Abstract

Who's Next?

The article focuses on the book "Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superweapons in a Fragmenting World," by William E. Burrows and Robert Windrem. This book argues that while the end of the cold war lessened chances of a global nuclear war, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the expertise to build them have accelerated dangerously. With impressive reporting, the authors detail how the spread of computers and high technology as well as the growth of scientifically educated elites in the Third World opened the doors of the world's most exclusive club. Today, the nuclear list is growing: Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea possess nuclear weapons; Iran, Iraq, Libya and Algeria have active programs; Argentina, South Africa, Brazil and South Korea have allegedly quiescent programs; and Egypt and Indonesia are believed by most informed observers to be taking the first steps toward nuclear weapons development.