The administration of President Joe Biden could mean be a rebirth of the idea of security through arms control, providing we blaze the right trail.
In their first exchange, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Biden agreed to extend the New START Treaty, a major arch in our relationship with Russia. This decision could build a momentum for arms control, maybe.
Unfortunately, the nuclear arms race is likely to continue. All states that possess nuclear weapons have refused to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Nuclear armed states often advocate a phased drawdown of nuclear weapons and critique TPNW states because they favor the sudden abolition of nuclear weapons. The ideals of the TPNW are unlikely to be a reality right now due to this infighting.
Arms control advocates support a return to the JCPOA, a positive development. However, the U.S.’s rejection of the TPNW will weaken our arms control agenda in the future. The way forward on this issue would be for our country, using its vast reservoir of power, to bring the TPNW and non-TPNW states together to work toward a framework for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Establishment figures have joined the movement to end nuclear arms, as Former Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), former Secretary of Defense William Perry, and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger have all voiced support for the end of nuclear arms on the world stage. The recently deceased Secretary of State George Schultz also endorsed nuclear abolition in the latter part of his life.
Some defend the possession of nuclear arms under the doctrine of mutually assured destruction, or the idea that nuclear-armed countries will not go to war with one another because of a realization that if the war reached a nuclear phase, it would bring great destruction. This might be true, to a certain extent. However, nuclear arms – like any technology – are subject to human error and human error could lead to a mistakenly fired nuclear weapon and a retaliation on the part of the country initially struck by the nuclear weapon.
Although few recognize it when their lives are being impacted by Covid-19 and economic recession, the geopolitical tensions that define our current world have military ramifications – a world littered with more arms! Nuclear arms often grab media attention, but there are enough conventional arms to do a lot of damage should war break out. In addition, space – the final frontier – is being militarized. Cyberattacks, artificial intelligence, and autonomous weapons systems all represent a security threat. The confrontation between China, Russia, and their allies, and the United States and its allies could become deadly.
For years, our country, and other countries, have made attempts at setting international norms of behavior through various treaties and international bodies like the League of Nations (we didn’t’ enter) and the United Nations. Since the founding of the U.N., we have avoided something on the scale of World War II. However, it is hard to argue for the U.N.’s success with the organization’s ineffectiveness on so many problems (nuclear arms, conventional war, greenhouse effect).
A revamped U.N., or successor organization, could help in the creation of a world that would make a Renaissance thinker like Hugo Grotius happy, one defined by law and not anarchy. If our country could lead such a charge, the U.S. would gain stature around the world as a blanket of security from nuclear war and other dangerous arms!
Jason Sibert is Executive Director of the Peace Economy Project.