Nuclear weapons are legal tools
Responding to an article by Elliot Meyrowitz stating that nuclear weapons are illegal threats, the author observes that international law does not forbid the possession or use of nuclear weapons, whose existence operates as part of the checks and balances process that maintains deterrence. Because nuclear weapons have never been identified among states as illegal, either by treaties or by customary international law, attempts by opposing states to establish illegality through declarations fall short of an effectively shared strategy. The author concludes that we must use the time that deterrence permits to forcefully promote policies optimizing the claims of people for human dignity rather than focusing on the fruitless search to make nuclear weapons illegal.
- Research Organization:
- National War College, Washington, DC
- OSTI ID:
- 5842245
- Journal Information:
- Bull. At. Sci.; (United States), Journal Name: Bull. At. Sci.; (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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