FOREWORD

New Zealand has long been at the forefront of international efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons. We, and the many people, organisations and countries which support this goal, want to build a world based on peaceful relations between peoples achieved through trust and mutual respect rather than suspicion and hostility.

The theory of nuclear deterrence (and the aptly acronymed concept of Mutually Assured Destruction) is at odds with these aims. It assumes the worst of other countries, creating an atmosphere in which countries try to match the efforts of others in building and maintaining nuclear arsenals.

There are still many obstacles in the way of nuclear disarmament. The testing of nuclear devices by India and Pakistan in 1998, and the growing evidence of the development of nuclear weapons technology and capability by states like Israel, Iran, Iraq and North Korea are of concern. Russia and the United States between them still have upwards of 30,000 nuclear weapons in various states of readiness. The proposed United States’ strategic defence system has unsettled many.

The challenge before us is to debunk the anachronisms that underlie the theory of nuclear deterrence. This book, and fora like the negotiations on the Non Proliferation Treaty, provide avenues for the debate. In the 21st century, as the ever-expanding exchange of peoples, cultures and trade across nations helps to ease nationalistic prejudices, and as the shibboleths of the Cold War subside, it is time to abolish nuclear weapons and make the world a safer place for all peoples.

Rt Hon Helen Clark
Prime Minister of New Zealand