A silenced appeal

By Salama Ahmed Salama

The one notable exception seems to have been the article by the foreign ministers of Ireland and Sweden published in the International Herald Tribune. Basically, however, international public opinion remained unaware of the significance of the international demands not only for an end to nuclear tests, but for agreements leading to the comprehensive eradication of nuclear weapons worldwide. If this neglect is an indication of anything, it is that calls for the creation of regional nuclear free zones are likely to remain utopian, divorced from reality.

The joint appeal reflected the fears of the great majority of the world's nations, which are committed to the non-proliferation treaties they have signed. These fears were compounded by the nuclear tests in the Indian sub-continent. This was the natural outcome of the world community's laxity in pressuring the nuclear powers to fulfil their commitment to global nuclear disarmament, a laxity which has only encouraged non-nuclear states to "catch up" as fast as they can.

The significance of all this is that we are faced with a highly skewed international situation, prejudiced against the great majority of the world's nations, which are non-nuclear. The great nuclear powers have breached their legal commitments and taken not a single step towards nuclear disarmament as stipulated by the international treaties to which they are signatories. So long as these powers, with their massive traditional military capability, can claim for themselves the right to possess nuclear weapons to guarantee their security, it is only natural that other states should demand the same right. As such, the US position on imposing sanctions against India and Pakistan -- and not Israel -- is revealed for what it is, a hypocritical position characterised by its flagrant disregard for the minimum considerations of fair play.

The eight-state appeal called upon the great nuclear powers to resume negotiations on reduction of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction, to be followed by other steps leading to the eradication of tactical nuclear weapons. The appeal calls for a ban on fission materials used in the construction of nuclear weapons. It also asserts the right of non-nuclear states to seek the commitment of nuclear states not to use their nuclear weapons against them or to threaten such use. It is in the context of that appeal that the creation of nuclear-free regions could play a useful part, as a step toward the total eradication of nuclear weapons worldwide.

This reasonable appeal, however, does not seem to have met with any attention from the great powers or the UN. Embraced by eight states and expressing the intense anxiety pervading the world community at the prevailing strategic imbalance, the appeal nevertheless seems to have been stillborn. There are no indications that it is likely to win any attention in the near future.

It is necessary, nevertheless, that Egypt should anchor its policy on making the Middle East a nuclear-free zone within the wider trend toward comprehensive global nuclear disarmament, to be applied to the five great powers as well as India, Pakistan and Israel. Egypt needs to move within the parameters of this trend so that it will not find itself obliged to condemn either India or Pakistan at a time when the US's policies have made Israel an exception to nuclear non-proliferation. Only through such a consistent policy will Egypt be able to force Israel to agree to nuclear disarmament. Only then will the Middle East be free of all weapons of mass destruction.