A mix between short story and essays, this article reflects on issues such as balance-of-power, nuclear weapons, atomic non-proliferation and elementary questions regarding freedom, and peace.

It is often said that the middle of the night isn’t for us humans. It certainly feels like that at times. I’ll never forget that lonely night, some twenty years ago, high up in the Austrian Alps. I camped alone on a meadow surrounded by marmot colonies, at the edge of a peaceful uninhabited valley. I had gone to bed early. There was little to do, and I was equally exhausted from a long day of geologic field work.

Suddenly, a strange thundering sound woke me up. It was about 3 am. I crawled out of my tent, into the crisp September night full of whirling winds and sparkling stars.

I looked up to the sky. There was no cloud. Yet an eerie, deep thundering noise from jet engines filled the sky, slowly moving at great height from North-west to the South-east. These were no ordinary jet engines or ordinary planes. There were no position lights, but shadows eclipsing a star or two and fine lines of condensation only. My common sense told me that I was witnessing the passing of a mighty bomber fleet – it gave me the spooky feeling death was flying right above me. What I sensed during that lonely night was a detachment of the Strategic Air Command, an air fleet of several (usually four to eight) often nuclear-armed B 52 bombers on their southwards patrol along the iron curtain. It took about another five minutes, until the thunder disappeared and peaceful tranquillity returned. Nobody who has felt this eerie sound will be able to forget.

It gave me nightmares about gigantic rusty bomber fleets up in space, flying around the globe and falling down back on earth sooner or later. Having death passing by at height isn’t an easy thing to reconcile with. The sky above our heads should be pure and sacred, at least this being my personal idea of freedom.


These were the early eighties, troubled years in many ways. The Soviet Union was waging a desperate war in Afghanistan. There were fears that this wounded empire would take on the West in one desperate onslaught. No doubt, that the battlefields of such a ferocious scenario would have been somewhere in Central Europe, hence in vicinity of my lonely Alpine valley.

What I’m trying to aim at, is the story about balance of power, and its uncertain legacies. I’m thankful that I was allowed to grow up in peace, with a bit of luck, thanks to the determination of the West not to give in to the continuous Soviet threats and blackmails. This said the pacification of Europe would never have worked without a basic will to cooperate, to help and to share.

Since the Cold War, our planet has changed quite a bit. New plagues and sorrows have made their débuts, with both national and global bodies looking rather helpless.

Today, the five permanent veto powers in the UN Security Council are the powers that consciously designed, developed and produced atomic bombs. It is like the scene in the old classic ‘The treasure of the Sierra Madre.’ Two outlaws find a gold placer, and open an illegal mine. This move, however, doesn’t remain unnoticed. Grudgingly, newcomers are invited to join the club.

On the same lines, the first nuclear powers grudgingly invited the next waves of nuclear nations to join, until the situation grew out off hand, and the nuclear clan decided to ban farther membership.

Who are these five powers?

1. The United States of America, a self-righteous nation, who aggressively promotes her value system. The only nation that ever used nuclear bombs, by incinerating or radiation-kill of several hundreds of thousands of mainly innocent Japanese children, women, and elderly. She also needs a war every ten years or so to keep the country’s weapons industry running.
2. Russia, the shrunk old Soviet Empire, a collapsed state trying to re-invent herself as an oil, gas and metals powerhouse. Paddling behind her lost ‘glory,’ she is largely run by members of the former KGB.
3. China, world’s most populous nation, uneasily emerging from a hundred years of sacrifice, unfathomable cruelty and suffering, plus Mao’s genocide.
4. France and England, two cocky regional powers that control also a few territories and islands such as Montserrat (Br) or Amsterdam Island (Fr). The two nations try to keep the appearance of great colonial empires and global powers, so evidence stands against them. Atomic power is a costly status symbol replacing former greatness, and it also helps to teach other nations about politics.

Actually, these atomic club powers are threatening anyone else in the non-nuclear world. Meanwhile, several other countries with rather murky human right record have been joining the list of atomic powers, but couldn’t join the club of the established ones. There can be no doubt that atomic non-proliferation has failed. Why did it fail? Because nuclear power means access to the red carpet of diplomacy. Make an atomic bomb, and others will take you serious. It’s the 007 of mass destruction, the global license to kill.

That lonely night I felt death flying by above my head, my reason told me it was for a good cause, but this didn’t change the nature of my feeling. How many people felt threatened during that September night? Global peace will never be obtained by demonstrations of military power alone.

What may be used as a show to deter others can be (mis?)-understood as a quest for global domination, and to humble the powerless. If the existing nuclear powers were serious about nuclear non-proliferation, they would minimize their atomic thresholds to levels that nobody might feel humiliated from.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not a dove, I don’t believe in pacifism and I also did serve as a poorly-paid soldier believing someone had to do the job. I think free nations need to be strong to be respected, and that such strength includes military power.

But strength is a composite beast, and most of a country’s strength is actually formed by spiritual, educational, environmental and economic parameters. In that very context, engagement is seen as the far more promising approach compared to military threats.

Then, there is also a consistency problem. Why should Iran feel threatened, if other aggressive dwarf countries such as Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are allowed to get away with atomic non-proliferation?

I wonder myself, how my above thinking could be applied in the current Iran crisis. Well, let’s look at the crisis from an Iranian point of view. Why shouldn’t the country have nuclear power and weapons? Other economic Mickey Mouse countries as the mentioned North Korea, and Pakistan, enjoy the bomb. Isn’t it great to have parades on the main plaza with tanks and rockets? It helps a lot to boost morale, particularly when the kids at home have nothing got to eat, and the totally failed and corrupt governments have lost sight of the last economic silver lining.

Nuclear weapons are, in many ways, like the desperate barking of a hungry and weakened stray dog.

This said, the future Iranian bomb has a few particularly worrying aspects. These are, among others:
• A self-centered bunch of corrupt clerics in power;
• A Hitler-style president;
• A deeply depressed and mal-functioning economy;
• Aggressive speeches plus the denial of the Jewish holocaust.

What to do? Classical appeasement has failed already. Yet, continuing persistent engagement (rather than sabre-rattling) is seen as the only option. Facing continued deafness, the event of a total oil embargo should be flagged. Last not least, diplomacy should make clear statements about the Rubicon that must not be crossed, leading to a Casus Belli. It is the mix of half-hearted engagement, and empty threats that have caused 50 % of the crisis. The other 50 % stem from a ruthless, hardened and ambitious leader, surrounded by crooked and corrupt clerics, willing to test the edge of war.

Be it as it may, there is only one certainty among the many uncertainties: nuclear weapons will continue to haunt the world. The evil genie has escaped from Pandora’s Box, and seems unwilling to return. Ironically, there are so many urgent issues that require immediate and global response. Whilst all these cocky moves and politics are going on, our world is seeing a period of floral and fauna mass destruction. We don’t actually need nuclear weapons. The human race is perfectly capable of ruining the planet - with conventional means such as uncontrolled human reproduction, over-fishing, over-grazing, over-harvesting etc etc etc.

Let me finish this article with a reflection, or prayer. We are far from respecting or tolerating each other, and non-human life is hardly respected at all. When will the day come where we can see another human as a brother, and sky, earth and ocean are free from warfare? Only then, so I believe, can words such as peace and freedom live up to their fullest dimension.

© 2007 by Franz L Kessler