Japan Urges Nuclear Powers to Increase Transparency

Nicole Shevlin
I. Japan Urges nuclear powers to increase transparency
Japantoday.com
May 1st, 2008
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-urges-nuclear-powers-to- increase-transparency
II. This article is about how Japan wants nations around the world to announce all of the nuclear power they have in their possession. Japan is implying that no weapons of mass destruction should be “in hiding” and weapons should be out for the public to know. There is going to be a meeting in the year of 2010 to discuss the best way to handle the situation. Although many countries have responded to this request, some wish not to. The US and Russia have revealed the weapons they have to an extent, but not all. However, China refuses to reveal any type of technology in their possession.
III. Reactions:A) This article relates to the AP World theme of state-building, expansion and conflict because it is showing how nations try to make their country the strongest it could possibly be, how countries try to expand the power and how countries may want to hide their power from others.
B) There is a lot of historical background on this issue. The Cold War and World War II are directly based on nuclear power. The cold war was between Russia and the US because both argued that if either nation attacked the other with nuclear weapons, the other would just destruct the other nation completely. World war II was between the US and Japan. The United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, destroying the nation completely.
C) Although the writer is not identified, he/she is most likely an outsider because they are not in the government and/or have a direct say in what other countries say. They also are most likely a part of the Japanese nation or like what Japan is saying.
D) The point of view of this article is very clear. We can tell the author agrees with what Japan is saying and wants countries to say what nuclear weapons people have in their possessions because he/she downfalls China since they haven’t said what they have in their possession. E) The point of view missing from this article is the Russian, United States and Chinese governments. I would like to hear from these nations because I would want to know if they want to share this information. I would especially want to hear from China, because they have kept their possessions of weapons on the down-low. There may be a reason for this--possibly hiding something from the rest of the world or maybe even planning an attack.
F) I think what Japan is saying is completely reasonable. I think the rest of the world should know what nuclear weapons are in possessions of others. If all nations know about other countries, this could possibly lead to less wars and less hiding even more and different information.