Everyone Is Going Nuclear

Diplomacy, Failing for Sixty Years to Stop Proliferation.

Through skilled diplomacy and unilateral disarmament, we are told by those now in power, we will have a nuclear free world.

We have been conditioned to imagine the movie scene now. With a bit of the right music and lighting, perhaps a moral crisis involving a playing child, his little dog and a sad balloon, a dictator that rose to power in a combination of guns and butchery, torture and deceipt, suddenly, decides to become a wise old man. Over a drink and a handshake, with his well spoken western counterpart, he has a few laughs, and says, "Hey, let's just be friends and get rid of all of these terrible weapons and love each other instead."

Cue the laughs. ( Put away the hankerchiefs, my liberal friends! )

History is not quite so like the movies. Previous Presidents have been wholly unable to persuade the Soviet Union, France, China, India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan to abandon the bomb. Had diplomacy been so effective, perhaps Truman might have talked Stalin out of developing the atomic bomb and we could have avoided the Cold War.

We are not so easily convinced the world agrees that being nuclear free is a good thing.

The Peaceful Advantages of Nuclear Technology

The military rationale for going nuclear is well known. But, what if other nations do seek nuclear technology for entirely peaceful purposes? The West, driven by a culture of environmentalism and safety at any price, might automatically assume that no use of nuclear power is worth it. Others in a multilateral world may not be so inclined to agree.

There are many peaceful uses of nuclear power, and the West, in fact, researched and developed some, before abandoning nearly all of them. Quite frankly, the peaceful uses of nuclear power, from fission to nuclear bombs, might well outweigh even the military advantages. A society built on the peaceful use of nuclear technology in all of its areas would be so far beyond what the West is today as to make the possiblity of a confrontation with the West seem quaint.

	Power Citizens of the West might contemplate a future of sweaters and handmade fans, but perhaps other nations might enjoy year round heating and air conditioning. Have you ever been outside in Iraq or Iran? Of course, nuclear power isn't just about electricity. With the world in a continual water crisis, the West might choose rationing, but does every nation have to choose it? Some nations might prefer nuclear desalination.
	Terraforming Why spend billions of dollars trying to cut through a mountain, when you can just nuke it? No doubt there are laughs among westerners, particularly green types. But what if other nations do not laugh? The USA researched this, but abandoned it. Other nations do not have to make that choice.
	Transporation The West might choose to limit its transportation options, but does every nation? Why have ships and trains and airplanes that gobble fuel, when you can build nuclear powered ships, nuclear powered trains, and nuclear powered aircraft, that could ply the seas, roam the rails, and stay aloft for years at a time? The West might think of bringing back sails, but other nations might well think about something a bit more modern.
	Space The future of man is in the stars. The West spends a fortune trying to make spacecraft as light as possible, using ever more exotic materials, and at most can achieve sending a ship the size of a bathroom on a two year, one way trip to Mars. Other nations might elect to build an Orion type spacecraft of the type once researched by the USA, and haul literally container ship sized cargoes to other planets in weeks. The West might choose to ignore space, but does every nation?

The Future of the West - A Windmill Driven Backwater

In time other nations can and will sieze the advantages of nuclear power. The West will choose to remain a fossil and windmill driven area and gradually turn itself into a backwater as compared to nuclear states. We might worry that other nations might want to risk an all out nuclear war with the USA and her allies for religious purposes, but they won't need to. If instead, other nations develop nuclear electrical generation, nuclear powered transportion, nuclear desalination, and perhaps even nuclear spacecraft, they won't need to fire a shot to destroy the West. The West, living in fear of all things nuclear, will have defeated itself.