What is the ideal feasible level of nuclear disarmament?

Nuclear Disarmament
Nathan Reding, Isaac Spanier, Cameron Wallick, and Alon Wald

Outline:
Moderator (Cameron)
- Move and Introduce Topics
-Select Questions
Introductions: { min}
Cameron: Hello my name is Cameron, today we will be doing our panel on nuclear
disarmament and the different viewpoints on it. I will be moderator for this panel, and also argue
and support the view of partial nuclear disarmament.
Alon: I will be arguing and giving support as well as facts for the case for complete nuclear
disarmament
Isaac: Im Isaac, and I will be arguing and giving support as well as facts for the case against
nuclear disarmament.
Nathan: I will be siding with partial nuclear disarmament with an emphasis of the historical
views of Weapons of Mass Destruction as well as second strike capabilities.
**If time allows ask class for what they think the ideal level should be**
Give In Depth Argument:
Complete Nuclear Disarmament:(Alon) Total {5:00}
-History of nuclear weapons shown in negative light {3:00}
WW2 - Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Soviet Union First Lighting
USA Hydrogen Bomb in Marshall Islands and Bikini Atoll
Soviet Union Tsar Bomba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMYYEsKvHvk
Recent 2006 North Korea nuclear test
-The many dangers of Weapons of Mass Destruction {1:15}
4 Categories of effects of nuclear weapons
Instantaneous, near-immediate, short-term, and long-term
-Reasons why complete nuclear disarmament is possible {0:45}
Ineffective response by countries
Fear and distrust
Killing civilians is not right
Diverts public funds to build nuclear weapons
Long term environmental impact

Any Questions for Alon?

No Nuclear Disarmament: (Isaac) {5:00}

-No one really believes that nuclear weapons are a good solution, but everyone agrees that
nuclear weapons are harmful as Alon explained.
-I am not arguing the proliferation of nuclear weapons (which is the rapid increase of nuclear
warheads which was the case in the 1950s and 1960s.) but rather that the level of nuclear
weapons ensures a stalemate between Russia and the United States thus guaranteeing peace.
-History of nuclear weapons and usage in positive light
The trinity site test of the first nuclear bomb nicknamed Gadget
July 16th 1945 around 6 in the morning
Beginning of the atomic age
Led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
Naive President Harry Truman who had only been in office for less
than 4 months when he gave the order to drop the 15 ton Little Boy Bomb on
Hiroshima
- Cold War Stalemate (Mutual Deterrence)
Mutual Deterrence is the certainty of mutually assured destruction (MAD) for
both sides. This means neither side would fire.
Russia and United States
Chess Stalemate since 1945 (Draw / Mutual Deterrence)
After WWII, USSR and US were the worlds largest superpowers
with differing ideologies. Communist Soviet Union and Capitalistic United States
In the height of the Cold War (FAS - source)
70,000 Total Nuclear Weapons
US - 30,000 Nuclear Weapons
USSR (Russia) - 40,000 Nuclear Weapons
In my opinion, war did not occur, and continues to not occur due to
the Mutual Deterrence and mutually assured destruction between the two largest
nuclear powers.
Current: US - 6,800 Russia - 7,000
93% of the the current nuclear stockpile belongs to the United
States, and Russia
-Trump is in support of Nuclear Disarmament yet unwilling to Disarm
President Donald Trump said I am the first one that would like to see ... nobody
have nukes, but were never going to fall behind any country even if its a friendly
country, were never going to fall behind on nuclear power.
"It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but
if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack,"
Believes that is WMDs are to exist in this world, the United States should be
properly armed to hold Russia to a stalemate.
- At our current situation, it is impossible for the world to disarm nuclearly. Donald Trump and
Vladimir Putin are the worlds leaders in nuclear weapon access, and neither of them will ever
fire. Mutually assured destruction, and a nuclear winter following (Nathan will touch on Nuclear
winter).

Any Questions for Isaac?

