onomic sanctions and international protocols only go so far. Nations such as North Korea, despite anti-nuke treaties as well as economic sanctions imposed in the early Nineties, has somehow managed to become a nuclear threat to both its Asian neighbors and to the rest of the world. What further compounds the problem is that these weapons are being sold on the black market without regard to their moral and ethical implications. Once again, humanitarian cause is thrown out the window, as machines capable of annihilating mankind are available to the highest bidder. In addition, new additions to the nuclear powers also serve to disseminate nuclear expertise and help in the acquisition of raw material for their allies. If this trend of events runs unchecked, will it lead to a world where every nation has “the Bomb”? Moreover, will it assure our mutual destruction and environmental devastation? Clearly, the spread of nuclear arms must be managed at the source, in which case, diplomacy will play a vital role in the coming years. Negotiations between Pakistan and India must lead to a signing of the CTBT, which will hopefully insure some stability in the world order. Perhaps managing the inventory of Russia’s nuclear arsenal through independent means is one of the answers. It appears as though the issue of nuclear arms proliferation among less responsible or hostile nations will stay with us for quite some time, and will play a major role in world affairs for some time to come. But citizens of the world must not just leave it to the policy-makers and statesmen to make a difference.We must take a personal role in world peace and possibly the survival or our species....
