The world is commemorating the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the US on Wednesday, August 6. The anniversary comes at a time when the global resolve to prevent such catastrophes is weakening, challenged by the renewed geopolitical ambitions of the most powerful countries.

The growing disregard for international norms and disarmament, shown in particular by the US and its allies, is forcing countries who have sought to pursue independent foreign and domestic policies since the end of the Cold War to rethink their own commitments to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Killing for strategic gains

More than 100,000 people were killed instantly after an atomic bomb was dropped by the US Air Force on August 6, 1945, on Hiroshima. More than 40,000 were killed in a similar bombing in Nagasaki three days later, on August 9. Thousands more died over the following years while receiving treatment or due to the prolonged effects of radiation in both cities.

According to Japan’s official estimates, the total number of deaths in US atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki exceeds 210,000. Most of the survivors and some even in the next generations suffered the lifelong effects of radiation.

By the end of March this year, there were still 99,130 people, referred to as hibakusha, who survived the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Many believe the atomic bombing of Japan was a strategic move by the US to establish complete dominance in the post-war global order, rather than a military necessity.

The fate of non-proliferation regimes

The potential for widespread destruction like in Japan provoked a large non-proliferation movement across the world, which gained momentum in the 1960s with the adoption of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

For decades, various movements – including the hibakusha – have been campaigning for a world free of nuclear weapons to protect humanity and as the basic guarantee of global peace.

However, geopolitical tensions in the world, led by US efforts to reestablish military control over global politics, particularly in recent years, have been pushing more and more countries to seek effective deterrence. This in turn is fueling an unprecedented arms race.

Experts have expressed fear that the growing disregard of global regimes and international laws, including the non-profileration regimes such as the NPT, by the US, EU, and their allies, such as Israel, and the failure of international agencies to prevent or establish accountability, may push countries like Iran to seek nuclear weapons as part of an effective deterrent strategy.

Vijay Prashad and Dae-Han Song in a recent article, argued that the US and Israeli bombings on Iran during the June war are precisely the incidents which fuel the global arms race and may force countries such as Iran, which has opposed it so far, to seek nuclear weapons.

Growing pessimism

The growing pessimism about a world free of nuclear weapons was acknowledged by none other than the mayor of Hiroshima Kazumi Matsui. During his speech marking the 80th anniversary on Wednesday, he noted how the rising geopolitical tensions and arms race around the world is making some countries feel that “nuclear weapons are essential for national defense”.

According to a poll released earlier this week by Japanese public broadcaster NHK, more Japanese youth now than ever before feel that the prospects of nuclear disarmament are fading.

According to the survey, a decade ago only 32% of people aged 18 and above expected that nuclear weapons would increase in the future. Despite widespread calls for nuclear disarmament, around 49% of respondents feel that way today. Only 2% of respondents believe that the world will ever be completely free from nuclear weapons.

Renewed disarmament attempts

Hiroshima Mayor Matsui claimed that this fate can be turned if people decide to fight against the arms race and show a greater resolve to work for nuclear disarmament because without it there cannot be genuine world peace.

In his message on the occasion of Hiroshima day, the UN secretary general António Guterres also warned of the growing risk of nuclear conflicts due to growing geopolitical tensions and eroding trust between nations and in international institutions and conflict resolution mechanisms.

However, Guterres highlighted that last year’s Nobel Prize for peace was received by Nihon Hidankyo, a national organization for the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Organizations like these, along with agreements like Pact for the Future, “are signs of hope”.

Pact for the Future was adopted during a special session of the UN in September last year with countries committing to create a world free of nuclear weapons one day.

“But commitments must lead to real change by strengthening the global disarmament regime-in particular, the NPT, complimented by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” demanded Guterres.

The post 80 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki: nuclear war is closer than ever appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

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