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Est. May 1998 |
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The Status of Nuclear Arms
Although there has been immense international outcry over the recent nuclear tests by Pakistan and India, it is worth putting them into the global and historical perspective, without which a very biased view favoring the Big Five Declared Nuclear Powers emerges. As you can see, the vast imbalance in destructive power is further compounded by the equally immense gulf in the number of tests. As such, any truly lasting solution to the global nuclear problem has to be just, balanced, and without taint of hypocrisy. In the end, only the total elimination of nuclear arms will end the threat once and for all.
Total Global Number of Warheads and Nuclear Tests
(info gathered from BBC and www.envirolink.org/ssues/nuketesting/hew/index.html)
| NATION |
WARHEADS |
TESTS |
RANGE |
|
Russia |
22,500 |
715 |
6,800 miles |
|
U.S.A. |
>12,070 |
>1030 |
8,100 miles |
|
France |
500 |
>200 |
3,300 miles |
|
China |
450 |
45 |
6,800 miles |
|
U.K. |
380 |
45 |
7,500 miles |
|
Israel |
80-150* |
?* |
940 miles |
|
India |
>40 |
6 |
|
|
Pakistan |
>20 |
6 |
|
|
South Africa |
5?* |
1?* |
South Africa announced to a stunned world in 1993 that it had indeed manufactured nuclear weapons, but had destroyed them prior to joining the NPT in 1991. Israel's nuclear program is highly secret.
Graphically depicted, the triangular nuclear standoff across the Himalayas should be one of grave concern for all of South Asia. Moreover, it highlights the need for region-wide solutions to the troubles wracking the various nations.
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"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought in the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty?" - Gandhi |