Editorial: 79 years after A-bombing of Hiroshima, action required to transcend nuclear deterrence theory
Aug. 6, 2024
Today marks 79 years since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Survivors of the atomic bombing have been at the forefront of the movement to abolish nuclear weapons, based on the determination that no one else should ever experience the same suffering. However, contrary to the wishes of aging A-bomb survivors, tensions surrounding nuclear weapons are at their highest since the end of the Cold War.
At the United Nations Security Council in March, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres lamented, “But almost 80 years after the incineration of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons still represent a clear and present danger to global peace and society.” He added, “The Doomsday Clock is ticking loudly enough for all to hear.”
The symbolic Doomsday Clock, announced each year by a U.S. scientific journal to indicate how close humanity is to destroying itself, was set this year at “90 seconds to midnight,” the same as last year and the shortest time ever. However, the situation has worsened with the two wars in Ukraine and in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. We must not turn our eyes from the reality that Russia and Israel, both nuclear weapons states, are attacking non-nuclear adversaries with threats of the use of such weapons.
Hand on nuclear button
Just prior to the Security Council meeting, shocking news was reported by several U.S. media outlets that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had warned U.S. President Joe Biden that Russia’s chances of using a nuclear weapon in the war with Ukraine was at least 50 percent. The warning was reported to have taken place around October 2022, the first year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
That was around the time that the Ukrainian military had regained a strategic stronghold in the southern part of the country and was approaching the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula. The United States had intercepted frequent communications within the Russian military about the use of nuclear weapons.
In the 1980s, the leaders of the United States and the then Soviet Union declared, “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” It is chilling to think that Russian President Vladimir Putin was about to place his hand on the nuclear button which, according to this principle, “could never be used” by countries advocating the theory of nuclear deterrence.
From disarmament to military buildup
At the same time Israel continues its fierce attack on Gaza, it is waging a retaliatory back-and-forth struggle against Iran, which is making progress in its nuclear weapons-development program. China is rushing ahead to increase its production of nuclear warheads, and North Korea is strengthening its relationship with Russia as it busily develops its own nuclear missiles. Clearly, the failure of the nuclear deterrence theory and mutual distrust are factors behind the shift to nuclear expansion.
According to the latest estimate by the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Nagasaki University (RECNA), the number of deployable nuclear warheads across the world, both operational and in reserve for deployment, is 9,583, an increase of 332 warheads in the six years since 2018. Unless we break through the faith held in nuclear weapons, humankind will have no choice but to simply follow a path of self-destruction.
Amid tensions in East Asia, Japan has further strengthened its stance of reliance on U.S. nuclear force for its security through an agreement between the governments of Japan and the United States to work together toward strengthening expanded deterrence. The inconsistency of Japan’s attitude is striking, given its call for a “world without nuclear weapons” as the nation to have experienced nuclear attacks in wartime and, at the same time, its reliance on another country’s nuclear weapons.
However, threatening each other with inhumane weapons is not the way to protect nations and their people. Evidence that the international society has made that conclusion is the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Japan must act to transcend the nuclear deterrence theory. The country is now required to take the lead on debate to build up international consensus on reducing the role of nuclear weapons, including the idea of no first use of the weapons. That would be the quickest way for Japan to step out from underneath the nuclear umbrella.
The U.S. film “Oppenheimer” garnered seven awards at this year’s Academy Awards, including for best picture and best director. Without doubt, the film’s depiction of the internal conflict of the scientist who developed the atomic bomb has increased interest in the nuclear issue. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the film shows only the perspective from above the mushroom cloud, without any depiction of the devastation caused by the atomic bombing. The “myth” that nuclear weapons ended the war and still protect one’s own country is still prevalent not only in the United States but also in Russia and Israel.
When A-bomb survivors are all gone
All that is why the A-bombed city must continue to communicate what happened beneath the mushroom cloud. At the same time, we need to think about the time when there will be no more A-bomb survivors. The number of Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate holders has dipped below 110,000 for the first time, a 70 percent decline from the peak, and by the time of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings next year, that number could drop further to less than 100,000 people. Their average age is now 85.58 years.
Those of us alive today represent the last generation to be able to listen to their testimonies firsthand. Each citizen is a successor of those memories, passing on to future generations the experiences and thoughts of each of the survivors and communicating the humanitarian consequences of the atomic bombing.
For that, records are important. The Hiroshima City government and media organizations are seeking to have the “Visual archive of Hiroshima atomic bombing—Photographs and films in 1945” listed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s “Memory of the World” International Register. Use of both photos and testimonies in this way creates a three-dimensional reality of the atomic bombing, enhancing the story’s power to communicate.
Out of frustration that a nuclear weapon might be used again, previously reticent A-bomb survivors have begun to speak of their experiences. On the other hand, survivors who have shared their accounts in the bombings are rapidly aging. It is reassuring to see young people supporting their efforts to share their stories and joining in activities calling on the Japanese government to participate in the TPNW.
