Annan calls for swift action on nuclear disarmament

"Mutually assured destruction has been replaced by mutually assured paralysis," outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today of the state of international debate over nuclear arms in a major policy address at Richardson Auditorium.

Likening the international community to a pilot "asleep at the controls of a fast-moving aircraft," Annan criticized the lack of a unified global strategy for disarmament and nonproliferation as the main reasons that nuclear weapons still threaten humanity.

While he did not discount the importance of combating the spread of biological and chemical weapons, Annan said he considers nuclear arms the greatest current danger, citing a crisis of confidence in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and fears that terrorists may gain access to nuclear materials.

"Even a single bomb can destroy an entire city," he said. "These weapons pose a unique threat to humanity as a whole."

With the collapse of the Cold War, the notion of mutually assured destruction gave way to the realization that widespread nuclear arms pose a serious threat to the future of civilization, Annan said. The international community is split into two camps, he explained, with one side favoring rapid disarmament of existing nuclear states and the other focusing on preventing proliferation of weapons to previously non-nuclear nations.

"The debate echoes a much older argument: Are weapons a cause or a symptom of conflict?" Annan said. "I believe both debates are sterile, counterproductive and based on false dichotomies."

In Annan's view, the goals of nonproliferation and disarmament should be accomplished concurrently. "We must tackle both tasks with the urgency they demand," he said. "Yet each side waits for the other to move. This sends a terrible signal of disunity and ... creates a vacuum that can be exploited."

He addressed both sides of the issue, advising nations supporting each position to work together to accomplish the real goal: "the progressive elimination of all nuclear weapons, under strict and effective international control."

Annan also theorized that a "reverse domino effect" could be attempted, in which leading nations would systematically reduce their nuclear arsenals to "devalue the currency of nuclear weapons and encourage others to follow suit." This, in turn, would create a situation where "it would be much easier to confront proliferators if the very existence of nuclear weapons were universally acknowledged and dangerous and ultimately illegitimate."

The Secretary-General ended with an exhortation to the audience. "My dear young friends," he said to the students in attendance, "you are already admirably engaged in the struggle for global development, for human rights and for the protection of the environment. Please bring your energy and imagination to this debate."

Wilson School dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80, who introduced Annan, said in an e-mail that his speech "had the hallmarks of many of his most important statements: a determination to address both sides of a debate that has become paralyzed and to tackle each side's toughest arguments."

"He offered the voice of reason ... as well as offering some realistic, concrete steps," she added. "Above all, though, he performed the function that the Secretary-General is often the only global figure able to perform — to insist on global attention to an issue and to let no party off the hook."