A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission or fusion. Both reaction release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter; a modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than a thousand kilograms can produce an explosion comparable to the detonation of more than a billion kilograms of conventional high explosives.

Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction, and their use and control ha been a major focus of international relation policy since their debut. The United States was the first country to ever use a Nuclear Weapon in battle against Japan.

The major arguments for a test ban first proposed in the 1950s. Nations have sought to limit the testing of nuclear weapons to protect people and environment from nuclear radiations and to show the development of nuclear weapons.

There are two basic types of nuclear weapon. The first type produces its explosive energy through nuclear fission reaction alone. The second basic type produces a large amount of its energy through nuclear fusion reactions.

An important question that every concerned individual should ask is: Do these weapons make a country and its citizens more secure? The answer to this question is that they do not and cannot provide physical protection against other nuclear weapons. But the threat of retaliation, known as nuclear deterrence, is not foolproof.

Beginning with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty and continuing through the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, there have been many treaties to limit or reduce nuclear weapons testing and stockpiles. The 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has one of its explicit conditions that all signatories must “pursue negotiations in good faith” towards the long term goal of “Complete disarmament”. Only one country- South Africa- has ever fully renounced nuclear weapons they had independently developed. A number of former soviet republics- Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine- returned Soviet nuclear arms stationed in their countries to Russia after the collapse of the USSR.

Because of the immense military power they can confer, the political control of nuclear weapons has been a key issue for as long as they have existed; in most countries the use of nuclear force can only be authorized by the head of government or head or state.

In the late 1940s, lack of mutual trust was preventing the United States and the Soviet Union from making grounds towards international arms control agreements, but by the 1960s steps were being taken to limit both the proliferation of nuclear weapons to other countries and environmental effects of nuclear testing. The Partial Teat Ban Theory (1963) restricted all nuclear testing to underground nuclear testing; to prevent contamination from nuclear fallout, while the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) attempted to place restrictions on the types of activities which signatories could participate in, with the goal of allowing the transference of non-military nuclear technology to member countries without fear of proliferation.

In 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was establishes under the mandate of the United Nations in order to encourage the development of peaceful applications of nuclear technology, provide international safeguards against its misuse, and facilitate the application of safety measures in its use. In 1996, many nations signed and rectified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty which prohibits all testing of nuclear weapons.

Additional treaties have been governed nuclear weapons stockpiles between individual countries such as SALT 1 and START 1 treaties, which limited the numbers and types of nuclear weapons between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Many nations have been declared Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zones, areas were nuclear weapons production and deployments are prohibited, through the use of treaties. The Treaty of Tlateloke (1967) prohibited any production or deployment of nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Treaty of Pelindaba (1964) prohibits nuclear weapons in many African countries. As recently as 2006 a Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free zone was establishes amongst the former Soviet republics of Central Asia prohibiting nuclear weapons.

In the middle of 1996, the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, issues an advisory opinion concerned with the “Legality of the threat or use of Nuclear Weapons”. The court ruled that the use of nuclear weapons would violate various articles of international law, including the Geneva Conventions, The Hague Conventions, the UN Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In view of the unique, destructive characteristics of nuclear weapons, the International Committee of Red Cross calls on states to ensure that these weapons are never used, irrespective of whether they consider them to be lawful or not.

In the wake of the tests by India and Pakistan in 1998, economic sanctions were levied against both countries, though neither were signatories with Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The policy of trying to prevent an attack by a nuclear weapon from another country by threatening nuclear retaliation is known as the strategy of nuclear deterrence. The goals of any strategy are to make it difficult for an enemy to launch a pre-emptive strike against weapon system and difficult to defend against the delivery of the weapon during potential conflicts. Other components of nuclear strategies have included using missile defense or implementation of civil defense measures.