Countdown to Zero: Why the World’s Resolve to Abolish Nuclear Weapons is Fading Fast

Resolution 68/32 adopted in 2013 in New York by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared the date of September 26 as “International Day for the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons”. It can be argued that the dream of a world free from the nuclear threat was born from the horrors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan at the end of the Second World War and the balance between terror during the Cold War between the two higher -son, in this case the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) have led, in the same move, their respective allies into a mad arms race. But it is clear that this dream remains, even today, a chimera despite the declarations of good will and all the measures put in place by the international community for its realization. Worse, we are even tempted to believe that the threat has increased today due to tensions reaching heights due to growing geopolitical divisions and distrust.

Renewing dialogue and using diplomacy to end the nuclear threat

The diatribes that have been woven against the background of barely concealed threats between Russia and the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against the background of the war in Ukraine, remind us of this every day. We therefore understand the relevance of the appeal of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Gutteres, who, on this tenth day of commemoration, had his very appropriate words: “The States that have nuclear weapons must show the way by honoring their obligations disarmament and their promise. never to use such weapons, whatever the circumstances, or threaten to use them…Our future is at stake…”. But isn’t the man responsible for ensuring world peace preaching in the desert? We are tempted to believe it. And for good reason. The tensions that pose a nuclear threat to humanity are fueled by the geostrategic and economic interests of the great powers who have always hidden behind the pretext of nuclear deterrence to slow down their disarmament. The result is that there are more than 12,000 nuclear weapons in the world to date and the countries that have such weapons, instead of destroying them, continue, on the contrary, to finance long-term plans to modernize them. Worse, emerging powers, frustrated by the attitude of nuclear powers to maintain a monopoly on nuclear weapons and to make them hang like the sword of Damocles over their heads, are trying by all means to take them over as well. This is the case of Iran and North Korea and no doubt, there are many other states around the world that quietly assert what these two countries assert loud and clear: their right to have atomic weapons and to appear on the list of nuclear powers.

The absence of nuclear weapons in Africa does not protect the continent from nuclear tensions

We are therefore witnessing the return of a new nuclear arms race and the return of demonstrations of force such as coercive tactics. The question we can then ask ourselves is the following: How can we stop this mad race towards the abyss? The answer to this question, according to the UN Secretary General, is to renew dialogue and use diplomacy to end the nuclear threat. “We must stop this madness before it’s too late. On this important day, the world must deliver a clear message with one voice: the only way to eliminate the nuclear threat is to eliminate nuclear weapons.” And Africa in all this? One might ask. Nuclear weapons are not, at the moment, of concern to African states and that is good, one might say. And for good reason. On the one hand, we eliminate the risk that an African tyrant will use it in a moment of madness. On the other hand, this makes it possible to preserve the scarce financial resources of the continent that will not end up in the barrel of Danaids that make up the financing of the development of nuclear weapons. However, the absence of nuclear weapons in Africa does not protect the continent from nuclear tensions. Indeed, some African countries are reserves of uranium and this wealth places them in the eye of the storm of competition between the great powers of the world. Unfortunately, the appetite of nuclear powers for uranium does not lead to consequences for the stability of these countries whose populations are, moreover, exposed to the harmful effects of the exploitation of mining deposits. Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that the use of the atomic bomb in any part of the world could have effects on the African continent which is also technologically unprepared to face this type of danger. Because of all these risks Africa should not put itself on the sidelines of the commemorations of the International Day for the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons in the World. Rather, he should raise his voice in order not to be among the innocent victims of the madness of world domination by the great powers and above all press for the transfer of technology to use civil nuclear energy in order to meet the development needs of populations, especially in the areas energy and health.

“The country”