Derecho internacional

Legality of Nuclear weapons

Nuclear weapons in the International law
Ever since civilization exists there have been conflicts that often conclude into war. In every period of history people of all cultures have faced the need to evoke to military deployment to protect their rights, to colonize new territories, to impose their religion etc.
War has become a subject of study to manyscholars and it´s well know that is a broad and profound subject. Is important to delimitate the concept of war which is being referred to in this essay, in this case it can be defined as “...a contention between two or more States, through their armed forces, for the purposes of overpowering each other and imposing such conditions of peace as the victor pleases.” Therefore the interest is focused on warbetween states (in the modern sense). Consequently it is since the Peace of Westphalia that we can talk about interstate wars.
Warfare has always been an important issue in the domestic and international scenario; most countries invest great amounts of money in the development of new weapons and infrastructure for their military complex. But since the beginning of the Second World War thedevelopment of nuclear weapons has become a priority in some countries. Nuclear weapon states justify their nuclear arsenal presenting it just as a mean of defense based on the deterrence Policy. “The deterrence theory [policy] explores the conditions under which a state can deter another opponent from taking an action that is contrary to that state's interests”

War and International Law
A lothas changed since the wars of knights and swords in the middle age, strategies, combatants and weapons have evolved, for better or for worse the methods used in war have become more effective in terms of defeating the adversary. Throughout history various methods have been used, and before any kind of war regulation was made, these methods were clearly inhuman; practices like poisoning sources ofwater and the murder of civilians were very common.
As weapons started to become more lethal, with a broader range of attack, and the assaults of entire cities more frequent the civil population including children and elders, became more vulnerable and sometimes targets in a war. Fortunately, mankind realized that war in those conditions was unacceptable.
Aware that the horrors of armedconflict must be mitigated the International Committee for the relief of military wounded is created in 1863 and in 1876 it changes its name to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be the promoter of international humanitarian law (IHL). The main objective of IHL is “for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. [To] protect persons who are not or are no longerparticipating in the hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare.” IHL also known as the law of war, started to be developed thru the Geneva Conventions that regulate very specific aspects of warfare.
The history of military encounters changed dramatically when in 1939 President Roosevelt decided to form a special committee to investigate the military implications of atomic research. OnSeptember 1942 the Manhattan Project starts with the purpose of creating an atomic bomb before the Germans. And so they did. The United States used their “new military technology” on two regretful occasions during the Second World War. The first was a uranium bomb dropped in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and the second, three days later a plutonium bomb dropped in Nagasaki. The detonation of thebombs caused a lot of damage and many civilians were killed. The attacks also left a trail of pain among the Japanese who suffered poisoning from the radiation and other illnesses such as leukemia.
As it is known, technology grows at an incredibly fast rate and law must be constantly following its steps. After such tragic events the international community questioned the legality of those types...