Build readiness against rising dirty-war risks

This August 6 marks 80 years of the US's nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, which permanently altered the trajectory of global security and warfare.

- PJS Pannu

The two bombs dropped in 1945, on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki three days later, killed over 350,000 people instantly and left another 400,000 dead within a few months —introducing the world to the devastating potential of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). At the time, the yield or intensity of these weapons was relatively modest compared to the nuclear arsenal that exists today. Today, the world faces far more advanced, lethal, and widespread threats under the growing umbrella of “dirty wars”. The scale of suffering and devastation is beyond comprehension, and today’s weapons are exponentially more powerful. There are estimated to be over 12,000 nuclear warheads in the world. Many of the modern strategic nuclear weapons are thermonuclear weapons, having yields equivalent toa 100 kilo tonnes (KT) of TNT and above. This has the potential to destroy the world as we know it many times over. Tactical nuclear weapons can be 50 KT and less.

The India-Pakistan conflict captures the world’s attention given both have nuclear capabilities. A nuclear bomb’s destruction extends far beyond its immediate blast radius. It generates an intense fireball, a blinding flash, a shockwave and, most dangerously, ionising radiation. The radioactive mushroom cloud not only contaminates the target, but reaches far-flung regions, depending on wind conditions —rendering vast areas uninhabitable for decades.