World Politics: ARMS CONTROL - Essay Example

Weapons proliferation program started in 1970s with Sweden, when Sweden terminated its nuclear weapons program. In the 1980s and very early 1990s, Taiwan, South Korea, Ukraine, Argentina, South Africa, and Brazil all under the U.S pressure dismantled their nuclear weapons or long-range missile programs. (Sokolski, 2001, p. 1) Currently U.S is seeking ways to propose a new treaty and according to Herald May18, 2006, "U.S is focusing more on combating nuclear weapons proliferation by producing of weapons grade uranium and plutonium to improve the world's leverage against hard cases like Iran and North Korea".

(Herald, May 18, 2006) The importance of proliferation program has developed over the years the need for strategic weapons. Indeed, preventing such proliferation has been a concern since the advent of nuclear energy. Today the main threat lies with the notion that the spread of just a few strategic weapons would guarantee total victory to any aggressor against even the strongest of nations. Since then, biological and chemical weapons as well as long-range cruise and ballistic missiles have been added to the list.

As with nuclear weapons, the use of even a few of these systems could produce war-winning or victory-denying results against adversaries great or small. Nor are there any truly effective military countermeasures against these systems. One can limit the damage they might inflict by hiding in deep bunkers or donning awkward protective gear, but cannot deploy any countermeasures of neutralizing enemy air defense radars with jammers and the like, as they are not yet available. Proliferation, then, relates to all the issues concerning the spread of such high-leverage strategic weaponry.

(Sokolski, 2001, p. 5) The U.S. Air Force has conducted the Agent Defeat Weapon (ADW) program to develop the capability to destroy, neutralize, immobilize, or deny an adversary access to biological and chemical agents with little or no collateral damage. However, the effort is still in concept exploration. Studies are being performed to identify and evaluate concepts to satisfy the mission need, with the goal of fielding an NBC-specific strike capability. All concepts must comply with relevant arms control treaties.

Analysis tools are being developed to support ADW include agent release models, internal dispersion and venting models, and a lethality model to evaluate inventory and conceptual weapon effectiveness against NBC weapons and associated delivery systems. (Cordesman, 2002, p. 325) 3) Conventional warfare is the kind of war fought between two countries on a conventional basis i.e., using conventional strategies which include high-level explosives. The unique thing about this warfare is that, it is not fought with any biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.

According to Globalsecurity.org, "Conventional warfare involves extended combat, and limits the warfare to military targets". (Security2006a)4) Nuclear Free Zone indicates the ban on possession, carrying, testing and transporting of nuclear weapons. Examples of Nuclear Free Zones are the