Causes of the Modern

Nuclear Age

Causes of the Modern Nuclear Age

Tony Evans
Montgomery College

Causes of the Modern

Nuclear Age

Causes of the Modern Nuclear Age

Today several countries have access to nuclear arms, and there are thousands of active
nuclear weapons in those countries. According to Mendelsohn (1999) The three major nuclear
powers, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. (p.1) In our time having
a nuclear weapon is not only a major weapon the strengthen a nations military might, but a
powerful bargaining tool in the international community. Just having a nuclear weapon will give
a country notoriety, and power over countries who do not have access to them. While efforts are
being made to lower the amount of nuclear weapons stockpiled by world superpowers, more
non-nuclear nations are starting to do research in, or are trying to develop nuclear weapons. The
cause of the current state of nuclear weapons in our age can be traced back to the arms race
during the cold war.
After nuclear weapons were first used by the United States against Japan in World War II,
the world saw their immense power. Not having nuclear weapons would mean being defenseless
against those who did. Countries soon began developing their own nuclear weapons to catch up
with the United States. After World War II, growing conflict arose between the United States and
The Soviet Union. Both nations saw the dangers of being bullied by the now growing number of
nuclear weapons, and sought to produce more than the other. The country that had the greatest
number of nuclear weapons would have more leverage and power over other nation. Neither
country wanting to be under threat, they both engaged in a nuclear arms race to produce more
nuclear weapons than the other. This Cold War was the cause of a new nuclear age, where having
more, or as many nuclear weapons as the rival county meant having some security. This strategy
for security is called deterrence.

Causes of the Modern

Nuclear Age

Nuclear deterrence is the idea that both countries have the nuclear capability to
completely destroy one another. In theory if one country ever uses a nuke on the other, that
country will use all of their nukes in retaliation to assure mutual destruction. Therefore, no
country would use nuclear weapons. For it to work though the nations had to have about the
same amount of weapons, although each county wanted to have the upper hand so they tried to
produce more. During the Cold War there was a lot of tension and danger, as both sides were
basically preparing for all out nuclear war. Espionage tactics were used on both sides to try and
get an upper hand, and threat of nuclear war was at an all-time high.
The effect of this conflict caused an enormous number of nuclear weapons to be
produced and vastly improved the destructive capability and efficiency of those weapons.
Nuclear arms took the form of missiles that could be easily transported and set up in staging
locations. At the height of the Cold War the Soviet Union had set up missiles in Cuba ready for
launch at the United States. Luckily a treaty was eventually signed by the U.S. and the Soviet
Union, and no nuclear weapons were ever used. However, the power and importance of having
nuclear weapons was fully realized and countries still needed to have them as means of
deterrence. The era of nuclear deterrence caused by the Cold War conflict has stayed a
worldwide strategy until this day.
Other countries could now see what could happen if they did not have nuclear arms to
defend themselves and as an effect, several countries developed nuclear weapons and created
stockpiles to hold up deterrence. These countries knew what would happen if any weapons were
used, and created them mainly as a power tool and means of defense. The effect of this is that in
modern time around nine countries have nuclear weapons stockpiles. Russia, the United States,

Causes of the Modern

Nuclear Age

France, China, the U.K., Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. After the Cold War, efforts
were made to decrease the number of nuclear weapons in the world, and did achieve some
reduction. Although there are still thousands of nuclear weapons active today as a result of the
arms race. Currently nuclear weapons still grant massive international status and power over
non-nuclear nations. This allure for power then causes previously non-nuclear nations to try to
develop their own. This can be seen recently with North Korea and Iran. This nuclear
proliferation can be a major threat to world peace and is the topic of many concerns and
arguments regarding nuclear weapons today.
If nuclear weapons are allowed to spread, that increases the change of another large scale
nuclear conflict like the Cold War to happen again, and on a possibly much more dangerous
scale. The Cold war was between two experienced countries, that tried to avoid a war. This might
not be the case if a conflict between two emerging nuclear nations were to arise. Another
situation is that if a terrorist organization were to get their hands on a nuclear weapon, deterrence
would not stop them from using it. You could not even retaliate against them with nuclear
weapons because they hide inside a nation that does not support them. In modern time nuclear
weapons are a lot more effective and destructive than they were in the mid to late 1900s. If any
were used now it would be much more severe. This is also said by Nunn, Shultz, Perry, and
Kissinger (2007) North Korea's recent nuclear test and Iran's refusal to stop its program to
enrich uraniumpotentially to weapons gradehighlight the fact that the world is now on the
precipice of a new and dangerous nuclear era. (p.1) The effect of these possible scenarios is
why world superpowers with nuclear stockpiles are trying to stop nuclear proliferation. Treaties
have been made to agree on not creating more nuclear weapons, and to reduce the amount the
world already has. Although some countries have already ignored their obligations and produced

