Nuclear Deterrence: Striking the Right Balance

To the majority of the public, nuclear weapons appear to be a thing of the past – a bargaining chip for the two great powers of the bipolar world of the Cold War. The START treaties were a distant pinpoint of light, a hope that one day the world could be without nuclear weapons, and no one would have to fear a nuclear winter blocking out the sun. Fast forward to the 21^st century, and it would appear that light is further away than we would have hoped. Nuclear weapons are making a comeback, and it does not take a master’s student to figure that out. At the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Nuclear Policy Conference, I have learned is there is much more to nuclear policy than I originally thought.

Nuclear policy is more than just who should and who should not have nuclear weapons. The game primarily rotates around the idea of deterrence – which is essentially a giant balancing act. Nations like the United States want to keep their nuclear weapons because China and Russia have them, and these two latter nations want their weapons for the same reasons. These three major players are not interested in seeing the spread of nuclear weapons because it throws the global balance off, and disrupts the focus that the major powers have on one another. Additionally, technology used to diminish the chances of a retaliatory strike – such as ballistic missile defense – reduces the efficacy of deterrence, even if defenses are erected to guard against a nation other than China or Russia; BMDs will not discriminate based on the missile’s origin.

         
The major states are generally rational players, and are not interested in starting a global nuclear war – backed up by the fact that Russia, China, and the United States vastly favor second strike capabilities. Non-proliferation offers the chance for the world to stop the spread of nuclear weapons technology, a vital tool needed in order for disarmament to come into full force. The three powers seem to all agree that they do not need nuclear weapons, no one really does, but as long as the “opposing” nations have them, they will keep their own. Due to China’s very small arsenal, they are currently left out of the major START talks, but in the future, when the US and Russian stockpiles dwindle to be on parity with China, they will be brought into the fold, so all three nations can work on ridding the world of nuclear weapons together.

As smaller, less rational nations acquire nuclear weapons, the United States and other nations have to react. Our response has been the increased construction and research into BMDs – as stated before; this reduces the efficacy of deterrence between the great powers – but we cannot rely on diplomacy or peer pressure to remove the nuclear weapons from places like North Korea. Instead, we must use all the tools in our shed in order to provide for the safety of ourselves and our allies. Unfortunately, this potentially opens up the way for a mini-arms race in the form of a proportional response from China and Russia.

         
The fortunate side to the alliances that the United States has with Japan, Korea, and the nations of NATO means they do not need nuclear weapons themselves. They are covered underneath our umbrella of extended deterrence – a form of deterrence which essentially means we deter threats beyond our borders. However, politicians such as M.J. Chung, a veteran member of South Korea’s National Assembly, are advocating for the acquirement of nuclear weapons, in order to better defend themselves against North Korean threats. Chung has been touring the United States, speaking at different venues, and making the case for a nuclear South Korea, but I doubt encouragement and the mission was solely his. During his remarks, he made several, subtle references to the incoming President Park Geun-hye, whom I believe actually sent Chung out to rally support. If that’s the case, then the drive is not just one or two National Assembly members, but the leader of their nation, a very serious issue.

        

Amongst rational states, nuclear weapons do not seem to act as a deterrent against conventional wars. Nuclear weapons are only a deterrent against the use of other nuclear weapons. In the 80s, Argentina went to war with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, well aware of the fact that the latter was in possession of nuclear weapons. However, the regime responsible for initiating the war knew that such a small scale conflict, mixed with the rationality of the British, were confident in knowing that nuclear weapons would not be involved in the fighting.

           

One of the most interesting points of nuclear deterrence is the development of the technology level of the United States. As our nation continues to jump ahead and lead the rest of the world in advanced weaponry and military hardware, we will eventually get to a point where the deployment of conventional weapons could equal or eclipse active nuclear weapons. Moreover, the use of just conventional weapons is more acceptable to the global community than the connotations associated with nuclear weapons (i.e. radioactivity). The United States certainly has shown that we are not squeamish when it comes to using the necessary force to punish those that have attacked or wronged us or our allies.

