LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #665, Tuesday, (06/18/2024)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
Image source: Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Tuesday, (06/18/2024)
Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing, the writer of this article, is an author and a humanitarian after my own heart. Her words, warnings, and their meanings fit my own views of present day-to-day human life perfectly well. Her recognition of our long-lost curiosity and attention to the maniacal world around us in favor of inattention and ignorance — sleepwalking, as she calls it — a society unaware or concerned about critical human issues, such as ‘all things nuclear’ that has the nuclear power to destroy human and most all other life on planet Earth in a matter of days.
What I doubt about her correctional conclusion of hope, though, that I am certain will never happen. Her book, "Building a World Federation: The Key to Solving Our Global Crises" was written nearly a decade ago, and, as might have been expected — even by her — the ‘global crises’ have only grown considerably greater. Although she pointed out that human nuclear agreements have never worked before, meaning that a world-wide agreement of world leaders to subjectively, humanitarianly, socially, and judicially save us from exterminating ourselves will never happen without an uprising and unification by the masses of us around the world demanding our world leaders step down along with their greed and egotistical world-dominating agendas, or an unlikely other-worldly unknown intervention from above and beyond our normal human mindset(s). What are the odds of that happening? ~llaw
Are We Sleepwalking Our Way Into a Nuclear War?
Written by Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing
Jun 18, 2024
The threat of nuclear war is at the highest level it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. However, there is a crucial difference: in 1962, most of us were alert to the threat and its existential nature. Today, by contrast, many of us are oblivious to our history or have simply forgotten it, which poses a huge danger: that of sleepwalking our way into a nuclear war with catastrophic consequences for our country and all of humanity.
This danger is exacerbated by three factors.
The first is the proliferation of nuclear arms and the renewed interest on the part of non-nuclear weapons states to acquire nuclear weapons. The war in Gaza has stirred fears that Iran will race for the bomb and join the nuclear weapons’ club. There are good reasons for such a fear: Recent reports quote the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as saying that Iran is now enriching uranium up to 60 percent, considerably more than the 3.67% permitted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The IAEA also believes Iran already possesses enough fissile material to make three nuclear weapons. Moreover, the breakout time (the time required to produce enough fissile material at the 90 percent concentration needed for nuclear weapons, not taking into account the time needed to build a deliverable nuclear warhead) is now zero. The fact that the Iran has prevented the IAEA, the world’s nuclear watchdog, from properly monitoring its nuclear activities since early 2021 only exacerbates these concerns. Added to all this are Iran’s own threats that she will reconsider her nuclear stance if her nuclear facilities are threatened.
These fears have a potentially cascading effect: they are likely to spur other countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to seek nuclear capabilities of their own starting with civilian capabilities. Indeed, Saudi Prince Mohammad has already stated that were Iran to build nuclear weapons, Saudi would follow suit. Alas, the more nuclear weapons the world has, the greater the chance they will be used intentionally or accidentally.
A similar scenario is playing out further afield in Asia where China’s assertion of territorial claims to disputed islands in the South China Seas like the Paracels and Spratlys and their adjacent waters rich in reserves of natural resources and its claims to the islands of Senkaku/Diaoyu in the East China Sea, coupled with China’s stated desire to absorb Taiwan, are making other countries in the region fearful of China’s power. Japan and South Korea are particularly nervous, especially given the nuclear threat from North Korea. Their fears have been exacerbated by America’s uneven support of Ukraine in the face of Russian territorial aggression. Even though the United States is bound by a trilateral cooperation agreement to defend Japan and the Republic of Korea under its nuclear umbrella they are worried that the support they have been promised may not be forthcoming. These factors taken together are leading both countries to float the idea of acquiring their own nuclear weapons.
The second factor exacerbating the threat of nuclear war is that the guardrails in the form of a treaty regime so painstakingly crafted by the international community designed to reduce the number of nuclear weapons have been crumbling. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty collapsed in 2019. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is defunct; and while the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START Treaty) — the last Treaty governing nuclear weapons between the U.S. and Russia– is theoretically in effect until 2026, Russia has suspended its participation in the Treaty and has allegedly not complied with her obligations under it since 2023.
The third factor enhancing the threat of nuclear war is the escalating rhetoric of countries like Russia. In early May of this year, Russia sent a clear warning that its arsenal of nuclear weapons was always in a state of combat readiness and announced that it would be holding military drills with troops based near Ukraine to prepare for the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons. This was Russia’s most explicit threat to date that it might use such weapons in Ukraine.