Partial Nuclear Disarmament: (Nathan, Cameron)
History of nuclear disarmament (Nathan) {3:10}
---How have we disarmed before
---SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks 1972) {1:00}
-----Diminished each country's defences in order to ensure mutually assured destruction (ABM)
-----reduces the amount of WMD needed to devastate an enemy so less WMDs
-----Mutually assured destruction
---Nuclear winter {2:10}
----- Clouds of soot [like volcano and firestorms]
----- Everyone is affected
----- Can be caused by diverted but detonated blasts
----- Uncertain how many nuclear detonations are needed.
----- Detonations in highly populated and well vegetated areas [opposed to test sites]
----- Cant detonate too many or else the combined atmospheric impact send the entire earth
into winter.
--Next Cameron will be

Current efforts of nuclear disarmament to show how far weve come(Cameron)

---Currently many different treaties or attempts towards nuclear disarmament in place
SALT was an attempted agreement between Russia and the US asking for
limitation of nuclear arms. It was not ratified by US government, however both countries
followed it. Reduced number of nuclear weapons
Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty Between US and Russia in 80s
removed almost 2000 weapons from Europe
Peaceful nuclear explosions treaty prevents explosion of nuclear bombs bigger
than 150 tons
With all these examples it shows that nuclear disarmament is certainly possible,
so saying that no nuclear disarmament is the way to go is completely ridiculous
Trump said I am the first one that would like to see ... nobody have nukes, but
were never going to fall behind any country even if its a friendly country, were never
going to fall behind on nuclear power.
There are efforts being made currently, however the current state of the world
make it difficult to get all countries on board with complete disarmament. The best we
can most likely hope for is partial

Why nuclear disarmament is not completely possible in a modern world (Cameron)

Proposed Question: If its possible to disarm why not go all the way?
---Threats in the world that prevent countries from disarming
Countries like North Korea, India, and Pakistan(conflict with India) may not agree
to disarming based on their political points of view
If all of the big countries with nuclear power completely disarmed that would
leave some countries being potentially the only ones with nuclear weapons.
This would result in other countries perhaps tipping scale on big powers with no
nuclear weapons.
For example China said they would begin nuclear disarmament once the US and
Russia reached their levels of weapons, however many other countries have not agreed
to this.
Israel has not been totally clear with their nuclear capability
 With all these uncertainties and disagreements between nuclear countries it
makes it doubtful that a totally nuclear weapon free world can exist in our time
The best that the world could hope for is at least a lessening of weapons in the
big two powers US and Russia, down to a level equal with everyone else, and see where
we can go from there
Nathan will expand upon and give reasons for the most plausible level of partial
nuclear disarmament

Why is partial nuclear disarmament the most plausible? (Nathan) {2:00}

---1,000 nukes
----- enough that even if 90% of them are destroyed or intercepted the enemy is still attacked
----- 5 times that of the united kingdom [all second strike]
----- Second strike are still traceable
---Second Strike capabilities
----- Not hair triggered
----- Less weapons less mistakes
---Upkeep mandate
----- A war by accident [hair triggers]
----- Explosion in arkansas
----- 6 misplaced nuclear missiles
----- Less WMDs leads to less chance of mistakes
--- Ideal to have less
----- Prominent defender
----- Mutually assured destruction

**Cameron asks for and takes questions**

 Annotated Works Cited

Bennett, Jay. "Here's How Much Deadlier Today's Nukes Are Compared to WWII A-Bombs."Popular
Mechanics. 28 Oct. 2016. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

- This article explains the destructive capabilities of the newer nuclear weapons that
have been developed by both the United States and Russia. It gives statistics for the Little
Boy, Fat Man, and newer developed nuclear weapons including the Tsar Bomba.

"Gorbachev Calls for Nuclear Weapons Treaty." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d.
Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

- This article starts off by talking about how Gorbachev set in motion the
negotiations for the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The article goes on to
explain the pressures that forced both sides to make such an agreement. The initial
treaty included a lot more regulations that did not make it into the final treaty but were
scraped in order to please both sides and move forward towards nuclear disarmament.

