After reading these articles, I kept on thinking, nuclear proliferation treaties and international affairs need more strengthening. In the foreign affairs article, Fromherz poses the idea America has to walk around eggshells in order to keep peace with Iran. Although Iran is not considered the most developed nation, its slight rise in power is becoming alerting to the international community.
Biden is concerned about Americas relationship with Iran because America and Iran have not had any diplomatic relationship since 1980. Due to its unstable relationship, oil prices can rise and the possibility of creating an enemy state is very high. Iran has made it clear it does not want to sign any kind of agreement regarding arsenals. Its reason can be due to its relatively low number in arsenals compared to its competitors. While America and Russia are leading numbers in nuclear arsenals by the thousands, China and Iran are only in the hundreds. During Trumps administration, sanctions were placed to convince Iran to sign the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, they have failed, Iran continues to create ballistic missiles. Additional agreements are created to prevent Iran from creating more arsenal. The current concern is the all-time high tension the international community has between on the Gaza bombings and its ally and enemy reactions. Iran has strong support from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China(who also have high numbers in nuclear arsenal).
One reply on “Week #8:”
Karine,
You are certainly right that the norms against proliferation of nuclear weapons need strengthening, especially in the case of Iran. As I explained in class, the P5+1 did negotiate the JCPOA agreement, which briefly caused Iran to suspend its nuclear weapons program; but it fell apart after the Trump administration withdrew from the agreement. There were a few incorrect statements in what you wrote, though you were correct that the US and Russia have many thousands of nuclear weapons (and have had since the Cold War), while China has less than a thousand (though they are rapidly building more). Right now, however, Iran has ZERO. But if things go further downhill with Iran, however, they could race to acquire a bomb. –Professor Wallerstein