UN nuclear head fears new cold war

The world could be pushed back to the brink of destruction, as during the height of the cold war, due to the spread of nuclear technology, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has said. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that the former US president John F Kennedy’s prediction of a world with 20 or 30 countries with nuclear weapons could become a reality.

“No one has seriously taken up the challenge of developing an alternative approach to security that eliminates the need for nuclear deterrence. But only when such an alternative system is created will nuclear weapon states begin moving toward nuclear disarmament. And only when nuclear-weapon states move away from depending on these weapons for their security will the threat of nuclear proliferation by other countries by meaningfully reduced.”

guardian