Topic Guide
2012 MAMUN Conference
Topic I: Taking Measures towards the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Introduction:
Since their invention, nuclear weapons have reprented one of the biggest threats to international peace and curity. This type of weaponry posss an incredibly destructive power capable of wipin
给姐姐的生日祝福语g out entire cities and destroying the lives of millions of people. The Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change’s Report;“A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility” states that the “u of nuclear weapons, by accident or design, risks human casualties and economic dislocation on a catastrophic scale. Stopping the proliferation of such weapons - and their potential u, by either State or non-State actors – must remain an urgent priority for collective curity.” The international community has been largely preoccupied with the issue of nuclear proliferation and has undertaken veral different actions to try to address this problem. However, this has not always been an easy task. Approximately 26,000 nuclear weapons still exist in today’s world in at least nine different countries, many of
which still refu to cooperate towards total nuclear disarmament. One of the biggest problems is the fact that the mere existence of the weapons pos a huge danger to humankind. This is why working toward total elimination of nuclear weapons is so important. Nuclear disarmament is one of the biggest challenges of today’s global reality.
Background:教育读书心得
故人西辞黄鹤楼全诗Nuclear weapons have existed since around the times of the Second World War. It was during the ten times that the United States, suspecting a nuclear program in
Background Guide
MAMUN 2012
Nazi-occupied Germany, developed the first atomic bomb in cooperation with the United Kingdom and Canada in a top-cret project that is now known as the Manhattan Project.
The first testing ever of a nuclear bomb was carried out in 1945 in the New Mexico dert by the US government as a result of the Manhattan Project. That same year, the world saw for the first time the devastating effects of the nuclear bomb. The first and only bombings of actual human populations were carried out by the US government over the Japane cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Hiroshima alone, approximately 75,000 were willed at the moment of the explosion. In total, nearly 220,000 people were killed that year as a result of both bombings whether on impact or soon after the actual bombing.
After witnessing the enormously devastating effects of nuclear weapons, the international community concerned itlf with trying to create mechanisms, which would prevent the atrocities from ever occurring again. International efforts to try to monitor and combat nuclear weapons go as far back as 1946, shortly after the end of World War II and the creation of the United Nations. However, the ini
龟兔赛跑读后感tial efforts to monitor the nuclear capabilities of various
countries around the world were not very successful, since the Cold War took the global community in the opposite direction of nuclear disarmament.
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The grave political and ideological differences between countries during the period
known as the Cold War led to a huge ri in the numbers of both existing nuclear
weapons and countries that possd them. After the USSR tested its first atomic
bomb in 1949, the USSR and the United States engaged in a heated arms race in an
attempt to acquire as many nuclear weapons as possible. Other countries such as the
United Kingdom and France started developing nuclear capabilities as well until they eventually acquired actual nuclear bombs. China and Israel soon followed the lead and
also developed nuclear weapons, while many other countries started to develop nuclear capacity as well. Furthermore, nuclear technology was also refined. More powerful bombs were developed and n
ew ways of delivering them emerged. The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 is perhaps the climax of this story toward full nuclear development. Today it is regarded by many experts and historians as the clost mankind has ever been to a nuclear war. After the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, the United States retaliated with vere threats of u of nuclear force. Thankfully, through skilled diplomacy, the crisis was averted and new and stronger international efforts to rid the world of the nuclear threat appeared in 1968 with the creation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Possible Solutions:
As history demonstrates, a nuclear war could very well signify the end of the world as we know it, due to the huge destructive capacities of atomic bombs. This is why the international community has undertaken various efforts to achieve the goal of total elimination of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, not every effort has been successful. With some initiatives more
effective than others, it is important to know and understand what has been done so far to determine the proper starting point for new and fresh ideas. Perhaps the most important international effort toward complete nuclear disarmament today is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, also known as NPT. Opened for ratification in 1968, the NPT is the culmination of veral years of trying to create a
binding document that would make nuclear non-proliferation an international norm and that would create binding commitments for different countries to either not develop nuclear capabilities or destroy any nuclear weapons currently in their power. The basic structure of the NPT considers two different groups of countries with different ts of obligations. On one hand, the nuclear-weapon States, which under the NPT are China, Russia, the UK, USA and France, commit themlves not to transfer nuclear weapons to non-nuclear-weapon States or help them develop nuclear weapons. On the other hand, non-nuclear-weapon States commit not to develop nuclear weapons under any circumstances. Unfortunately, to this day, the NPT has not been very successful. Examples of this are India, Pakistan and North Korea who despite being considered non-nuclear-weapon States still developed nuclear programs and have successfully acquired nuclear weapons today.
Another important aspect of the NPT I that even though it aims to stop the
expansion of nuclear weapons, it does not condemn all us of nuclear technology. The
NPT recognizes the importance of peaceful us of nuclear energy and thus creates a
system allowing for cooperation among countries to develop nuclear technology for
peaceful purpos and at the same time make sure that the technologies are not ud
to create weapons. This system, known as the safeguards system, calls upon the
International Atomic Energy Agency to help monitor the nuclear programs of countries in order to make sure that they comply with international standards.
Equally important but nowhere near as effective is the Comprehensive Nuclear广州长隆海洋王国
个体工商户办理Test-Ban Treaty, another international effort to try to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, or CTBT, aims at forbidding countries from practicing nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions. Unfortunately, the CTBT has not yet entered into force since there are veral countries that are required to sign and ratify it before it can be considered binding. Without the cooperation of the countries that have not ratified the treaty, it will remain a uless document.
脸色发黄
While international efforts have failed, regional ones have been slightly more effective. To this day, there are veral Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones, or NWFZs, that have been created by regional treaties in which, in almost every ca, groups of neighboring countries commit themlves to not develop or posss nuclear weapons in a given part of the world. The treaties of Tlatelolco, Rarotonga, Bangkok, Pelindaba and Semipalatinsk, respectively, created Nuclear-Weapon Free Zon
es in Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Africa and Central Asia. Additionally, three treaties exist in which the entire international community has agreed to not develop or store nuclear weapons in certain places, the being: the Sea-Bed and Ocean Floor, the uninhabited continent of Antarctica, and Outer Space. Finally, Mongolia unilaterally declared itlf a Nuclear-Weapon-Free State in 1992.
With the first of the NWFZ Treaties signed in 1967 (the Treaty of Tlatelolco) the development and expansion of NWFZ throughout the world has been very successful. This can make us believe that becau comprehensive international efforts are hard to undertake, regional and smaller-scale initiatives can be a better approach. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, for example, has been advocating for the creation of a NWFZ in the Middle East. Identifying potential NWFZs and negotiating their establishment could eventually lead to a world free of
