Nuclear Disarmament in International LawWhen German physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman first split the uranium atom in 1938, they might have little imagined the potential power their experiments had unleashed. Since the United States successfully detonated the first atomic weapons in 1945, the entire world has lived in fear of annihilation. Technological advances in weaponry and, importantly, their delivery systems have only heightened the sense of dread. Yet, since the end of World War II, world governments have been unable to agree on a strategy for nuclear disarmament. This led first to the Cold War and ultimately to the proliferation of nuclear weapons throughout the world.
This work examines the nuclear question within the framework of international law. The advent of the nuclear age and its impact on postwar peace and law is first covered. This is followed by analyses of the initial United Nations disarmament initiatives and the reasons they were doomed from the start. The globalization of the Cold War, the expansion of the nuclear arms race, and the START treaties and the legacy of 1970s-era detente efforts in the years leading up to the end of the Cold War are then detailed. How the United Nations reacted to the end of the Cold War and the prospects for disarmament in the 21st century are the subjects of the concluding section. |
Contents
| 7 | |
| 10 | |
| 15 | |
Escalation of the Nuclear Arms Race and the Detente Legal Process 19631975 | 24 |
United Nations Nuclear Disarmament Legal Initiatives and the Development of the United Nations Law of Regional and Global Nuclear Weapons No... | 33 |
Continuation of the Superpowers Nuclear Arms Race and Their Arms Control and Disarmament Legal Process 19761985 | 52 |
United Nations Nuclear Disarmament Efforts and the Expansion of the United Nations Law of Arms Control and Regional Nuclear Weapon Nonproli... | 57 |
The End of the Cold War the End of the Soviet Union and the Beginning of Superpower Nuclear Disarmament 19861997 The INF and START Trea... | 85 |
The End of the Cold War the United Nations and GlobalNuclear Disarmament 19861997 | 127 |
Concluding Remarks and an Analysis of Future Prospects | 172 |
Notes | 179 |
| 209 | |
| 219 | |
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Common terms and phrases
ABM Treaty acquire nuclear weapons adopted agreed agreement American analysis armaments Arms Control Reporter Article Assembly atomic bomb ballistic missiles Cold Cold War compliance comprehensive nuclear disarmament conclusion contracting parties convention CTBT denuclearization deployment destruction détente elimination ensure entered into force establishment further global and comprehensive global nuclear disarmament Gorbachev IAEA Ibid ICBMS India INF missile INF Treaty international law international legal Korea launchers legal objective legal obligation legal process legal regime ment military missile systems Moon Treaty negotiations non-nuclear weapon NTM of verification nuclear arms race nuclear arsenals nuclear forces nuclear material nuclear superpowers nuclear warheads nuclear weapon tests on-site inspections outer space peaceful post-Cold prevent prohibited proliferation of nuclear proposed Protocol provides Rarotonga Treaty reduction rule of international Russia safeguards Singh and McWhinney SLBMS South Pacific Soviet Union START II strategic nuclear weapons threat tion Treaty of Tlatelolco U.S.-Russian U.S.-Soviet United Nations zone
Bibliographic information
| Title | Nuclear Disarmament in International Law |
| Author | Haralambos Athanasopulos |
| Publisher | McFarland, 2000 |
| ISBN | 0786451009, 9780786451005 |
| Length | 237 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Military / General Social Science / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |