Weapons of Mass Destruction GCSE Religious Studies Religion Peace Conflict

Weapons of mass destruction are weapons designed to kill or significantly harm great number of people with one use. These weapons are indiscriminate. They target both military people and civilians. Weapons of mass destruction is an umbrella term for three kinds of weapons. Biological weapons, chemical weapons, and nuclear weapons. Biological and chemical weapons are banned by international law, and using them is considered war crime. Nuclear weapons are currently in the process of becoming illegal under international law, but many countries still possess them. biological weapon uses bacteria or virus, or in some case toxins that come directly from bacteria to kill people. Rudimentary forms of biological warfare have been practiced throughout history. For example, some armies threw bodies of plague victims into enemy camps to spread the plague there. And in colonial times, there were several instances of European colonizers deliberately infecting indigenous communities with smallpox. In World War II, the USA, the UK, and France developed several biological weapons, but didn't use them. There were some biological weapons used in Asia, but they didn't have the same resources as the West, so these weren't as advanced. In 1975, biological weapons became illegal under international law. chemical weapon is any weapon that uses manufactured chemical to kill people. The most famous example of chemical weapons use was Nazi Germany's use of cyanide to commit mass genocide of Jewish people in the Holocaust. But there have been several other examples throughout history, too. Modern chemical weapons tend to focus on agents with much greater killing power, meaning that it takes lot less of the chemical to kill the same number of people. Many of them use the sorts of chemicals found in insecticides. Chemical weapons first started becoming illegal under international law as early as 1675, but many more treaties prohibiting them have come into force since then. The Chemical Weapons Convention has effectively outlawed chemical weapons since 1997. Nuclear weapons are extremely powerful explosives. The bombs get their energy from either splitting atoms or joining the particles inside them together. When nuclear weapon is detonated, it releases huge amounts of radiation which can cause illness and environmental damage for decades after detonation. Nuclear weapons are in the process of becoming illegal under international law, but several countries still possess them. Nuclear weapons are seen in the world today as majorly controversial. So why do people have nuclear weapons? The main argument for having nuclear weapons is deterrence. This is the idea that if country has nuclear weapons, other countries won't attack it for fear of the consequences. Mutually assured destruction. Because of this, lot of people believe that having nuclear weapons can help to prevent wars. Nuclear weapons could also be used as powerful weapon against an aggressor. So, some people consider them good from the point of view of defense. There is also sense of efficiency and detachment from military point of view. Nuclear weapons kill lot of people with only one weapon, and the people who make the decision to launch nuclear attack aren't on the front line. Nuclear weapons can also be considered good from utilitarian point of view. If nuclear weapon is used to end war, even though huge amounts of people have been killed, it may have saved greater number of lives by shortening the war. Additionally, many of the countries that have nuclear weapons today are countries that had large empires during colonial times. So possessing these weapons allows them to retain sense of power. But for all those supposed advantages, there are many reasons to oppose them. huge reason people oppose nuclear weapons is simply how cruel they are. If used, they kill huge amounts of people in horribly violent ways, including civilians, not just military personnel. And they have the potential to harm the country that launches them, as well as the country which is attacked. Nuclear weapons require specialist materials and extreme knowledge to manufacture, making them extremely expensive. As nuclear deterrence relies on the weapons not being used, many people see this as waste of money. Money that could be spent on other causes such as healthare, welfare, or the climate. And speaking of climate, nuclear weapons are extremely damaging to the environment as the radiation they produce sticks around and has disastrous consequences for land, water, wildlife, and the climate. lot of people believe that rather than mutually assured destruction, international relations should be based on friendly cooperation and communication. Nuclear weapons also create power imbalance between the countries that have them and those that don't, which can also have negative impact on international relations. So, as you can see, nuclear weapons are complicated and multi-layered issue. It's important to educate yourself on this topic and make up your own mind what you think about them.