On July 16, 1945, the 'Trinity' Test effectively brought about the transformation of the 'American Prometheus' into the 'Destroyer of Worlds' along with an expedited dawn of the nuclear age as the Laws of Physics were successfully reappraised by the Homo Sapiens. However, the initial premise and the hopeful promise of the creation of a 'Super Weapon' to end all wars has remained more or less a chimera for humanity even after 7+ decades of its genesis.
The dawn of the nuclear age; following Trinity and the subsequent atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki; unleashed the Cold War-era with nuclear weapons effectively becoming the 'Hanging Sword of Damocles', as famously described by JFK, with the possibility of a potential nuclear catastrophe by accident, miscalculation or madness staying as a very real possibility throughout and the extinction of Homo Sapiens from planet Earth, just a matter of seconds, which fortunately was somehow averted on multiple occasions and humanity, somehow, managed to survive.
The global safeguard mechanisms, created to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons; including, international agreements & treaties, creation of global institutions like the IAEA, policy frameworks, coercive mechanisms like sanctions, usage of diplomacy & indirect usage of force; have more or less have had limited success, given the emergence of a number of nuclear weapons-armed states globally in the second half of the 20th century. The hanging 'Sword of Damocles', thus, has effectively transformed itself into the 'Gordian Knot' in the 21st century, especially following the emergence of nuclear-armed unstable & rogue states, like Pakistan & North Korea and Iran's continued, active pursuit of its nuclear program, even under the hawkish eyes of the industry watchdog, IAEA.
This is the 3-part longitudinal story of the evolutionary journey of the dangerous nuclear age & a multitude of threats posed by it. The high-octane nuclear saga begins with its expeditious genesis at Los Alamos and traverses the bone chilling nuclear flashpoints of Cold War to unraveling a multitude of serious challenges emanating from it in the 21st century's multi-polar world now. The whittling down of the traditional, rule-based world order has been the overarching theme now following China's military ascendancy as Asia's hegemon and the global revisionist power along with the resurgence of Russia's renewed threat to Europe. China's ongoing power struggles with the United States, along with active military preparations to challenge America's established global dominance; especially with plans to expand its nuclear arsenal manifold going forward and an eventual face-off over long term; seems like the script for a Nuclear Apocalypse taken right out of Hollywood and set sometimes in the middle of the current century.
Will the ultimate contest and the ongoing tussle & tug-of-war for global supremacy eventually cause a formal, direct confrontation between the U.S. & NATO-led West and the rapidly evolving China-Russia-North Korea-Iran axis; which, judging from the chain-reaction of current series of events, seems inevitable; leading up to a Nuclear Armageddon or will there somehow be a fortunate twist-in-the-tale and humanity, somehow, will prove to be lucky once again, only time will tell.
As Hegel initially and later Marx, famously said, "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, the second time as farce".
The Tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is way behind us.
However, Let's Brace Up for the Farce Now...
Part 1 of this 3-part Series covers the Era from 'Trinity Tests' in 1945 to the 'Hanging Sword of Damocles' in 1960
Part 2's coverage will range from the 1960 to 1980 - 'From Doomsday Machine' to 'Detente and Arms Reduction'
Part 3 will cover the the End of Cold War, Globalization to 'Return to Unipolarity'
