War is a pattern in history and has been shown since the beginning of human existence. The desire to be the best and the most powerful can be shown in every species. Humans have built the most powerful and unbelievable weapons. Every new invention of weaponry is more incredible and more dominant than the previous one. Most people think of the nuclear bomb as the most dangerous weapon known to man. The U.S. is said to have enough operational nuclear weapons to destroy itself four times over. Only 16,000 of the Tzar Bombas, created by the Soviet Union, which is the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created, could completely annihilate the Earth. Yet, many nations around the world still want to create the biggest and baddest nuclear weapon. The nuclear arms race is an ongoing competition between foreign powers to develop and advance nuclear instruments and other atomic weapons in order to be the most powerful and feared state. Weapons are a way to establish one's hegemony in the world. As new nations acquired nuclear weapons, a new era of military warfare and new …show more content…
The PTBT prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space, underwater or in the atmosphere. It was signed by representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain, in Moscow, Russia on August 5, 1963. The NPT is an “international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.” (“Treaty on the Non-Proliferation”). Yet, there is still a threat between all the countries and an examination on the amount of warheads in each country. (see appendix
This book talks about when the United States almost started a full nuclear war because of a few soviet missiles flew into the states allegedly. They flew B-47s and B-52s as air fleets for 40 years of this international problem between the Soviet Union and the United States. In the year 1945 America ended World War 2, as the head nuclear power in the world. Even though the U.S. was the nuclear power, they did not have any nuclear bombs. The whole point of this “cold war” was to maintain a peace among uneasy times, which did not work.
“It is perfectly obvious that when nations compete to increase their military might, the danger of war becomes greater, not lesser” (Doc. 5). This quote was said by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev during the Cold War. Much of the Cold War resulted from the United States and the Soviet Union competing to build a nuclear bomb, which is what Khrushchev is referring to. However, to understand the Cold War, it is important to first understand what it was in definitive terms. The Cold War was a forty five year long struggle between the United States and Union, the world’s superpowers of the time.
Throughout the years of 1945 and 1991, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were involved in what is today is identified as the Cold War. During this dark time many lived in fear due to the newest weapon that would be used in war, nuclear weapons. These weapons caused fear throughout the whole world because of their capability to kill thousands with just one. Today many debate over the abolition of nuclear weapons in the United States. Some argue that the U.S. should abolish nuclear weapons, while others say nuclear weapons should not be abolished in the United States.
From a meeting of President Eisenhower’s National Security Council, a conclusion was reached, “…we could not permit ourselves to be panicked by the Soviet Achievement [Sputnik]” (Document 3). The launch of the Sputnik only encouraged Americans to accomplish more scientific breakthroughs—before the Soviets. Before the release of the Sputnik, President Truman had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Shortly after, the Soviets had detonated their first atomic bomb in the late 1940s. Since the U.S. and the Soviets had both achieved a level of destruction through the atomic bomb they became engaged in an “arms race.”
Another incredible scientific advancement of the 1950s was the invention of the hydrogen bomb in 1952. The bomb’s unfathomable power was colossal as the bomb “weighed 65 tons and yielded 10.4 megatons of TNT, the unimaginable equivalent of 1,000 atomic bombs” (Falk 1). This was a massive and terrifying watershed in human history. For the first time, humans had the means with which to annihilate most of the life on Earth, including themselves. This development was not independent of international politics however, as the Soviet Union had created their own hydrogen bomb by 1953 which greatly accelerated the arms race between the US and the USSR.
Using spies in the Manhattan project, the Soviets were successful in replicating a nuclear bomb. They were determined that the US would not have an advantage over them if a war breaks out. In 1949, word got out that the Soviet Union had successfully tested an atom bomb in Kazakhstan. The soviets were suddenly equally as powerful as the United States was and would make a formable opponent if a war followed. The tensions rose when the US started increasing the power of these bombs to defend themselves.
On August 6, 1945 the United States ordered to drop a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, a city in Japan. The bomb instantly killed between 70,000 and 80,000 people but due to the radiation more people suffered death after the attack. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima was known as “Little Boy” which was the first atomic bomb created. The plane that had dropped the bomb was known as the Enola Gay a B-29 bomber flown by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets. On August 9, 1945 the second nuclear bomb was dropped by the US on Nagasaki.
The Atomic Age After WWII when America dropped the atomic bomb on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American officials had encouraged the development of atomic weapons. This will soon lead into the deadly “arms race” of atomic weapons. The Soviet Union will later test an atomic bomb of their own. With this taking place president Truman will give out a response that America will develop a hydrogen bomb or “super bomb.” The results of this will turn into a perilously high stakes when two of the most powerful nations were willing to play nuclear football.
In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.
My argument is that I am for the decision of the atomic bomb drop on Japan. The atomic bomb save millions of American lives that stop them from doing D-Day-style on Japanese homeland and islands. These island invasion cost a lot of American casualties, and the Japanese soldiers are willing and very determine fight to the death. They see suicide as an honorable alternative to surrender. The whole population of Japan are willing to die to fight the Americans, if the U.S. didn’t dropped the bomb on Japan, then the war will dragged on and the Americans will lose a lot of casualties and Japan will lose almost all the population.
The art of fear is essential in nuclear deterrence. Using the film Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964) I will argue that nuclear deterrence is hard to achieve when communication of nuclear capabilities is not well established amongst states. In this paper, I will use the film Dr. Strangelove (1964) to argue how theories such as deterrence theory, realist theory, security dilemma, preventative war, pre-emptive war as well as relative gains and zero sum game led to a failure to achieve nuclear deterrence between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. To make my argument on how more nuclear weapons may hinder deterrence, this essay will proceed as follows; I will firstly discuss the how nuclear deterrence and mutually
It sounds a little far-fetched but this was during The Cold War; nuclear tension was at an all-time high between the world’s most powerful
The nuclear arms race was central to the Cold War and I believe that it is still significant because counties continue spending enormous amounts of money on nuclear weapon development and have disagreements over nuclear weapon testing. Because of the fact that the Cold War was in the 20th century and that the Cold War included world super powers, it was easy to find sources to answer my research question as it was well documented. This made answering my research question easy as well as the
“Nuclear power will help provide the electricity that our growing economy needs without increasing emissions. This is truly an environmentally responsible source of energy.” Michael Burgess Prior to the introduction of nuclear energy, fossil fuel was thought to be the only available source in producing energy. Although fossil fuel, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas, contains high energy value, it produces too many harmful byproducts that ultimately pollute our environment. With the rising concerns over global warming as more and more greenhouse gases accumulate in our Earth’s atmosphere, many voice such opinions that new alternative, yet sustainable method must be adopted to produce energy.
If nuclear weapons were ever used again it could wipe out all of humanity. The United States created the first nuclear weapon in 1945, and with those nuclear weapons they bombed two Japanese cities called Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nuclear Weapons should be banned, Countries should not have weapons that could wipe out the civilization. Nuclear weapons pose a direct threat to everyone. They cause distrust among nations and they are useless in addressing any of today 's real security threats.