How great is the threat to Western nations today from ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’?

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Thesis Statement

The apparent accessibility as well as the catastrophic potential of Weapons of Mass Destruction has made the threat to the western nations more real and grave than ever before . This asserts that a holistic approach and more concerted efforts need to be made by all nuclear weapons states to check the proliferation and stockpiling of these weapons and to consolidate the gains of decades of arms control negotiations

Introduction

The unrelenting wave of globalization has by far become the

most talked about issue in academia , the business world as well as among government agencies everywhere . The integration of economic , cultural and political systems in the world today has arguably given the United States of America an upper hand in the dominance of the world affairs . Due to this influence the U .S . and its allies especially western nations have earned many foes in form of influential hostile elements in foreign states These hostile states most often feel that the U .S , its western allies and its vital interests have and continue to undermine their civil liberties and the sovereignty of their respective countries and people

This increased animosity is the basis of the ever increasing threat of external aggression against the U .S , its western allies and its interests worldwide . The cataclysmic potential of any such external attack has today emerged as a dominant western security concern : the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD ) and their systems of delivery (David A . Cooper 1 . The number of countries currently in possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction has risen significantly since the World War II with a growing number striving to acquire the technology for making these weapons . It is therefore relatively easier for any determined force to access these weapons today

Main Text

Weapons of mass destruction are so called because of their ability to indiscriminately cause death to a very great number of people . The origin of the term and early usage is fairly well documented but not authenticated . However , it is a fact that the phrase became rather popular following decisive atomic bomb attack on Japanese cities-Hiroshima and Nagasaki . At this time , the term was used in reference to nuclear weapons but that changed over time and today it is used to refer to several categories to weapons with mass killing capabilities . They include : nuclear , biological , chemical and radiological weapons

The making as well as the use of biological and chemical weapons can be traced back to a few centuries . However , nuclear weapons have only a recent history and their use limited . Over time countries have been seen to exercise restraint in their use , opting to stick to the conventional war despite having stocked piles of the WMD . France was defeated by Germans in the 1940 's but its imminent defeat was not an enough reason to use WMD for is defenses . There are cases however when countries have used WMD , either in defense or when under no particular threats...