The nuclear order can still be rebuilt

[The following letter to the editor, by IPPNW co-founder Dr. James Muller and Dr. Henry Abraham, was published in The Washington Post on 19 August.]

It was with a glimmer of hope that we read that the world is sleepwalking into a new nuclear arms race in the Aug. 17 editorial “The old global nuclear order is dead. What comes next?” The wake-up call is welcome, but the editorial advocated only limited attempts to confront the increasing danger. Incremental arms-control measures, while useful, are not an adequate response to the escalating nuclear threat.

Another danger not mentioned in the editorial is the use of artificial intelligence in nuclear weapons systems, which increases the risk of miscalculation. Ironically, Americans’ safety depends on the quality of the AI systems used in the nuclear weapons systems of North Korea and other adversaries.

As the editorial noted, in the 1980s President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev came tantalizingly close to agreeing to eliminate all nuclear weapons. Their attempt was made possible by organized public opinion in favor of the abolition of all nuclear weapons. A mass movement is needed again. One hundred nations — a majority of the world’s countries — have now signed or joined the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which is the only long-term solution to the nuclear dilemma.

In a world in which nuclear weapons were outlawed, the United States, with its excellent conventional forces and protection offered by two oceans, would have little to fear. The first step toward safety, as advocated by the editorial, is for the public to awaken from its slumber and find its voice.