NUCLEAR ARSENALS THAN AND NOW.

 

By K P Paswan.

Before WW2, Otto Hahn split up atoms, Open Heimer enriched the Uranium and Edward Taylor manufactured Hydrogen bomb in US. Hitler also tried his best to manufacture Nukes and for this legendary physicist Werner Heisenberg tried to enrich Uranium imported from Belgium. Heisenberg is the scientist who propounded the Uncertainty principles which goes beyond the theory of Relativity and puts question mark on the necessity of a creator of the universe. Einstein was alarmed and did not accept Uncertainty Principles and declared that “I don’t think that GOD plays dice”

US came to know the sinister design of Hitler and the secret agency was ordered to eliminate the Nobel Laureate Heisenberg. It is still a mystery why the founder of the Quantum physics failed to achieve the Critical mass while enriching the Uranium which have enabled Hitler to play havoc in the war-torn Europe, the killers found the great scientist but he was not assassinated. US manufactured Nukes. One of the US technologists passed the necessary technological information to a Russian scientist and Soviet Russia also manufactured Nukes.

Igor Kurchatov and Alexanders Sakharov were scientists behind splendid progress of modern Russia in manufacturing powerful nukes. Sakharov was responsible for the development of Hydrogen bomb and the might of Communists empire in nuclear arsenals worried US and the west feared the world slipping away from the grip of Western power. On 31^st December 1961 Soviet Russia succeeded in exploding the most powerful therm o nuclear weapon named as RDS 220 or popularly known as TSAR BOMBA. This nuclear weapon was detonated at Novaya Zemlya in Severn island (Arctic). Blinded by Tsar Bomba, Nikita Khrushchev, the strong man of Soviet Russia tried to encircle US by deploying missiles and deadly weapons in Cuba. Khrushchev also threatened to bury the west, but this threat by Khrushchev is open for debate.  For the first time US and USSR were facing each other but firm decisions taken by Kennedy forced Soviet Russia a humiliating retreat.

During the presidency of Eisenhower US invested heavily in developing tactical nuclear weapon which are designed to deploy in a war fighting situation on the battle field rather than on long range ballistic missiles aimed at the capital of other nations. In 1950 US developed W 25 the smallest nuclear weapon. It is presumed that Russia has also manufactured small nuclear weapon and may use if Putin think that Russia is losing the competition with the mighty nation on the earth but this is just a speculation in a bipolar politics.

 RDS 220 Tsar Bomba led US to accelerate the manufacture the equally powerful nukes and with outstanding nuclear technology, USSR dream to rule the world gradually faded away. Cold war was playing havoc and hardliner Communists in Moscow failed to boost internal economy. In fact, except in nuclear and exploration of outer space USSR lagged behind West in other technological advance and this weakened the Communist ideology

Now it appears that Russia is far ahead in the development of advanced nuclear technology and can challenge the might of a mighty US, But the facts are otherwise. We often hear about UFO and the arrival of aliens in a place in US named as Area 51.The news about arrival of Aliens is perhaps the most ugliest joke. For the last forty years American spacecraft VOYAGER is roaming in outer space and has crossed the foundry of the solar system. Biological human beings cannot cover million of light years to reach the planet Earth, only gadgets with artificial intelligence can roam aimlessly in the vast space and such type of Alien spacecraft can easily intercept VOYAGER,   but no Alien space craft with artificial intelligence has intercepted the American space craft. Fact of the matter is that Area 51 is being used to manufacture advanced  defense mechanism to foil the attempt of enemy to use nuclear weapons against US. Both Russia and China are aware of the developments. Russia has refused to recognized  India, China, France, UK, Pakistan and N Korea as the nuclear power. At the same time Putin has made it clear that since US was already a Superpower, there was no need for Russia to become another Superpower.

So the safety of human civilization is in the hands of US and Russia. All others so called Nuclear powers can bark but cannot bite. So  even in remote future there is not even scant hope that US and Russia confront with each other.It will be an apocalyptic confrontation and there will be no Armageddon.

 Mutual Agreed Destruction are unofficial understanding between US and Russia and if it is real than it is an open  invitation to cloud the civilization with fear of elimination.

Both US and Russia have a clear doctrine setting out the conditions  under which nuclear weapons could be used. And that is wholly reassuring. The mutually agreed doctrine include the options to use nuclear weapons if either US or Russia face existential threat. Defeat of either US or Russia in a battle with another country like Iraq, Vietnam or Afghanistan might be embarrassing for the US but  would not be an existential threat. Fact of the matter is that US won the ground battle in Vietnam under Gen Westmoreland. It also won the battle in Iraq, in Afghanistan it was not a real battle it was like a Crusade. In Ukraine Russia has virtually destroyed the fighting capability of Zelensky despite of deadly weapons sold by NATO and US.As well as the rhetoric  there are real concern  that the changing nature of nuclear weapons  may destabilize the traditional deterrence  equations---- creating many more possible scenarios  than nuclear strategists  and games theory witnessed during the era of Cold war.

But that would be a big gamble. China is the second largest economy but it cannot match either US or Russia in advanced nuclear technology. If China forces Taiwan to surrender by threatening to nuke Taiwan other nuclear armed states would conclude that  the nuclear age has ushered in a new era of nuclear impunity  where they could do  what they liked in regional conflicts and territorial disputes  because no one dare to fight them. Pakistan with help from other Islamic states was dreaming to teach India a lesion by nuking India, fortunately India with its advanced missile system is in a position to destroy the Pakistani stockpiles of nuclear arsenals and divide Pakistan into several sovereign Islamic states by resorting to conventional war methods.

Similarly, China may desist from hostile face off with India. US has rightly concluded that if China’s neighbors suffer devastating fall out  because of Chine misadventures in Taiwan than  US might seek to trigger  AUKUS ‘s collective  defense provisions.

 FINAL THOUGHT, Both US and Russia know that with the end of Cold war and in a new world order they cannot become the living manifestation of destiny, the target being the human race.