           

                                         I had the opportunity to ask Major-General Yao Yunzhu about 
                                                       China's attitude towards US BMD.
                                                        Photo: Ben Levelius

                                            

Nicaragua: Development or Delusion

Well, I'm back from Nicaragua, but I wanted to comment on my last week in the country.

Due to a miscommunication between our American contact and the Nicaraguan NGO, our hosts had no idea that we planned to stay for a second week until halfway through our first week. Fanny, the coordinator, got in contact with some of her connections around town and we took positions working with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health- spreading mosquito pellets to combat dengue fever and malaria. We also performed a census on diarrhea symptoms throughout the town and handed out anti-dysentery packets. It wasn't very difficult work, but it was interesting in the people we had the opportunity to interact with and the conversations we had.

During the break, two of my classes at the University of Maine required me to read books on development: The Bottom Billion and Why Nations Fail. Reading both caused me to pause during my work and think about what we were doing. What's the point of a group of American and Canadian students spending two weeks in Nicaragua, performing jobs easily completed by Nicaraguans? Is what we were doing sustainable? Are we going to leave an imprint, or is everything going to fall apart when we leave? More to the point, why should we astroturf aid into a country, when we could be doing it organically in our own countries?

I first talked with one of the Peace Corps volunteers about this and she held nothing back. The type of work we were doing was worthless. The people wouldn't benefit from building a wall or a chicken coop because they weren't doing it themselves. The visits to the schools were pointless grandstanding and, in fact, further reinforced their dependence on foreigners and the superiority/inferiority complexes of both cultures. Groups of gringos like us come to Jinotega all the time and, sure, we'll get some warm and fuzzy feelings, but we're not going to actually fix anything. The only way to help the situation in Nicaragua was through education. The people need to be taught how to develop themselves and how to work in the world around them.

It didn't sit well with me. I brought up some of the issues we've talked about in my classes like cultural suppression through education, stereotyping, and other issues, but she seemed to want to hear nothing of it. Truth be told, she was a pretty negative individual and it frustrated me to see someone working in a job I would have loved to have take such a hostile position on Nicaraguan development and aid in general. I looked for more discussion.

The second person I talked to was one of the Ministry of Health employees. He had a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from Evangelical University of Nicaragua but spent his days handing out diarrhea packets and spreading mosquito pellets. He was open on his views. Daniel Ortega, the president of the country, was failing to provide for the people. He was looking for hand outs from Russia, Venezuela, and Cuba when he should be opening up the country to better and more jobs. He understood a lot of Nicaraguans' disgust with the US and the Reagan Administration in particular (see: Nicaraguan Civil War) but it's time to put the history behind them and reform. This was a bold statement coming from a person forced into hiding between the ages of 14 and 17 to prevent being kidnapped by one of the civil war armies and compelled to fight. He had innumerable friends living in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the US who fled the country to escape the poverty and instability at home. He felt that, yes, although much of the work we were doing could be completed by Nicaraguans and wasn't truly developmental, the experience was necessary. The exchange of ideas offered to him and other Nicaraguans through interacting with Americans and Canadians in the way we did was priceless. In a nation where people are generally required to declare their political party (Sandinista) to get a good job, freely interacting with and discussing ideas like he and I were able to was refreshing. What's more, watching Americans and Canadians do their own dishes, play with children, get their hands dirty, and care for others flew in the face of the stereotypes many Nicaraguans had of rich, smug, selfish, self-serving gringos. He appreciated us and the work we did, because the intangibles had more of an impact than the work itself.

