The development and the deployment of nuclear weapons are usually based on the assumption that they enhance national security. But, in fact, as this powerful study of the Cuban missile crisis convincingly demonstrates, nuclear weapons move nations toward the brink of destruction.
Russia's war upon Ukraine should remind us that violent international conflicts not only persist, but constitute a plague upon the world. Even so, there are practical ways to reduce international violence, notably through bolstering institutions of global governance.
Although imperialist wars have raged throughout human history, during the past century some progress has been made toward bringing an end to territorial conquest and occupation. The Russian invasion and annexation of Ukraine is a clear throwback to the imperialist aggression of the past. But possibilities remain for creating a brighter future.
Even international alliances can unravel when nations confront the insanity of a nuclear holocaust. This is what happened recently when the Russian government threatened Ukraine and other nations with nuclear war, only to be rebuffed by its Chinese ally. Much the same thing happened in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when, ironically, the role of the two governments was reversed. These incidents demonstrate not only that nuclear deterrence is unstable, but that, while nuclear weapons exist, the world remains in peril.
Although, in recent decades, American conservatives have embraced what they call the "Right to Life," they have done a poor job of sustaining life in the United States. That's the conclusion of a recent scientific study of the relationship, over two decades, between mortality rates and conservative or liberal control of U.S. state governments.
Today, we're once more enmeshed in the dire situation so starkly revealed in August 1945, with the atomic bombing of Japan. While nuclear weapons exist, any war can turn into a nuclear holocaust. Unless the people of all nations, recognizing the peril of universal death, demand the establishment of an international organization capable of enforcing policies of disarmament and peace, then, sooner or later, the time will come to say "bye-bye world."
The Russian war in Ukraine provides us with yet another opportunity to consider what might be done to end the primitive and immensely destructive behavior that has characterized so much of human history. Against a backdrop of thousands of years of bloody wars and the ever-present danger of a nuclear holocaust, it is time to dispense with international anarchy and create a governed world.
Donald Trump's illegal retention of classified U.S. government records reminded me that, in my capacity as a scholarly writer of international history, I have been reading these kinds of sensitive official files -- and learning from them -- for decades. My research in U.S., British, Soviet, and East German records not only unearthed a good deal of information about great power behavior during the Cold War but, also, taught me how zealously governments guard their secrets. In this context, it's possible that Trump's decision to hold onto classified files reflects a desire to withhold evidence of his own administration's extraordinary record of duplicity and malfeasance.
Over the past two decades, the International Criminal Court has blazed a new trail in human history, securing convictions of some of the world's worst abusers of human rights. But the governments of the United States, Russia, and China, unlike the governments of 123 other nations, have not accepted the court's jurisdiction over their own citizens.
The Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian private company working hand-in-glove with the Russian government, has recently emerged as a major player in the thriving mercenary business. It commenced operations by providing the military muscle for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine during 2014. Since then, its thousands of armed men have brought widespread death, torture, and rape to Syria, the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, and Sudan.