NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Impact of Nuclear Weapons during Cold War

Impact of Nuclear Weapons during Cold War

Introduction

The nuclear age began with the bombing of Hiroshima which changed the dynamics of world politics. In response, the Soviet Union rapidly developed its nuclear weapons which made United States susceptible to a shattering destruction. In the midst of the tense years of Cold war it was widely communicated that if a nuclear war breaks no state could be declared as a winner and it would not be less than a mutual suicide. Did nuclear weapons result in a cold war (Holloway, 2010, p. 376)? Were the weapons of mass destruction used to keep the cold war indirect and peaceful? It is important to explore the answers of these questions to know whether the nuclear weapons were the reason of cold war or just a byproduct of the indirect conflict war.

Many researchers have formed an opinion that the nuclear weapons were a discovery during the cold war. In reality, these weapons originated during the Second World War when the three countries; Soviet Union, United States and Britain decided to create an atomic bomb in 1943. United States was the first country to bring into play the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 (Holloway, 2010, p. 376). However, after 1945 a state of cold war started as the authorities in Soviet Union regarded this as an anti-Soviet move as this gave superiority to the United States against the communist.

Discussion

Deterrence

It was the nuclear weapons which differentiated between the past political rivalries and defined a new relationship between the two oppositions. In 1954, during the cold war, there were eight countries having nuclear power (United National Security Council Members United States, China, USSR, France and Great Britain; as well as the undeclared nations Israel, India and South Africa). These countries followed the rule of deterrence (Gray & Walton, 2007, pp. 210), which was established to prevent any collision between the two super powers.

The concept of deterrence existed during the cold war; however, this was not well taken by the neoconservatives in the U.S who were of the opinion that the primary objective for U.S is defying any attack from USSR. The allies of the super powers were under threat from the opposition of the other super power (Gray & Walton, 2007, p. 212). This meant that each super power was in a state of taking hostile action towards the allies of the other super power. The MAD (mutual assured destruction) was an integral concept which forced the leaders of the powers to adopt a far-sighted approach to avoid a mutual suicide .

Korean War

The Korean War during 50s confirmed the readiness of the military forces to contain the communism. The North Korean communist decided to take over non-communist South Korea through force while President Truman of U.S ordered ground troops to stop the invasion. However, the United Nation body played an important role during this war by preventing the invasion of and sending the enemy army back to ...