Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Madeleine Albright probably scents a triumph of US diplomacy in the outcome of back-to-back sessions in London of the G-8 and the Contact Group on the Balkans, and a luncheon meeting of non-weapons states in between. It shows the US in command of diverse bodies, including an emerging broader coalition to deal with South Asia. That is how the US expects the new world order to function, a series of semi-independent wheels revolving around Washington. On hardening economic sanctions against India and Pakistan, the Europeans fell in line as did Canada and Japan. That practitioner of “ethical foreign policy”, Britain’s Robin Cook, had no trouble with his conscience. Russia, in the grip of another severe financial crisis, had little choice but to go along.
To crown Albright’s success there was the mixed bunch at lunch: China as President Clinton’s newest and staunchest non-proliferation ally, the Philippines as chair of the Asean Regional Forum (a quasi-security organisation on which India is represented) andcountries who have given up nuclear weapons South Africa, Brazil and Ukraine. The clever idea here is to prove India and a number of eminent Americans, Swedes, etc wrong, that non-proliferation is not about protecting the P-5 monopoly of nuclear weapons. And so, from this US-made fortress of the right and the good and the mighty has come another list of dos and don’ts for India and Pakistan.
Unfortunately, it all sounds very hollow and will not be effective. Here’s a list of dos and don’ts for all ethical foreign policywallahs and especially for a “Wilsonian” US president. 1) Punitive action against members of the P-5 who have wrecked the NPT by transferring nuclear material and knowhow to Israel (the US), Iran (China and Russia), Pakistan (China). 2) Immediate determination by the Clinton Administration of export of missiles by China. 3) China’s formal accession to the Missile Technology Control Regime. 4) Ratification of START-II by Russia. 5) Ratification of the CTBT by China and the US. 6) De-alertall P-5 nuclear weapons and commence negotiations immediately to make deep cuts in arsenals. 7) Start a UN registry of all nuclear weapons. 8) NATO to adopt a no-first-use of nukes and no threat of nukes against non-nuclear states doctrine. Were the P-5 even begin to think along these lines, they would soon realise what constitutes the real and enduring threat to international peace and stability. They must be the first to break the circular reasoning of nuclear weapons. Why do you need nuclear weapons? Because others have nuclear weapons. How do you vacate the threat of nuclear weapons? With nuclear weapons. How can you eliminate nuclear weapons? With nuclear weapons. The Russian Duma doesn’t ratify START-II because the eastern expansion of NATO brings nukes nearer to Russia. Why extend NATO eastwards? Because of Russian nukes. Why does Britain need nukes? Why France? Why does the US hold on to 3,000 weapons and spend a fortune updating them? Naked realpolitik does not work. Let the world see some truecommitment to ideals.
