Mentatul

Tag: nuclear-weapon

  • The “No First Use” Nuclear Weapons Policy

    The “No First Use” Nuclear Weapons Policy

    The title says it clearly enough. A “no first use” pledge might work much better than threats if we want to advert a nuclear war with, for example, North Korea. Given the size of the country’s army, even a conventional weapons conflict would have devastating consequences on the Korean peninsula. But a “no first use” pledge would probably prevent that as well, since it could include something like “no state will use nuclear weapons as long as its territorial integrity is preserved”. Here’s an article that describes all this in more detail:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/10/16/if-trump-wants-to-prevent-nuclear-war-with-north-korea-a-no-first-use-pledge-might-work-better-than-threats^

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  • North Korea Open Sources Nuclear Weapons Program, Goes KickStarter

    North Korea Open Sources Nuclear Weapons Program, Goes KickStarter

    The Internet is abuzz following the news that North Korea has Open Sourced its nuclear weapons program. General Nuk Yu of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the person behind a new GitHub account that has uploaded ballistic missile and nuclear warhead designs. The readme.md file of the repository says:

    “We are setting nuclear weapons free. No longer will imperialistic superpowers hold countries hostage with technological superiority. Now, any country on Earth can take up arms against these imperialistic superpowers.”

    The repository also contains a how-to guide to avoiding United Nations sanctions, a list of countries and regimes willing to work together towards an Open Nuclear Stockpile and a manifesto about ensuring world peace through mutually assured destruction.

    Furthermore, General Nuk Yu and his staff have launched a KickStarter campaign seeking several billion dollars towards constructing a ballistic missile capable of deterring the USA’s THAAD system^. Apparently the North Korean missile will contain smaller missiles that can shoot down THAAD’s interceptors, essentially rendering the USA vulnerable to nuclear attack.

    We reached out to North Korea’s embassy in Sweden who had the following statement for us: “We believe that mutually assured destruction is an important deterrent for nuclear war and that the United States has broken the rules with their THAAD system. We are simply trying to even the odds and ask all peace lovers on Earth to unite and help us.”

    North Korea & KickStarter - A Match Made in Heaven
    North Korea & KickStarter – A Match Made in Heaven

    As any KickStarter campaign, project Nuke Skywalker has several interesting rewards:

    • Pledge 1$: knowledge that you contributed towards world freedom.
    • Pledge 20$: your name will be added inside all of the missiles’ CMOS memory, to go up in a ball of fire in case of nuclear war (plus all of the above rewards).
    • Pledge 300$: signed poster with Kim Jung Un and General Nuk Yu (plus all of the above rewards).
    • Pledge 4.000$: your name will be etched on the inside of the ballistic missiles (limited quantity!) (plus all of the above rewards).
    • Pledge 50.000$: your name will be hand-painted (in gold) on the outside of the ballistic missiles (limited quantity) (plus all of the above rewards).
    • Pledge 600.000$: personal call with general Nuk Yu on the topic of “world peace” (plus all of the above rewards).
    • Pledge 7.000.000$: lifetime tickets for you and a companion to a North Korean Century Vault (a nuclear fallout bunker equipped for survival through a potential nuclear winter) (limited quantity) (plus all of the above rewards).
    • Pledge 987.654.321$: luxury apartment for 6 inside a North Korean Century Vault (limited quantity) (plus all of the above rewards).

     

     

     

    This text has been published in the “Satire” category for a good reason.

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  • Kazakhstan vs North Korea

    Kazakhstan vs North Korea

    Some time ago, I came about this interesting article, which compares the two countries. It’s an interesting point of view that shows how Kazakhstan managed to prosper after giving up its nuclear arsenal whereas North Korea is in economic ruin:

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/22/north-korea-and-kazakhstan-a-study-in-nuclear-cont/^

    But for all their differences, unfortunately, there are many parallels that can be drawn between the two countries. I’d congratulate Kazakhstan if I didn’t know that the country is ruled by an authoritarian government that has a rather poor human rights record. It’s a far cry from North Korea but still…

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  • Amid Souring Relations, Russia Pulls out of Nuclear Treaty

    Amid Souring Relations, Russia Pulls out of Nuclear Treaty

    During the past few weeks and months, there have been some worrying rumblings among the world’s superpowers. We’ve witnessed a serious degradation of relations between Russia and the USA, while China is slowly but surely pursuing its own agenda.

    Part of a process of rebalancing itself in the planetary power-play, Russia has recently been involved in military exercises^ together with China. This sends a clear message that the Eurasian superpowers are waking up to the fact that they share more points in common than just the massive landmass they occupy. These military drills were held in the contested waters of the South China Sea. There, the USA has been involved in arbitration between other claimant nation-states. But the balance is quickly shifting^, even as Philippines’ human rights violator^ and political wildcard Rodrigo Duterte cares little about the meddling of far-away USA^ in regional matters.

    Last week, Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan held a joint press conference announcing a revival in economic collaboration^. Turkey has the second largest army in NATO. Rarely have I seen so much rebalancing of powers in the space of just a few months.

    From its side, the USA is launching all sorts of diplomatic efforts in an attempt to contain Russia. The first step was to halt collaboration on Syria^ (as marginal and ineffective as it was). Next, the US together with its close allies^ threatened to drag Russia to an international court for war crimes^ (as if Americans hadn’t blown up hospitals and ruined enough countries in the past).

    What should worry us most though, is the stench of atomic war that started to make itself felt. A few weeks ago Russia pulled out of an important agreement aimed at lowering the nuclear weapons stockpile of the two superpowers:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/world/europe/russia-plutonium-nuclear-treaty.html?_r=0

    It may be tempting to condemn Russia as a warmonger, but actually, at least one of its motivations for quitting the agreement is quite reasonable. The USA hasn’t kept its end of the bargain. Instead of totally disposing of its plutonium by using it in power plants, the US is considering stashing it at a nuclear waste disposal location. Granted, the Americans have helped Russia get rid of quite a bit of plutonium through the years. So, as always, the situation isn’t black or white but rather a gloomy shade of gray.

    This is not the first time^ in recent memory when Russia has brought its nuclear arsenal into the spotlight. However, it’s quite repugnant that they stooped so low as to allow TV anchors^ to spew crude nuclear propaganda into the minds of their viewers; that’s the sort of antics one would expect from North Korea. Sadly, I feel like Russia might have been pushed in this direction by what it perceives as continued advances into its sphere of influence by NATO^.

    Here’s another enlightening synthesis regarding Russian-American relations:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/us-russia-relations-trump-syria-2016-10?r=US&IR=T&IR=T^

    All in all, what’s happening is quite sad. You’d expect more from the 21st century than superpowers squabbling over petty differences while covertly (or not) fueling the destruction of Syria and many other developing countries (Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and the list can go on). Insatiable greed is a sign that a species hasn’t yet made peace with the barbaric traits of its survival instinct.

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