Word: nuclearism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Consider that during the first 25 years of the nuclear age, five countries tested nuclear weapons. In the 29 years since, two, India and Pakistan, have joined the list. Knowledge about how to build nuclear arms has spread, but far fewer nations than we once predicted are acting on that knowledge...
...answer is that global standards do matter. Over the years, nations have increasingly embraced the view that it is unnecessary and dangerous to develop nuclear weapons...
This view has given birth to a framework of legally binding agreements, including nearly universal participation in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Of course, neither law nor world opinion can compel nations to act against their own best interests. But most countries find it in their interests to operate within the law and be perceived as doing...
...else, for example, did South Africa, Brazil and Argentina abandon their nuclear-weapons programs; or Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine return nuclear weapons to Russia after gaining independence; or China decide to sign the CTBT; or India and Pakistan agree, in principle, to do the same...
Obviously, agreements do not erase the need for a powerful military deterrent, but they do establish rules that increase the chance that our deterrent will succeed in preventing war. They complicate efforts by potential adversaries to develop and build nuclear weapons. They provide for wide-ranging verification systems that complement our own monitoring capabilities. And they make it more likely that others will join us in a common response against those who break the rules...