By Michael Garson
Common political theory suggests that countries only act to enhance national power. Economic revitalization, political mobilization, and diplomatic posturing all move towards improving a state, domestically and internationally. However, the advent of the nuclear weapon has completely changed the concept of power. Power was distributed among cavemen based on strength and aggression. During early civilization, power was distributed based purely on numbers of men in an army. The past few centuries evolved power to encompass economics, politics, technology, and knowledge. Though different, all of these systems are egalitarian in nature. They all offer equal footing. However, nuclear weapons allow disproportionate amounts of power. Economic powerhouses like Germany or Japan would not stand a chance against Israel or Pakistan in a full-scale military exchange. The ability to accelerate one’s place in the global pecking order has proven extremely attractive. It is because of the immense power of nuclear weapons to obliterate life as we know it AND to change the distribution of global power, nuclear armament certainly has deserved its own brief.