Rachel Griffith
Ms. Karen Rose
AP World History
24 May 2017
Do Iran and North Korea Have the Right to Pursue Nuclear Weapons?
Does another country have the right to stop another country from pursuing nuclear weapons? By stopping a country from pursuing nuclear weapons, the country would have a reduced ability to deter war and to defend itself during war. Also, the United States and Russia were not exactly stable when they started the pursuit of nuclear weapons but nobody attempted to prevent them from going after it. Therefore, Iran and North Korea have the right to pursue nuclear weapons despite the unstable governments and civilization because it would provide them a greater ability to deter war and defend themselves during war. Also, if the United States and Russia could pursue nuclear weapons while unstable, why can Iran and North Korea not do so.
DETERRING AND DEFENDING USING NUCLEAR WEAPONS
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Approximately 50% of the energy in a nuclear weapon is used as blast energy ("The Energy from a Nuclear Weapon") which makes for a highly destructive weapon. Another 35% of the energy in a nuclear weapon is used to make thermal energy ("The Energy from a Nuclear Weapon"), which would produce a lot of heat. Also, 15% of the energy in a nuclear weapon is used to produce nuclear radiation which is very dangerous and can cause cancer ("The Energy from a Nuclear Weapon"). Due to this, a nuclear weapon with a yield (this is a way of measuring the amount of explosive energy that can be produced based off of the amount of TNT that would produce the exact amount of energy when it explodes) of one megaton would wipe out 80 square miles ("The Energy from a Nuclear Weapon"). Nuclear weapons are dangerous, but they are good for deterring war and defending a country during a time of