Topic: 2025 – No First Use Policies and Nuclear Disarmament
Country: Thailand
Delegate Name: Brendan Murphy
DISEC
No First Use and Nuclear Disarmament
Thailand
Brendan Murphy
Ever since their inception and consequent use in 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have only grown in number and power. They have the ability to destroy entire cities, and leave devastating effects on the environment that can be felt for decades after the fact. Although they have only been used twice in actual warfare, we know their devastating effects from those two cases and the thousands of nuclear tests done by various countries. All out nuclear war would kill billions, and efforts to reduce the risk of such an event or prevent them altogether have been largely unsuccessful. Currently, China is the only country with a true “No First Use” policy, meaning they won’t use their nuclear weapons unless they are used against them first, while others have only limited disarmament from the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
Thailand has been a key country in the advancement of disarmament progress over the years, with many treaties being heavily supported by the country. Thailand strongly believes that to achieve international peace and security, full scale disarmament and arms control is necessary. The country also has a strict policy to not develop, produce, or proliferate any forms of Weapons of mass destruction. This is why Thailand has signed and been a part of many treaties in the past. The Partial Test Ban Treaty, which Thailand ratified in 1963, prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which Thailand ratified in 1972, aimed to stop the spread and creation of nuclear weapons. In 2017, Thailand was among the first countries to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, demonstrating a strong commitment to total nuclear disarmament. Thailand has continued to encourage other members to follow suit, however many have yet to.
Thailand believes that in order to foster a safe and secure international community, disarmament and arms control is a requirement for everyone in the international community. Thailand will continue to push for more countries to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and believes it is a large step forward towards total nuclear disarmament. Along with this, Thailand will continue to support other members who support disarmament, and will continue to support legislation of the same nature. Thailand will also continue to attempt to make other countries aware of the dangers nuclear weapons pose, and why disarmament is important.
