental conditions. As held by Paul, 2009 the only way to do this in the most rational way was to stop using such weapons. On top of this majority of countries with such weapons constantly lived in a nuclear security dilemma. This in the views of the two presidents was to be done away with.

Strategic/tactical factors

Although scholars have convincingly argued that this factor was not as strong as the other two, it played some role in bringing about the non use tradition of nuclear weapons. After seeing the consequences of nuclear bombing America was worried of the same with the assumptions that other powerful countries can in the future use to attack her (Sherwin, 2003). For instance the Soviet Union with her foreign policies was restrained with America. The later saw the former through their potential natural aggressive impulses. This can be further seen when Kennedy rejected the approach of massive retaliation towards American enemy and in its place he brought in flexible response strategy (Paul, 2009).

Reputational factors

Another sound factor that contributed to the non use tradition of nuclear weapon is attributed to the country desire to have a good reputation in the eye of the public both locally and internationally. According to the then an official in the Department of Bureau of Far East Affairs Emerson John nuclear weapon is a monster that when used in whatever circumstance will be used to tarnish the country’s reputation.

He was referring to the period where U.S was contemplating to using such a weapon in Korea. He added that it will result to a disastrous loss of confidence from her European counterparts as well as a permanent damage to the moral position of the country (Paul, 2009).

In 1950 the Asian led by the then Indian prime minister were of the view that the west use of nuclear as well as atomic bombing was a clear indication of how the later despised the lives of Asians. This prompted Truman to rethink about coming up with strategies that will later help develop non use of nuclear weapons.

However in the reign of Eisenhower he threatened to use nuclear weapons but in most of the instance, he withdrew in the lasts minutes for instance Taiwan Straits crisis as well as the crisis in Indochina. Dulles who worked under the reign of Eisenhower pointed out that the views and opinions of the public was in full opposition of using nuclear weapons in conflicts seen to be local (Tannenwald, 2007). He added that if the country could continue using the weapon, then it will be seen in the eyes of the public to be a ruthless military power just like Germany was.

Conclusion

From the review of the non use of nuclear weapon since the first and the only such attack back in 1945 in Japan, there are three major categories of factors attributed to the same. These include moral factors, strategic/tactical factors and reputational factors. It is worth noting that both reputational and moral factors were the major contributory factors to the tradition of non use of such weapons.

References

Hogan, M. (1996). Hiroshima in History and Memory. Cambridge University: Cambridge University Press.

Paul, T. (2009). The Tradition of Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Pellegrino, C. (2010). The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back. Henry Holt and Co.

Sherwin, M. (2003). A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and its Legacies. London: Stanford University Press.

Tannenwald, N. (2007). “The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945” Cambridge Studies in International Relations, 1(87): 2-17.