The combination of these three factors should serve to wake us up to the reality facing us before it’s too late. We can no longer afford to be complacent about the dangers of nuclear war, especially as we know, from past experience, that conflicts can escalate rapidly, spin beyond our control and lead to unintended consequences. It’s time we stopped and considered the price humanity would have to pay if we had even a “limited” nuclear war – limited geographically or in time. Experts suggest that using even one percent of our nuclear weapons would have a severe impact on the world’s climate, leading to a nuclear winter and a global famine in which 2 billion people―a quarter of the world’s population―would be at risk of starvation. These are unacceptable costs. Are we really willing to pay them?
As we stand on the precipice of unprecedented horror and untold suffering, we have a choice to make: we can continue our self-destructive dive into the abyss or work assiduously as a community of nations to build a global system of collective security that will ensure global peace and security. Such a system should be grounded in collectively agreed-upon international rules which are enforced even-handedly against any nation that threatens the peace using an international standing force that acts at the behest of, and in service to, the international community.
About Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing
Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing is the founder and director of The Center for Peace and Global Governance (cpgg.org), a virtual think tank and online forum that pools and proposes principled solutions to pressing global problems through publications, podcasts, lectures, workshops and targeted consulting. Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing is an international lawyer turned independent scholar who writes and lectures in the area of collective security and global governance. She is the author of five books including "Collective Security Within Reach" (2008) with a foreword written by an Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. It offers concrete recommendations for action by world leaders, national and international, to solve some of the pressing global problems of our time including the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the equitable distribution of energy resources, terrorism and the international use of force. In 2015 her book "Building a World Federation: The Key to Solving Our Global Crises" was published.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Tuesday, (06/18/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Nuclear powers are deepening their reliance on their nukes, a watchdog group says - TPR
The Public's Radio
Russia and the United States have together almost 90% of all nuclear weapons, SIPRI said. ... All Things Considered. Listen Live | 89.3. Listen Live | ...
Nuclear powers are deepening their reliance on their nukes, a watchdog group says
KUOW
Russia and the United States have together almost 90% of all nuclear weapons, SIPRI said. ... All Things Considered. 3:00 PM PDT. Today, Explained. 6:00 ...
US Department of Energy says spent nuclear fuel could remain in Vernon until 2046
Vermont Public
All Things Gardening · Brave Little State · Homegoings · But Why · The ... Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel Federal Nuclear Waste Policy ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Senate poised to send bill boosting nuclear power to Biden's desk - The Hill
The Hill
“America can and should be a leader when it comes to deploying nuclear energy technologies, and this bipartisan legislation puts us on a path to ...
DOE Announces $900 Million to Accelerate the Deployment of Next-Generation Light-Water ...
Department of Energy
Anticipated Funding Aims to Promote Advanced Reactor Orderbook and Prepare Domestic Nuclear Industry for Deployments.
DOE floats $900M to build advanced reactors - E&E News by POLITICO
E&E News
Money from the Biden administration comes as Congress prepares to bolster the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Coalition orders snap party room meeting, sparking speculation Peter Dutton could ... - ABC
ABC
... nuclear power policy. Coalition members were alerted to the meeting on ... Australia's newest warship breaks down, undergoing emergency mechanical ...
Labor, Green, and Health Groups Demand FEMA Recognize Climate Emergency
Common Dreams
nuclear power · white storks in nest · 'Momentous Day for Nature': EU Adopts First-of-Its-Kind Habitat Restoration Law. One campaigner called the ...
Nuclear War
NEWS
Nuclear powers are deepening their reliance on their nukes, a watchdog group says - NPR
NPR
"We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War," said Wilfred Wan, director of the ...
Countries Spent $91 Billion on Nukes. Here's why | Vantage with Palki Sharma - YouTube
YouTube
Countries Spent $91 Billion on Nukes. Here's why | Vantage with Palki Sharma Is the world on the brink of a nuclear war again?
Ukraine war latest: Huge explosion reported in Russian city - as Putin 'sacks four defence ministers'
Sky News
A total of 78 nations call for the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end Russia's two-year war.
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Nuclear Threats on the Rise as Geopolitical Relations Deteriorate - IDN-InDepthNews
IDN-InDepthNews
In the ongoing war in Ukraine, the on-again, off-again nuclear threats have come from Russia and in the conflict in Gaza, the threats have come both ...
NATO escalates nuclear tensions with Russia - ICAN
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
... nuclear threats, the NATO Secretary General is flaunting a nuclear response. ... Daily Mail: Putin warns West of nuclear war risk · AboutBanning Nuclear ...
Are We Sleepwalking Our Way Into a Nuclear War? | Citizens for Global Solutions
Citizens for Global Solutions
Added to all this are Iran's own threats that she will reconsider her nuclear stance if her nuclear facilities are threatened. These fears have a ...