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Show Hinckley Journal of Politics Spring 2000 American Foreign Policy towards Nuclear Disarmament, 1945-1999 By Taylor C. Parkin The dawning of the age of nuclear weapons brought major new types of reliance systems for national security, and also put humanity's survival at risk. This essay examines the evolution of U,S. policy toward testing of nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament, during the Cold War and in the years since it ended. It discusses major treaties and other agreements intended to discourage the spread of nuclear weapons among nations, to restrict testing, and to bring actual reductions of nuclear stockpiles. It explores strategic choices and the complex, often competing considerations involved. Introduction The international theater is one of great turmoil, frequent conflict, and eventually the compromise or the demise of civilization. The nuclear age ushered in the first possible option for absolute extinction of humanity, the nuclear warhead. The past fifty years have seen the fruits of that invention's labor. The nuclear warhead has become not only the premier armament of the 20th century, but also the guarantor of the international system. This essay outlines United States foreign policy towards nuclear weapons and their disarmament. This paper constitutes an effort to recap the past stages and fluctuations of the U.S. foreign policy position and explores the future options America has for the upcoming millennium. Will the world decrease its nuclear capacity? The answer has appeared to be yes, but is that really what is happening? What are the up-and-coming goals of the United States on this subject and what strategies for disarmament will it pursue? First, this essay discusses the coming of the nuclear age with the detonation of the first atomic bomb by the United States. It reviews the germane treaties, bilateral, unilateral, and multilateral. Therein it discusses the different policy changes the United States made in order to enter into these treaties, and examines reasons why United States policy became the stockpiling of nuclear weapons for security. Following a focus on Cold War disarmament the essay then discusses the pertinent disarmament treaties and agree- Tayhr C. Parkin is pursuing bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Economics, and a Certificate in International Relations at the University of Utah. He served as a Hinckley intern in the White House, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs during the Winter of 1999. He wishes to thank his parents as well as his past professors in Model United Nations and his current International Relations professors at the University of Utah. ments that began the actual depletion of nuclear weapons. These agreements began the disarmament process as we view it today. Should the United States disarm at a more rapid rate than its adversaries? Will this place it in a vulnerable position from a national security standpoint? Or because it is the only superpower left should it initiate these reforms? All of these questions are important ones that the United States has attempted to answer in the past decade. These answers though expensive and security threatening are the foundation upon which the upcoming foreign policy on disarmament will be based. This foundation set the stage for United States foreign policy in two key scenarios: (1) the Iraqi nuclear situation, and (2) the nuclear detonations in both Pakistan and India. Both of these scenarios are good examples of the United States' current position on nuclear weapons in both direct conflicts (the United States and NATO are directly involved in Iraq), and also indirect conflicts (the United States is economically affected by the nuclear situation in southeast Asia due to the possibility of regional conflict). These are not the only reasons that the United States has an interest in these areas. The world's stabilization is in jeopardy if other nations are engaged in constructing nuclear weapons while those who already possess them are trying to dismantle them. It is a cycle of the possibility of mass destruction that must be contained, and it is the United States' current goal to stop that cycle. Finally, this essay discusses the various options and strategies the United States has at its disposal, to deal with both up-and-coming nations that want to become nuclear states-as defined by the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT)-as well as the eventual complete nuclear disarmament of the current nuclear states. All of these strategies involve predictions based upon precedents and the United States' representative policy positions. 55 |