We hope today will be a day to renew our pledge to act. Let us firmly accept the baton of those memories and records and continue our call to the international community to abolish nuclear weapons.
(Originally published on August 6, 2024)
At the United Nations Security Council in March, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres lamented, “But almost 80 years after the incineration of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons still represent a clear and present danger to global peace and society.” He added, “The Doomsday Clock is ticking loudly enough for all to hear.”
The symbolic Doomsday Clock, announced each year by a U.S. scientific journal to indicate how close humanity is to destroying itself, was set this year at “90 seconds to midnight,” the same as last year and the shortest time ever. However, the situation has worsened with the two wars in Ukraine and in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. We must not turn our eyes from the reality that Russia and Israel, both nuclear weapons states, are attacking non-nuclear adversaries with threats of the use of such weapons.
Hand on nuclear button
Just prior to the Security Council meeting, shocking news was reported by several U.S. media outlets that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had warned U.S. President Joe Biden that Russia’s chances of using a nuclear weapon in the war with Ukraine was at least 50 percent. The warning was reported to have taken place around October 2022, the first year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
That was around the time that the Ukrainian military had regained a strategic stronghold in the southern part of the country and was approaching the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula. The United States had intercepted frequent communications within the Russian military about the use of nuclear weapons.
In the 1980s, the leaders of the United States and the then Soviet Union declared, “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” It is chilling to think that Russian President Vladimir Putin was about to place his hand on the nuclear button which, according to this principle, “could never be used” by countries advocating the theory of nuclear deterrence.
From disarmament to military buildup
At the same time Israel continues its fierce attack on Gaza, it is waging a retaliatory back-and-forth struggle against Iran, which is making progress in its nuclear weapons-development program. China is rushing ahead to increase its production of nuclear warheads, and North Korea is strengthening its relationship with Russia as it busily develops its own nuclear missiles. Clearly, the failure of the nuclear deterrence theory and mutual distrust are factors behind the shift to nuclear expansion.
According to the latest estimate by the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Nagasaki University (RECNA), the number of deployable nuclear warheads across the world, both operational and in reserve for deployment, is 9,583, an increase of 332 warheads in the six years since 2018. Unless we break through the faith held in nuclear weapons, humankind will have no choice but to simply follow a path of self-destruction.
Amid tensions in East Asia, Japan has further strengthened its stance of reliance on U.S. nuclear force for its security through an agreement between the governments of Japan and the United States to work together toward strengthening expanded deterrence. The inconsistency of Japan’s attitude is striking, given its call for a “world without nuclear weapons” as the nation to have experienced nuclear attacks in wartime and, at the same time, its reliance on another country’s nuclear weapons.
However, threatening each other with inhumane weapons is not the way to protect nations and their people. Evidence that the international society has made that conclusion is the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Japan must act to transcend the nuclear deterrence theory. The country is now required to take the lead on debate to build up international consensus on reducing the role of nuclear weapons, including the idea of no first use of the weapons. That would be the quickest way for Japan to step out from underneath the nuclear umbrella.
The U.S. film “Oppenheimer” garnered seven awards at this year’s Academy Awards, including for best picture and best director. Without doubt, the film’s depiction of the internal conflict of the scientist who developed the atomic bomb has increased interest in the nuclear issue. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the film shows only the perspective from above the mushroom cloud, without any depiction of the devastation caused by the atomic bombing. The “myth” that nuclear weapons ended the war and still protect one’s own country is still prevalent not only in the United States but also in Russia and Israel.
When A-bomb survivors are all gone
All that is why the A-bombed city must continue to communicate what happened beneath the mushroom cloud. At the same time, we need to think about the time when there will be no more A-bomb survivors. The number of Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate holders has dipped below 110,000 for the first time, a 70 percent decline from the peak, and by the time of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings next year, that number could drop further to less than 100,000 people. Their average age is now 85.58 years.
Those of us alive today represent the last generation to be able to listen to their testimonies firsthand. Each citizen is a successor of those memories, passing on to future generations the experiences and thoughts of each of the survivors and communicating the humanitarian consequences of the atomic bombing.
For that, records are important. The Hiroshima City government and media organizations are seeking to have the “Visual archive of Hiroshima atomic bombing—Photographs and films in 1945” listed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s “Memory of the World” International Register. Use of both photos and testimonies in this way creates a three-dimensional reality of the atomic bombing, enhancing the story’s power to communicate.
Out of frustration that a nuclear weapon might be used again, previously reticent A-bomb survivors have begun to speak of their experiences. On the other hand, survivors who have shared their accounts in the bombings are rapidly aging. It is reassuring to see young people supporting their efforts to share their stories and joining in activities calling on the Japanese government to participate in the TPNW.
We hope today will be a day to renew our pledge to act. Let us firmly accept the baton of those memories and records and continue our call to the international community to abolish nuclear weapons.
(Originally published on August 6, 2024)
