To an extent, I can sympathize with both sides of the nuclear debate.
Maybe this belongs in another thread, but I get why smaller and less overtly mighty nations (such as Poland) might want their own nukes as a deterrent against imperialistic greater powers (such as Russia) who haven't recanted their ways and remain unapologetic over past atrocities towards them. True, the US may have still nukes stationed there, but at the same time, just because that's how it is now doesn't mean it won't withdraw a few decades down the line — leaving Eastern Europe to its own devices, if Russia decides to reclaim more of the former Soviet republics.
Not to mention the "unfairness" argument, in the sense of already-nuclear powers still being allowed to keep (albeit gradually downsize) their arsenals, despite
regularly having too many close calls of their own (whereas everyone else is forbidden from having as little as one or two). Really, if the US and USSR are allowed to bring the world within a hair's breadth of World War III
numerous times, perhaps they should take a good long look in the mirror before casting stones from their glass houses at less powerful nations that want a few deterrents of their own.
On the other hand... "Too many close calls!" is probably a good reason for the world as a whole to disarm — even though that requires a concerted effort by everyone, which is a laughable pipe-dream when North Korea is involved. Plus, the more nuclear powers, the more people who have (and could potentially misuse) nukes in the future. Nothing's come of it over the 78 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but given that 78 years is a drop in the bucket compared to the grand scheme of human history, we shouldn't assume it will
always be that way — especially once
our century's problems really come to a head.
Really, I just hope that regardless of nuclear proliferation, anti-nuclear defense systems that take down nukes before they detonate work as promised when the time comes. Vaguely aware of certain missiles and other countermeasures that exist already, though maybe further developments in
laser weapons the US Military has been testing throughout the last decade or so could bear fruit over the next 30 to 40 years. Hopefully, they've got some pretty robust laser-defense grids up by then.
