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Arms Race Gains Speed, Headed by US
With disarmament progress from the early 1990s negated by recent arms expansions, the world is once again threatened by arsenals with devastating potential.
At the root of this peril is an attempt by the United States to build up its supreme military power to fortify its cherished status as leader of the world. Other world powers have contributed much to this grim situation, too.
Blessed by the collapse of the Cold War, a major source of the previous international arms race, disarmament fared well in the early 1990s.
However, regional military conflicts, such as the 1991 Gulf War and the 1999 Kosovo War, have triggered a new phase of the arms race.
In recent years, the world's military expenditures, especially those of the United States and Japan, have grown considerably.
The United States spent US$271.2 billion on the military in the 1998 fiscal year, and US$288.8 billion in the current fiscal year.
George W. Bush, the Republican presidential election front-runner in the United States, has said he will add another US$20 billion to military research if he wins the November election.
Japan's military expenditures have increased by a formidable 67 per cent, from US$29 billion in 1998 to US$48.4 billion in 2000.
And the proportion of Russia's military expenditures to its gross domestic product increased from 2.8 per cent to 3.5 per cent this year.
On the strife-strewn South Asian Subcontinent, instability has increased with India raising its military expenditure by 28 per cent in its 2000-2001 defence budget.
Some countries have also sought to modify international accords to let them accelerate their nuclear arms build-up, a move that would seriously undermine world security.
The wrestling among nuclear superpowers has snagged advancements in nuclear disarmament in recent years.
The nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits all nuclear-weapons test explosions, was ratified in 1996 by the United Nations but was not followed up by some superpowers.
Soon after the UN ratified the treaty, the United States did a series of nuclear tests in January 1997.
In March 1999, the US Congress passed legislation to launch its Theatre Missile Defence and National Missile Defence systems, saying the United States should prepare to foil any nuclear attacks from unpredictable countries such as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran or Iraq.
Later in October, the Congress rejected the test ban treaty and appealed for the amendment of the 1972 Anti-ballistic Missile treaty, a cornerstone agreement between Washington and Moscow forbidding construction of missile shields.
US aggression certainly poses a danger to Russia's strategic interests and has galled a nation with similar nuclear capability. Russia has consequently taken a hard line on its own nuclear strategy.
It scrapped its commitment to not use nuclear weapons first and has turned toward strengthening nuclear weapons in its national defence.
Other countries are not willing to be hostages to superpowers' nuclear plans. Japan has become an active Theatre Missile Defence participant, while India and Pakistan have conducted several nuclear tests for themselves.
Arms sales are another event in the arms race. The Clinton administration has used weapons sales to serve its foreign policy, selling now half the world's arms.
And Russia has eased its restrictions on arms exports to command a larger share of the global weapons market.
A new event in the arms race is high-tech weaponry.
Superpowers seek to maintain their positions as military giants by developing advanced weapons while smaller countries less able to develop import high-tech arms from militarily advanced countries.
This acceleration has been caused by strategic adjustments among world powers since the end of the Cold War. The changes have also broken a balanced world order.
At the end of the Cold War, the United States became the supreme power. To maintain its military advantage, it increased military input and strengthened its nuclear programmes, sparking doubts and uneasiness from other major powers.
To guarantee its security and contend with potential threats from the United States, European nations expanded their military budgets and stepped up high-tech weapons development.
Incessant regional conflicts have worsened the arms control situation. Due to national, religious and territorial disputes, regional conflicts have grown common in recent years, bringing huge demand for weapons.
To keep the world arms race under control, US military hegemonism must be stopped. It is the source of worsening global security.
The United States has drafted an aggressive global strategy. Early this year, it formally asserted that it aims to maintain its supremacy in political, economic and military spheres.
To shore up these ambitions, overwhelming military power is indispensable.
(By Wang Guofang, a PhD candidate with the University of National Defence in Beijing)
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