NUCLEAR ABOLITION, A REVERIE
www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=22014
By Fred C. Iklé
Reviewed by Paul H. Carew

Fred C. Iklé, a distinguished scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has had a long and varied career in and out of government: Defense Department official during the presidency of Ronald Reagan; Director for the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1973-1977, and later, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; and member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The author’s argues for the extreme difficulty, if not impossibility, of achieving a world free of nuclear weapons as has been advocated recently by certain American statesmen and strategic experts. Iklé asks: “One might wonder, how can every nuclear state be persuaded to believe in a nuclear-free world? And how can states without atomic weapons – Iran comes to mind – be convinced not to build them?” This is virtually an impossible task as the advocates for zero nuclear weapons simply ignore history, and most especially the lessons learned from previous arms-control proposals. As Iklé notes, “with such a cavalier approach, the idea of a nuclear-weapons-free world becomes a mere reverie.”

In order for any realistic semblance of a nuclear-free world, a super-powerful, if not omnipotent, international organization must be created to implement and enforce a zero nuclear weapons policy. Why? Because rogue nations and repressive dictatorships would do everything within their means to avoid nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, accounting for and controlling all the world’s fissionable material is a near impossibility due to the lack of accurate knowledge of its whereabouts.

The author notes that the huge obstacles to achieving a nuclear free world should not prevent attempts to achieve it. It is a noble cause. Many advocates view the goal as achievable only through world government. Though we have no experience with something as extensive as this, the author feels the European Union is a good model to use. A continent that had been warring since the Middle Ages has now become an integrated community and is governed in many ways through this “supranational” body.