The Simplest Lesson Learnt by Children—to be Very Cautious While Dealing with Most Dangerous Objects—is Ignored Today by World Leaders | Bharat Dogra

There is a strong case for arguing that the number of nuclear weapons at world level should have never been allowed to increase to three digits, let alone four or five digits. In fact it would have been much better to find ways of stopping any accumulation of nuclear weapons at a very early stage, either even before Hiroshima or else soon after this. At the most a stock of about fifty or so nuclear weapons ( at the most) could have been kept under the authorization of the United Nations to deter any rogue elements from acquiring these or any another equally dangerous weapons.

This was not to be, and in a world where the greatest preoccupation has been with great power rivalry and the unending quest for dominance, it is not surprising that the world now has about 13,000 nuclear weapons, enough to destroy the world and most forms of its life many times over. There is something inherently and basically irrational about having weapons which if used can destroy us all at a fraction of their total destructive power, but such lack of rationality has ceased to bother the world’s leaders even in its most destructive forms.

If huge accumulation of such enormously destructive weapons has been allowed, at least the greatest cautions for ensuring that their destructive potential never gets unleashed can be observed. One caution is that those not having nuclear weapons should not be pushed into positions where they feel that only by acquiring nuclear weapons they can protect themselves. Secondly, a lot of caution should be observed to ensure that wars between nuclear weapon countries in particular are avoided (while of course the wider effort should be to minimize possibility of any war). Thirdly, the maximum caution should be exercised to ensure that those with the largest number of such weapons should never come even close to a war. Russia and USA together have around 11,000 nuclear weapons, and if they ever use only 5% of their weapons, this world with all its life will be gone. Fourthly, there should be several agreements and treaties to minimize the possibilities of actual use of nuclear weapons. Fifthly, the best expertise should be utilized to ensure that the possibilities of accidents involving nuclear weapons or possibilities of accidental and unintentional use of any nuclear weapons based on misunderstandings or technical flaws can be minimized, if not eliminated.

The reality is that all these cautions have been neglected to a shocking extent, and the world-level record in all these contexts has been worsening in shocking ways, certainly not getting any better. While all nuclear weapon countries share a part of the blame, the worst record has been that of the USA and NATO which have been indulging in very dangerous brinkmanship, increasing the possibilities of direct confrontation with Russia. The UNO has been a helpless spectator, in fact often seen to be closer to those who increase the dangers.

Similarly, the efforts to increase the use of AI in weapons or to move towards space warfare have been repeatedly condemned by leading experts as being extremely risky for all life forms but these have gone ahead nevertheless at a brisk pace and now there is a race among big powers for this too, just as there has been a race for nuclear weapons and other most dangerous weapons.

In addition the great risk of biological warfare still remains despite the apparent ban on biological weapons and it is feared that apart from any secretive research several civilian research projects, including gain of function ones, are being used to advance this objective by at least some countries. While this is very dangerous by itself, in addition there is the possibility of very dangerous release of those biological agents which have been genetically engineered to be much more harmful than the organisms which exist in nature.

‘Highly dangerous—handle with care’—this simplest of all instructions is being ignored by the world’s leaders in the context of the most destructive weapons and organisms. What is more, such neglect is being routinized. Arguably, the discussion that takes place on the latest movie stars is a multiple of several times compared to the discourse on these most important safety issues. A clear majority of the world’s people busy in daily tasks as well as amusements seldom think about these issues.

However the ultimate responsibility for such neglect of the most important safety and survival issues is that of the world’s top leaders who must further accept the responsibility of aggravating the dangers under their watch. The most serious responsibility of neglect and aggravation lies with USA/ NATO leadership, particularly in very recent times.

Only a much stronger peace movement, with special emphasis on disarmament and biosafety, and more responsible UN leadership can provide some hope for reducing these very serious threats in the near future, helped by some of the top professionals and scientists in the related fields.

(Author: Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children, A Day in 2071 and Man over Machine)