Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
by Martin Kalinowski
Book review by Matthias Englert
The publication Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is based on a conference INESAP held from 8 to 10 September 1997 at Fudan University, Shanghai. As the title promises, the book contains 26 articles, most of them updated to 1999, arguing the case for a nuclear weapons free world.
It would be easy to think of the book as a relic of the last millennium, analysing the nuclear strategies of a world that has changed greatly since then. But these changes in international policy only underscore the need for constructive thinking and argument for the global elimination of nuclear weapons.
Moreover, because most of the 'new' developments either are not as new as they seem, or haven't changed the fundamental problems presented by nuclear arsenals and proliferation, the papers in this volume remain relevant.
The prospects for the implementation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention, discussed in Chapter One, may seem dismal in light of the current North Korea nuclear impasse and clear statements from the Pentagon regarding their very long-range plans for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. But who knows! Sometimes history changes very fast. The articles in Chapter One provide information and arguments on issues relevant to a possible Nuclear Weapons Convention, ranging from the application of humanitarian law to nuclear weapons and the 1996 World Court decision on the legal status of nuclear weapons, to ethics and verification issues.
Chapter Two deals with possible steps towards nuclear disarmament such as de-alerting, ending exterritorial deployment, and the possibilities for various types of bilateral and multilateral negotiations. The fact that most of these steps have been thwarted in the years since these articles were written shows the necessity for a vigorous movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Many of the arguments in Chapter Three, "Tendencies Against Abolition," consist of predictions that have unfortunately been proven correct. The image of the future was dark then, and hasn't improved in the last four years, quite the contrary!
The final two chapters, on the other hand, provide no end of good ideas for nuclear disarmament, such as an agreement for a cut-off in the production of fissile materials and a reduction of materials stockpiles proposed in Chapter Four "Cutting off at source and tail."
Chapter Five of Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons ends with five articles concerning the possibility of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East. It is important when discussing the path to global elimination of nuclear weapons to take the particular security constellations of all the regions and the legitimate interests of all countries into consideration. The papers also discuss cooperative monitoring and verification as a step towards a Middle East NWFZ.
Here again, the idea seems very good and rational, but overwhelmed by the reality of an American army invading and occupying Iraq, claiming that they had "proven evidence" of Weapons of Mass Destruction stocks there. What lessons will the other countries in the region, in turn, learn from this lesson – and from this teacher? This last chapter too demonstrates the contrast between the possibilities and practical steps for a nuclear weapon free world that an interdisciplinary analysis could generate, and the reality we face four years later.
This contrast, however, doesn't make the book a relic not worth the reading. On the contrary, it provides a wealth of information and good ideas one still can learn from. Further, by reflecting on the difference between the prospects for disarmament that still seemed realistic in the late 1990's and the obstacles we face today, one can try to discover new possibilities and new arguments. And still of course, one must shake one's head at the absurdity of events since 1999.
Nomos, Verlagsgesellschaft 2000, 278 pages, ISBN 3-7890-6594-3
