Journey at the Nuclear Brink

Every so often the Bunche Library at the State Department has an author come in to give a talk on a recent book that employees at State might find interesting. I’ve been to a few of these, and the topics range from women in the workplace to combating ISIS. No matter how random these may seem, the series has been been wonderful to attend and provided some great food for thought. This past Tuesday was a particularly special speaker– the former Secretary of Defense William Perry, speaking about his book My Journey at the Nuclear Brink where he discusses events that he saw during his time in government, like the Cuban missile crisis and dismantling over 8,000 nuclear weapons.

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http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=25448

There’s something particularly striking about the dichotomy of nuclear weapons in this day and age. On one hand, nuclear weapons are scary. Really, really scary. And nonproliferation is essentially in everyone’s best interest. However on the other hand, there is the very real dilemma of deterrence: as long as they have weapons, we need them too. At the State Department talk, Former Secretary Perry gave his thoughts on how we are closer than ever since the Cold War to using Nuclear weapons, and something has to be done to ensure that doomsday never comes. He discussed what it was like to see life in the Defense Department during a time like the Cold War, and he concludes in many ways that nuclear weapons endanger our safety rather than protect it.

The bureau at State where I’m interning focuses on nonproliferation issues, and since being here I’ve seen the whole spectrum of rhetoric on weapons of mass destruction– and in turn I’ve realized just how complicated the issue is. There are many layers to the process of preventing others from getting nasty weapons, as well as getting rid of the weapons people already have. There are chemical, biological, and conventional means to consider, and possession of these serve to send a message just as much as they serve to harm others. I’ve learned an incredible amount in a field that I knew next to nothing about, and it’s changed so much of how I view issues of national and international security.

When I first decided to come to Maxwell, it was after seeing both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Parks. I remember two images in particular: one of a Japanese boy unable to bear the burial of his brother, and the other the skeleton of a domed building that used to be the center of science and technology in the city– the A-Bomb Dome. These images cogjured up a tightness in my chest and tears in my eyes. Thinking of this still brings these strong feelings of grief, but now that’s combined with mixed feelings of just how hard it is going to be to completely get rid of our nuclear weapons.

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Photograph by Joe O’Donnell (1945)

In my national security class, I remember one of my classmates saying that one of the only reasons there wasn’t a second Korean War or that the US hasn’t overthrown Kim Jong Un like they did Ghaddafi in Libya was that supposed arsenal of nuclear weapons sitting behind their borders. When deterrence like that exists, what motivation does anyone have to reduce their supply of weapons?

This is the messy world of international relations. There are no simple solutions to the big problems that we have, as much as we try to create them. Ultimately, what I’ve realized is that the process toward a more peaceful and prosperous world is going to take a lot of time, effort, and passion from those working in the field. Going to this talk by Former Secretary Perry, I’ve been reminded just how powerful the ideas of peace and the danger of nuclear weapons are. Sometimes I get so caught up in everything that it takes a simple phrase or image to bring me back to why I came to Maxwell in the first place. What motivates me to push through a long paper or an early morning waiting in the snow for the bus to class. Ultimately, it’s all worth it in the end to see where I end up.

From the UN Plaza in New York
From the UN Plaza in New York