The next person I talked to about development was our host and NGO coordinator, Fanny. I brought up both perspectives to her and she tended to agree with the Ministry of Health employee (but made a point of not really having any strong political opinions). She said that the neighborhoods we worked in were created through the civil war the Reagan Administration partially funded. Farmers and people from the countryside were bombed out of their homes and forced to set up shanty-towns on the outskirts of Jinotega over the 10 years of conflict. You could draw a line where this town began because, suddenly, the nicely painted, connected, and clean shops and homes gave way to tin siding, dirt floors, plastic bags and bottles, and poverty. For her, a group of young Americans coming to the town was something that represented more than aid. We were coming to fix a mess our people helped create over thirty years ago.

I understand what she was saying. I also feel like she needs all the volunteers and help possible to keep her NGO running, but I can't help but feel that there was validity in some of her statements. Maybe the direct volunteerism of a bunch of mainly Greek Life (myself and 3 others excluded) students might not look like much, but the manner in which we conducted ourselves did.

The last conversation I had was with Andrea who came to be called Mama by many of our students. She said that when the normal Anglo-Americans come to Jinotega (older, richer, whiter) she gets treated differently. WE talked and joked with her and bought her things when we went shopping. We called her mama and asked if she needed help with any of the projects she had to complete. Every morning, one or two of us would sit in the kitchen and chat with her and help stir pots while she cooked for the twelve of us (part of our placement fee). One time she jokingly asked one of us for a beer from the market and we BOUGHT her one! We refused to let her do our dishes, our laundry, or serve us. She said it was refreshing to not be treated like "the help" and it made her cry to see us go.

This experience, though only 2 weeks long, taught me a lot about myself and society. I feel like the ways that we look at aid, development, and internationalization are different from the ways they are and perception accounts for a lot of it, but I still have a lot to learn. I look forward to my next adventure.

Next Step: Completing the Film

After 19 days, we are back in Orono. “Exhaustion” is not an adequate enough description of how we feel, but I can honestly say that we accomplished what we went to Bolivia to do.

Now we are faced with a different set of hurdles to launch ourselves over.

Having never made a real documentary (just a piece about Elvis when I was in the 6th grade—pretty epic), I am quickly realizing how much time, effort and money it takes to do this right. For instance, translators typically charge 10 – 15 cents per word. Whoa! Clearly I am in the wrong field.

So there’s that, and then there’s the whole music licensing process…Fortunately, quite a few people are interested in attending my 25th birthday bash, which I am turning into a benefit concert for the remaining costs of the project (March 29th at Happy Acres Hall in Alton, Maine).

Thanks to the generosity of SPIA funders, Muna and I were able to journey to Bolivia to capture this intriguing story. Now it comes down to figuring out how to convey to American and Bolivian viewers alike, what we found and why people should care.

With moving parts slowly syncing up, we have yet to set a screening date, but once we do, spread the word. We are going big.

Sincerely,
Kate and Muna

Safe in La Paz

After a 10-hour overnight bus ride on dirt roads, Muna and I are safely back in La Paz, albeit a bit sleep deprived. Despite the exhaustion and the 5 hour (and counting) wait to check into our room, we are hitting the trail hard and meeting with the head of finance at Jacha Inti. We have heard reports of an American company that controls the quinoa exports, but the story is fuzzy and the relationship between Jacha Inti and the so-called monopoly is also unclear.

With just under 2 days left to go, Muna and I are finally allowing ourselves to feel confident in the material we have gathered while in Bolivia. Our time spent in Chacala following “Cici and Leo” (as we fondly we refer to our quinoa-farming couple) was challenging to say the least, but deeply enriched the overall experience and eventually the quality of the film. Four days without a bathroom, sleeping on the floor of an old daycare with mice as roommates, and living off of canned tuna, crackers, and coke is worth it. J

Now off to a chic coffee shop in La Paz to get the other side of the story.

-Kate and Muna

A meal of quinoa soup Cici cooked for us.

Update from Bolivia

We are rocking it, good fortune seems to be on our side. Our points of contact have been priceless—going through great lengths to assist us. It all started in Cochabamba, a booming city with heavenly spring temperatures, vibrant colors, bustling markets, eager tourists, and more importantly, the University of San Simon, one of the largest and most prominent public universities in Bolivia. We were able to interview two imperative and resourceful people, Juan Erwin Soliz, “the Dean” and Jorge Rojas, a bio-technician and quinoa expert.