Holland, Steve. "Trump Wants to Make Sure U.S. Nuclear Arsenal at 'top of the Pack'."Reuters.
Thomson Reuters, 24 Feb. 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

- Steve Holland reports on Trumps feelings towards the United States Nuclear
Arsenal. Although he wants to disarm he also wants to be the top of the pack, and hold a
prestige in the world as a nuclear world power. This supports the argument that Russia
and the United States will be in a power struggle in the area of Nuclear Weapons.

Keck, Zachary, Daniel McCarthy, Robert E. Kelly, Lawrence J. Korb, and Francesca VanDoorn. "The
Most Dangerous Nuclear Weapon in America's Arsenal." The National Interest. The Center
for the National Interest, 25, July 2015 Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

- This article focused on the United States Nuclear arsenal as of 2015. This article is
very insightful into the capabilities that one of the two largest superpowers has as its
disposal. It outlines the nuclear bombers, submarines and ICBM silos that are ready to
deploy in case of a nuclear war. It also outlines the newest nuclear weapons that America
has in its arsenal .

MacAskill, Ewen. "Is Britain's Nuclear Arsenal Fit for Purpose?" The Guardian. Guardian News
and Media, 27 Jan. 2017. Web. 28 Mar. 2017

- Weapons are not always perfect is a big part of this article. A british sub tested
an american designed missile off the coast of Florida which ended up to be faulty and
went in the wrong direction. This has raised many questions about both countries use of
nuclear missiles and how reliable they are.
Mortimer, Caroline. "US Boycotts 'dangerous' UN Talks on Unilaterally Banning Nuclear
Weapons." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 28 Mar. 2017. Web.
28 Mar. 2017.

- US and other country boycott talks of complete nuclear bans. Highlights

resistance against total nuclear disarmament. DIscusses the gradual disarmament of
nuclear weapons in the past 50 years.

"Nuclear Terrorism." Nuclear Threat Initiative - Ten Years of Building a Safer World.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

- Site shows the statistics on nuclear weapons per country. It also shows the
threats of nuclear weapons with information on treaties, and also information on
challenges to disarming.

Schaff, Marta. "Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)." Strategic Arms Limitation
Talks (SALT), Sept. 2009, p. 1. EBSCOhost,

- This article talks largely on how the U.S. and U.S.S.R. relations on nuclear
weapons came to be. It talks about both SALT I and SALT II and how each country's
advances in nuclear arms affected how the talks worked towards nuclear disarmament.
It includes many ideas that are helpful for understanding how nuclear disarmament has
and can be negotiated.

"Status of World Nuclear Forces." Federation Of American Scientists. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

- The FAS keeps up on the current nuclear stockpiles for the major countries as well
as Cold War nuclear warhead facts. The article contains many graphs depicted the many
nuclear inventories across the globe and how they are deployed.

Taylor, Adam. "Every new British prime minister pens a handwritten 'letter of last
resort' outlining nuclear retaliation." Washington Post, 13 July 2016. Biography in
Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A457862736/BIC1?
u=iastu_main&xid=c655f51. Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.

- Discusses how the United Kingdom has a retaliation plan if the government
wiped out. Shows a different side to mutually assured destruction through the use of
second strike capabilities. We used this greatly when proposing a plan for partial
nuclear disarmament.
"Trinity Test -1945." Atomic Heritage Foundation. Web. 12 Apr. 2017

- This informational webpage about the Trinity Bomb Test served as a great resource
for information on the Gadget bomb. It provides dates, locations and background information
on the development of the first tested nuclear weapon developed from the Manhattan
Project.

World Nuclear Weapon Stockpile." Federation of American Scientists Ploughshares Fund. 27

Feb. 2017.

- This website shows the approximate amount of nuclear weapons that each
country possesses. It shows that Russia and the United States both have around 7,000
nuclear weapons. The next largest supply of nuclear weapons belongs to France with
around 300.