IMO as long as states like Iran aren’t getting access to nuclear bombs, it’s all kinda fair game at the end of the day. It puts everyone on the same level playing field.
It’d be like going to war against a nation with guns, using swords. You’re not going to win, simple as that.
The problem naturally, is that unstable nation states are a unique threat to the global population. As long as they don’t have access to nuclear bombs, generally, things should only get more geopolitically stable because the cost of humanity suffering would otherwise outweigh every possible benefit (primarily economic collapse and hardship)
quick edit: most people would argue against this because nukes are big and scary. Most things are, i’m an objective realist and a political nihilist so things like “nukes are big and scary” isn’t really a significant consideration for me at the end of the day. And besides, the government could just black van me if they really wanted to. It’s not like i’m a significant target.
also, there are arguments to be made surrounding this for fission based nuclear energy, which is kind of nice.
This is kind of the whole argument against nuclear proliferation though. The more bombs that exist, the harder it is to keep it out of the hands of completely unpredictable groups like iran. You have allies to radical Islam all over the world, it’s how you get the kind of coordinated terrorism on the scale of 9/11 and the Paris attacks. Even one single security slip up might be enough to completely fuck us all.
The barrier to entry between terrorists and nuclear weapons needs to be kept watertight, rock solid, and a mile thick, and you really can’t expect that on a global scale, it’s just the law of large numbers. The risks of proliferation therefore, in my opinion at least, are completely unacceptable
Edit: also I just want to mention that the swords/guns metaphor really doesn’t work because this is a problem that potentially concerns the security of literally all life on earth. There is no historical precedent beyond a few decades of REALLY precarious history. That precedent is being set every single day with every policy and every minute to minute decision. The danger to humanity is very real
IMO as long as states like Iran aren’t getting access to nuclear bombs, it’s all kinda fair game at the end of the day. It puts everyone on the same level playing field.
It’d be like going to war against a nation with guns, using swords. You’re not going to win, simple as that.
The problem naturally, is that unstable nation states are a unique threat to the global population. As long as they don’t have access to nuclear bombs, generally, things should only get more geopolitically stable because the cost of humanity suffering would otherwise outweigh every possible benefit (primarily economic collapse and hardship)
quick edit: most people would argue against this because nukes are big and scary. Most things are, i’m an objective realist and a political nihilist so things like “nukes are big and scary” isn’t really a significant consideration for me at the end of the day. And besides, the government could just black van me if they really wanted to. It’s not like i’m a significant target.
also, there are arguments to be made surrounding this for fission based nuclear energy, which is kind of nice.
This is kind of the whole argument against nuclear proliferation though. The more bombs that exist, the harder it is to keep it out of the hands of completely unpredictable groups like iran. You have allies to radical Islam all over the world, it’s how you get the kind of coordinated terrorism on the scale of 9/11 and the Paris attacks. Even one single security slip up might be enough to completely fuck us all.
The barrier to entry between terrorists and nuclear weapons needs to be kept watertight, rock solid, and a mile thick, and you really can’t expect that on a global scale, it’s just the law of large numbers. The risks of proliferation therefore, in my opinion at least, are completely unacceptable
Edit: also I just want to mention that the swords/guns metaphor really doesn’t work because this is a problem that potentially concerns the security of literally all life on earth. There is no historical precedent beyond a few decades of REALLY precarious history. That precedent is being set every single day with every policy and every minute to minute decision. The danger to humanity is very real