Blog Response: Nuclear War

War has consistently evolved throughout time, and it continues to do so. Especially in our day and age, war tactics have become so advanced, that their use can be extremely destructive. I read a blog post by “The Architect”, which talks about nuclear war and the restraints that America should enforce.

Nuclear weapons are a relatively new thing in our world’s history and it’s important for society to analyze the risks posed by going nuclear. When Barrack Obama was in presidency, he vowed to reduce the use of nuclear weapons, but with the shift in America’s political climate, the future is unknown. Trump’s presidency has expanded the circumstances where nuclear weapons may be used first. This spans from cyber attacks on government networks to sub marines and bombers. On top of that, he has ordered the construction low yield war heads. These are known to be equal to half of Hiroshima, and many fear that these weapons will be more likely to be used.

The debate is whether or not America should be allowed to use nuclear weapons first in situation of conflict. With Trump in power, it has become even more of a conversation due to his reckless decisions. He has recently made off putting threats to North Korea that has many feeling nervous due to his impulsive nature.

Historically, American presidents have reserved the right to use nuclear weapons even when the enemy hasn’t unleashed them first. This has been the normal protocol since Harry Truman was in political reign. While that has been typical for the US government, Elizabeth Warren wants to change that.

Warren is a democratic presidential contender, and she wants to make big waves when it comes to America’s nuclear war protocols. She introduced a Senate bill that would mandate a policy known as No First Use, or for short, NFU. While this issue sounds very beneficial to our society, it is definitely not new. Many other countries have adapted this same kind of policy decades ago, such as China, India, and the Soviet Union. If this policy passed, it would reverse over seven decades of America’s nuclear mindset.

Nuclear war has become a serious reality for our world. The mass destruction that one decision can have is hard to wrap your head around. Our world’s political climate has added to the fear around nuclear war, because everything has become so volatile. A policy like No First Use would be such a great thing for not only America but every other country as well. If every country took a stand to not use nuclear weapons, the overall use and destruction caused would drastically decrease. Nuclear war can be a difficult situation to navigate, but we are slowly stepping into the right direction.