Causes of the Modern

Nuclear Age

nuclear weapons anyway. If this trend continues then the world could be plunged into a future
nuclear conflict, one that is much more severe and could end badly.
The effect of seeing counties developing their own nuclear weapons in turn creates the
desire for even more countries to develop them. No one wants to be the underdog in a power
struggle with such destructive weapons, and with such a powerful tool to be used as leverage
over another nation. Some would say that the effort to stop nuclear proliferation is meaningless,
and will not work. This opinion is show by Marcus and Langewiesche (2010) Proliferation
cannot be stopped, all the more so since the Cold War is over. (p.1) He also says that the
political power that nuclear weapons give to the nations that have them is too valuable to not
have. Countries will aspire to be as powerful as the world superpowers, and developing nuclear
weapons could arguably be a smart and effective move to get there. If this were to happen, and
most countries would have nuclear weapons, the threat of one being used would be greatly
increased. With nuclear proliferation, comes greater risk of nuclear attacks or war. That kind of
instability is something that current nuclear superpowers would not want to have. This causes the
effect of military action to be used against countries trying to develop nuclear weapons. This can
be seen by the military forces and operations in Iran. This can also be shown in an article by U.S.
Department of Defense (2014) To date, the international community has made progress toward
achieving a global "lock down" of nuclear weapons, materials, and associated technology, but
much more work needs to be done. (p.1) When more countries develop nuclear weapons in
secret, the need for more military action is also needed.
Recent efforts by countries, such as North Korea and Iran, to develop nuclear weapons
cannot be allowed to get out of hand. If let be, more and more countries will develop their own

Causes of the Modern

Nuclear Age

nuclear weapons until a point comes where it will be almost impossible to get rid of them. The
effect of this is that there is now a great need for more active effort being made towards nuclear
disarmament. This can only start with world leaders of powerful nuclear nations. They have all
the power is this situation, but this might not be the case if the matter is left to linger. This need
for change can cause these nations to further reduce their nuclear stockpiles in order to gain the
trust from non-nuclear nations. If powerful nations tell less powerful countries to not develop
nuclear weapons, as they themselves develop them, then those less powerful countries are likely
to not trust them. Although if powerful nuclear nations lead by example and set a path for others
to fallow, then it can be an effective strategy for denuclearization. A vigilant eye is now needed
to be kept to always try and stop proliferation before the weapons are developed.
The height of the Cold War saw massive developments in nuclear weapons across the
world. This caused a new nuclear age where weapons were produced too keep up the strategy of
mutually assured destruction (deterrence) in any of them are used. The need to protects ones
nation with against nuclear weapons with the strategy of deterrence cause nuclear proliferation in
more and more countries. Nuclear weapons then also represented high status in the international
community and granted their country great power. This spread then in turn caused more efforts to
be made to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and the reduction of currently active nuclear
weapons. This is now where we are in our time, making efforts to get rid of nuclear weapons,
while at the same time doing so in a very slow way. This way leaves the door open for nuclear
proliferation to continue, and the need for more effective denuclearization strategies is still
required.

Causes of the Modern

Nuclear Age

References
Hughes, G. P. (2014). America Should Not Reduce Its Nuclear Arsenal. In D. Haugen (Ed.),
Opposing Viewpoints. War. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from U.S. News &
World Report, 2012, April 23)
Marcus, J., & Langewiesche, W. (2010). The Threat of Nuclear Proliferation Is Exaggerated. In
R. Espejo (Ed.), At Issue. What Is Humanity's Greatest Challenge? Detroit: Greenhaven
Press. (Reprinted from Going Nuclear: William Langewiesche on The Atomic Bazaar,
NewsQuake, 2007)
Mendelsohn[b], P. J. (1999). HISTORY AND EVALUATION OF THE ROLE OF NUCLEAR
WEAPONS IN THE COLD WAR[*]. Case Western Reserve Journal Of International
Law, 31(3), 609.
Nunn, S., Shultz, G. P., Kissinger, H. A., & Perry, W. J. (2009). The United States Should
Aggressively Promote Nuclear Disarmament. In L. I. Gerdes (Ed.), At Issue. Nuclear
Weapons. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from A World Free of Nuclear Weapons:
Ending the Threat of Nuclear Arms, Wall Street Journal, p. A15, 2007, January 4)
US Department of Defense. (2014). America Must Reduce Its Nuclear Arsenal and Guarantee
Limits on the Use of Nuclear Force. In D. Haugen (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. War.
Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Nuclear Posture Review Report, 2010)