Semantics and Ideology of Nuclear Order

Abstract

The article deals with the substance and rhetoric of the notion of “nuclear order” in a deconstructivity manner. Building on the definition of nuclear order as a set of institutions, norms, and practices governing the development and use of nuclear technology, the analysis focuses more on what is behind this “pragmatic compromise” in the world of international (and nuclear) anarchy. The key premise is that the discourse and politics of nuclear order are mechanisms of normalization of nuclear danger as something that can be managed and well-ordered. This kind of thinking and dealing with the nuclear threat, which is becoming an imminent one by the day, is embedded in the ideology of the imperial status quo. At a time when humanity faces existential threat(s), inter alia because of a possible nuclear clash, the academic rhetoric and action should shift the paradigm away from the “Don’t Look Up” film parody. The current arrangements of nuclear constraints, deterrence, non-proliferation etc. should be pictured for what they really are: a politics of acceptance to life on a brink of total disaster based on the false belief that the national security state and the military alliances are able to protect Us vs Them.