Weapons of Mass Destruction

• Weapon of Mass Destruction - weapons that cause widespread indiscriminate damage
• Biological weapon - warfare that makes use of bacteria, viruses, toxins etc. to disable or destroy people, domestic animals, food crops
• Chemical weapon - poisonous, asphyxiating or corrosive chemical agent to incapacitate, harm, or kill military/civilian groups
• Nuclear weapon - explosive device, whose destructive potential derives from the release of energy that accompanies the splitting or combining of atomic nuclei
• Just War Theory - theory specifies conditions judging if it is just to go to war [Jus ad Bello] + the conditions for how the war should be fought [Jus in Bello]
• Arguments for nuclear weapons

  • deterrence
  • utilitarianism
• Arguments against nuclear weapons

  • economics
  • loss of life and destruction
• Arguments for nuclear weapons - deterrence

  • many argue that owning nuclear weapons deters other countries from using their weapons
  • some argue that each country disarming their nuclear weapons at the same time is safest
• Arguments for nuclear weapons - utilitarianism

  • ethical theory that says we should aim for the positive effects of something to outweigh the negative effects
  • alternatively for the greatest happiness for the greatest possible amount of people
  • USA argued that dropping nuclear bombs on Japan caused the end of WW2 in the least costly manner possible in terms of money, American lives, and time
• Arguments against nuclear weapons - economics

  • buying and maintaining nuclear weapons costs money that could otherwise be spent on healthcare or benefits
• Arguments against nuclear weapons - loss of life and destruction

  • nuclear weapons do not discriminate between innocent civilians and combatants, targeting huge areas
  • they can do huge amounts of damage to the environment
  • they have negative health effects for many generations after the attack due to radiation
• Chemical weapons spread lethal chemicals that cause widespread death and disease

  • producing weapons or storing them is illegal today

  Biological weapons also cause death on a massive scale and are illegal


  International law prohibits chemical and biological weapons. The Geneva Protocol outlaws both
• The Geneva Protocol means that both chemical and biological weapons are forbidden in international law.