Nuclear Asia

Professor Sattar Kassem
16/10/2006
Four of the eight nuclear states in the world are Asian; the fifth which is Russia is partly Asian; the silent sixth which is Israel is geographically located in Asia. There is a high possibility that other Asian countries will join the nuclear bomb club. Iran, Japan and the Arabs are a high possibility.

Why Asia is the theater of nuclear proliferation? It is uneasy to answer this question, but light could be shed: the present peoples of many Asian states believe that they are the heirs of great civilizations that contributed so much to human civilization, and believe that they should revive their ancient glory. So many Asian peoples such as the Chinese, the Iranians and the Arabs are so proud of their ancestry to the extent that some of them negate their present. These peoples believe that the first step toward the restoration of the lost glory is to gain military strength atop of which is nuclear power; and they are ready to starve if starvation is the price.

Asia is the cradle of great civilizations such as the Chinese, the Arab-Muslim, the Indian and the Persian. Rivalry of civilizations had been characteristic in Asia. Bloody invasions load the history of relations in Asia, and, due to that, feelings of hatred and animosity are still prevalent in the Asian countries. Peoples are generally suspicious and think that they must be always prepared for violent confrontations.

Many Asian states believe that they are under immanent threats. The Chinese, the Koreans and the Japanese are watchful and mistrustful; the Arabs and the Israelis are continuously preparing for wars, the Iranians feel the Israeli and American challenge to their independence and integrity; the Russians don't hide their tense relations with the Japanese and other central Asian peoples; the Indians and the Pakistanis are on alert.

China, the Arab nation and Iran are suspicious of Western intentions, and believe that the accumulation of power is the right response to the thought western threats. They argue that weak nations have no place in history.

It is highly possible that the Japanese will start thinking of nuclearing themselves because all of their traditional regional enemies are nuclear; the Arabs have no choice but to topple their governments and become nuclear; the Iranians are moving ahead.

Does all of that have anything to do with the Asian population crowdedness? Does the nuclear bomb provide a solution for the world population explosion? The future will tell. But we should be sure that weapons aren't developed to be toys.