The United Nations finalized a landmark treaty earlier this month, moving to eliminate the disastrous threat nuclear weapons pose to the world. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, once ratified, declares that each State party “would never, under any circumstances, develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other explosive devices.”
The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 in favor, with Netherlands voting against and Singapore abstaining. The world’s nine nuclear-armed countries (the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea) completely boycotted the negotiations.
After the vote, the United States, United Kingdom, and France released a joint statement saying they “do not intent to sign, ratify or ever become party to” the treaty, adding that “this initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment.”
“We have to be realistic,” said Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the UN, back in March when treaty talks began. “Is there anyone who thinks that North Korea would ban nuclear weapons?”
While countries possessing nuclear devices argue the weapons help defer destruction, nuclear devices also heighten tensions and prevent cooperative dialogues. It has been 72 years since the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands in each city immediately; tens of thousands more later died from radiation exposure. Since then, the world has engaged in denuclearization talks, but discussions often break down or agreements are broken. The nuclear bomb is a cruel and immoral weapon – one we should not cling to for fear of others.
Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, was overjoyed at the UN’s accomplishments last week. “This is the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons,” she said at the end of the conference. “Nuclear weapons have always been immoral…now they are also illegal.”
The United States, however, rejected the United Nations’ treaty, completely boycotting the conference. Not only this, but President Trump is pushing for a $1 trillion program to modernize U.S. nuclear weapons. This includes building new bombers, submarines, ICBMs, air-launched cruise missiles, and bomb production factories. This allocation of money is a ridiculous use of time and resources, considering the U.S. already spends more on military than the next seven largest military budgets combined.
“The U.S. needs to stop resisting the wisdom of the world,” said Jon Rainwater, executive director of Peace Action, a national grassroots advocacy organization. “Achieving the elimination of nuclear weapons would be one of humankind’s greatest accomplishments. The U.S. must join with all the other nuclear armed states alongside the rest of the world to eliminate these dangerous, obsolete, and immoral weapons once and for all.”
Proponents of the treaty hope this agreement will increase public pressure and worldwide stigma against nuclear weapons, making nuclear-armed nations reconsider their positions over time. This was the course of history with other such weapons of destruction, including chemical weapons, land mines, and cluster bombs. The treaty, which opens for signatures at the UN headquarters in New York on September 20th, will become enforceable 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.
The United States may not be willing to give up their nuclear weapons, but is there really a need to reinforce and modernize them? The United Nations has made a major step towards peace, but the United States is making a mistake by choosing to be left behind.