Rotary Log for April 25, 2019
Today we ventured into the world of Dr. Strangelove. Except in this version of the story, nobody has tried to push the nuke button—yet. Before we get to this week’s enthralling presentation, a few preliminaries.
President Cleo was on a one-week family sabbatical so VP Leo stepped up to the plate. Greeter par excellence Paris commenced the Four-Way Test. Al Lantinen led us with a hearty rendition of America the Beautifuland John Rice gave the Invocation.
We had a long list of visiting guests—one to be exact. But, since VP Leo did not forward the guest list, the name is lost to history. C’est dommage!
Turning to announcements, President Cleo’s President’s Project is renovation work at the John Paul Jones House. The place is in disrepair and in need of some Rotary TLC. Rotary volunteers will paint the fence, an interior floor and perform some general yard work Friday, May 3, from 8:30 am to 4 pm. We’ll have a cookout at noon. Saturday, May 4, is reserved as an alternate rain date or as a follow-up day to finish any work left unfinished on Friday. More volunteers are needed and will be most welcome. Please participate, if you can.
Fittingly, Walter Liff—whose past contributions to Rotary are countless--has been made an honorary member of the club. As such, he may join us as a guest anytime he pleases. Bill Hurley reminds all about the Crutches for Africa initiative. A loading event takes place May 11 starting at 9 am in Biddeford. Volunteers are needed and welcome.
The Rotary Fest District Conference in Portland, June 22, runs from 9 am to 5:30 pm. All are welcome and the event is free. There will be hands-on projects and family activities along with the usual conference matters.
Sarah Treacy needs more volunteers for the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen on April 30. Paul Lucy and Al Lantinen are on board. John Rice needs more Log writers. Anyone interested in memorializing the club’s history, come on down!
Lastly, Dave Holden plugged the upcoming Poetry Hoot. Surprise guest Basil Richardson will participate—the rumor is he will be speaking in plain English—a first!
Cathy Berger won the $52 raffle. There was no match.
Moving on to the main event, Stella Scamman introduced Professor Ken Strauss who holds numerous degrees in history. He is in the process of finishing a second book on--you guessed it—history. Professor Strauss made a scholarly presentation about the history of nuclear proliferation. He touched on the many global attempts via treaties to thwart and contain expansion of nuclear weapons of mass destruction.
The year was 1987. Mikhail Gorbachev was into his second year as the third General Secretary of the Soviet Union. He had been elected after cold war stalwart, Leonid Brezhnev, died three years earlier. President Reagan and Gorbachev got off to a rocky start, but Gorbachev saw the writing on the wall and Reagan’s resolve. Perestroika was about to see the light of day.
Just before the fall of the Berlin wall, Reagan and Gorbachev negotiated the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The agreement eliminated nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,000 km. This led to the removal of approximately 2000 missiles, primarily in Europe. For his part, Reagan gave up on the missile defense system known colloquially as the Star Wars initiative. The treaty proved more symbolic than factual. Still, Europeans felt protected from the weapons and began to rely on the two super powers to bring global stability.
The tale is a sober one. The cold war ran from 1945 to 1987. In that time, new types of nuclear weapons were developed--the hydrogen bomb the most lethal of the bunch. The US took the lead over the Soviets. Not to be outdone, the Soviets focused on space and launched Sputnik I.
Behind in the space race, the US focused its efforts on developing a massive nuclear arsenal and the Triad nuclear delivery options. This led to the notion of MAD—mutually assured destruction, which provided the psychological framework for restraint and deterrence. The 1970’s brought the emergence of ICBMs and the development of the first intermediate nuclear forces. Dr. Strangelove was on the collective minds of the world. It was in this time that nuclear ban treaties came into being.
Growing US nuclear power and the expanding danger of neighbor, China, spurred Russian paranoia. As a result, the Soviets entered the first of several nuclear nonproliferation treaties, SALT I in 1970. President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were the primary authors of the first treaty. This was followed by SALT II in 1979, START I in 1991 and START II in 2011.
For those of us old enough to remember, bomb shelters in school were a real thing. Air raid drills became something practiced annually. The SALT and START treaties changed that—at least for the time being!
All the players in this nuclear drama, from Gorbachev to Yeltsin to Presidents Clinton and Bush II, kept the peace and treaties intact. Despite all the areas of conflict, from the Balkans, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan to the Middle East, detent ruled supreme, the treaties prevailed. Fast forward to 2018 and the emergence of a new train of thought—an arms race as a form of security.
The INF Treaty requires periodic renewals. The last was due at the end of 2018, but President Trump decided not to renew. His reasoning was that other countries, other than Russia, now have these weapons. Why shouldn’t the US have them, too? Russian President Putin followed suit and also decided not to renew. Another rationale for not renewing is that these are missiles, not nukes.
But the missing adjunct to this rationale is that missiles can be armed with nuclear warheads. Missiles plus nuclear warheads equals proliferation. Surprise, surprise—the arms race is on! China, India, Pakistan, the U.K., France, North Korea. Iran? Israel (we know you have them!) Saudi Arabia? [Enter country name here.]
Professor Strauss weighed in with his personal opinions. He disagrees with most of Trump’s policies regarding weapons proliferation. He disagrees with all of Putin’s policies. Fissures of instability are growing around the globe. Poland, Hungary, Georgia, Moldova, the Arctic, etc. Stay tuned—we are in for a very bumpy geopolitical ride. Professor Strauss is hoping 2020 will bring much needed realignment. We’ll see.
Respectfully submitted, Mark Lorusso
Photos by Chad Chadwick