From there we were off again; ready to embark on a new endeavor, to the city of Uyuni, home to the world’s largest salt flat. Uyuni salt flat was large with exceptional flatness, clear skies, fluffy clouds—simply breathtaking and a bit messy. Here, we were able to get connected to great local quinoa farmers in Chacala, in the province of Potosi (about an hour away). The place is small, semi-impoverished, and certainty not as appealing to the eyes as the previous cities, as there are no enthusiastic tourists backpacking anywhere here. It is difficult to get there, with rough, bumpy roads, and unpredictable weather making the journey more difficult but certainty worth the trouble. There are quinoa fields stretching miles long.

The journey still continues. So stay tuned for more fun-filled adventures.

-Muna and Kate

On the Quinoa Trail in the Altiplano of Bolivia

We are at it again—both of us: Kate and Muna, Bolivia-style. Some of you may remember us from our summer internship posts—myself, Kate, motor biking through Timor-Leste, and Muna, mat-hoping in Somali refugee camps in Kenya. For this adventure we have teamed up—combined our passion for social justice with a thirst for adventure. Waaaaaatch out.

The impetus for our current adventure was an idea I had to combine art with activism. A student in global policy, I have always wanted to weld my creative side with my diplomatic, power suit self. Having always been drawn to film, I was intrigued by the idea of making a documentary about an issue that the general public should know more about, and that requires more effective policy-making. Having made a connection to an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker at a human cremation ceremony in Bali after my summer research in Timor-Leste, my interest in documentary filmmaking was piqued.

Long story short, I figured Muna was the right person for the project, and Muna agreed. Now we are in the Altiplano of Bolivia following the quinoa story.

The first article I read about the topic was posted on a friend’s Facebook page:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa

However, I had a feeling that there was more to the story.

So here we are, a motley crew, in the Altiplano of Bolivia—the quinoa capital of the world.

Film Crew:
Muna Abdullahi: The Anthropologist.
Natalia Valdivia: The translator.
Kate Kirby: The comic relief.

With connections to the #1 and #2 quinoa experts in Bolivia, the largest producer of quinoa in the world, we are here, attempting to follow the quinoa trail. Stay tuned for updates from the field…

Broadcasting from Nicaragua

Hello everyone!

This Spring Break I was offered the opportunity to advise a group of undergraduate students on a service trip to Nicaragua.We arrived on Saturday and have been working ever since.

The town we are staying in is called Jinotega. It is a pretty small city in the northern part of Nicaragua on a high plateau. The town is serviced by a Peace Corps mission and we have interacted with one of the people associated with it since we got here. It is a beautiful and busy town with a few schools, a vibrant downtown, and an amazing market.

Our group of people was divided into 4 separate teams to tackle the initiatives the NGO we are working with, Circulo de Amigas, found for us. I and another University of Maine student, Tom, spent the day today ripping down a crumbling wall by a bread shop and a school to replace it with a better constructed one. It has been great and the people have been very positive and upbeat about the work that we have been doing. Having two obviously gringo guys building a wall running along a street has been too enticing of a spectacle for a lot of the kids in the town and we probably had a group of fifteen kids from time to time. Luis, the owner of the bakery, and his grandson, five year old Fernando, worked with us throughout the day. Some of the locals also stopped to thank us for the work we were doing and to chat politics (oddly enough) with us.

Yesterday I went to a farm in the middle of the countryside to help build a chicken coop. The owners of the farm where we were working support the Circulo de Amigas with food and work, but they are also getting old and are having a hard time keeping up with the chores. It was a great experience and they made a point to explain how much they appreciated the help.

I have not had the opportunity to try the other initiatives, yet, but I expect to soon. I am enjoying the hot weather and look forward to finishing the retaining wall tomorrow.

More to come!