World of India!

In the entire din to condemn North Korea for conducting its Nuclear test (now being doubted as less than genuine by the U.S), one important moral principle is not begin heard. And that is- why is it that only some nations behave as if possessing the nuclear option is their birth right and THEIR'S alone?

We should remember that we ourselves were victim of nuclear racial discrimination till we acquired such capability, on the sly (like North Korea) and HAD to be accepted as a member of the nuclear club, since there was no other option left for the established members. We ourselves were the target of the same accusations that are now being leveled against N.Korea, viz. that the nuclear option cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of "irresponsible" countries implying that God had some how gifted only them with the value of being responsible and more mature in their outlook.

At that time, India argued that it wanted a nuclear free world and if other nations were to forsake this option, it would do so too. But of course, the members of the nuclear club have never been serious about this option, since they wanted to retain their option (since they are "mature"), while seeking to limit other countries of the same (due to their "immaturity").

While the duplicity of this argument is obvious, it is even more astounding considering the world we are living in today and how much it has changed since the era when this argument was originally invented- the period between 1950-1985- the peak of the cold war. That was the time when the two Superpowers, the U.S and Soviet Union were at war for influence across the world (so much for maturity) and therefore, in their own twisted way, had to have the option of mutual assured destruction (aptly abbreviated as M.A.D). But in today’s world, when the U.S no longer faces the same level of threat of the Soviet Union (Russia is heavily dependent on the U.S for trade and no longer has the kind of influence the Soviet Union commanded), China would cease to exist as an emerging economic superpower would the American consumers stop buying its good from the U.S supermarkets, it hard to believe that the world would some how be unsafe without the U.S and other members of the nuclear club forsaking this option. If anything the U.S would be safer, since it enjoys a huge conventional weapons superiority over any other nation in the world and would no longer face the nuclear deterrent from other countries.

But of course, these arguments are not even discussed in any media forum, when North Korea is discussed. The sole refrain is that N.Korea has some how committed some kind of a unspeakable sin by barging into their exclusive club and that it should have understood its place better. After all it is "poor" and "cannot feed its people" thereby implying that the nuclear option is the sole preserve of the "rich" or "would be rich".

The law of the Jungle is truly alive and well.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 10:19 AM.

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