Mutually Assured Destruction and Strategic Defense Initiative: these terms describe the

role of nuclear deterrence in international relations. In the age of hyper-modern

technology, new information can create, expose, or disprove the possibility of security
threats at any time. However, American political and military elites have the power, both
literal and ideological, to manipulate information and public perception of events. This is
the ability to construct threats at any time regardless of truth. Thus, every nation is a
potential threat to the United States.
The affirmative, then, argues that we should end the era of nuclear deterrence and
move towards creating a situation where no countries with the potential exception of the
United States would have nuclear weapons. The resolution forestalls debate on
threatening non-state actors, although this issue is relevant insofar as nations can be
construed as threats based on actual or claimed support of terrorists.
From the industrial revolution to the Atomic Age, the adoption of increasing fast
methods of communication and transportation has finally created an age of instantaneous
communication, displacing past mythologies of a linear and coherent history.
Jean Baudrillard1 writes (p2): Sofarashistoryisconcerned,itstellinghasbecome
impossiblebecausethattellingis,bydefinition,thepossiblerecurrenceofmeanings.
Now,throughtheimpulsefortotaldisseminationandcirculation,everyeventisgranted
itsownliberation;everyfactbecomesatomic,nuclear,andpursuesitstrajectoryintothe
void.Inordertobedisseminatedtoinfinity,ithastobefragmentedintoaparticle.This
ishowitisabletoachieveavelocityofnoreturnwhichcarriesitoutofhistoryonceand
forall.Everysetofphenomena,whetherculturaltotalityorsequenceofevents,hasto
befragmented,disjointed,sothatitcanbesentdownthecircuits;everykindoflanguage
hastoberesolvedintoabinaryformulationsothatitcancirculatenot,anylonger,in
ourmemories,butintheluminous,electronicmemoryofthecomputers.Nohuman
languagecanwithstandthespeedoflight.
The primacy of technology creates a situation where individuals are paralyzed;
instead of Fukuyamas end of history, we are trapped in a static trance, over-stimulated by
images ultimately lacking any real meaning.
Baudrillard continues (p3-4): Oursocietiesaredominatedbythismassproduction,
notjustinthedemographicandsociologicalsense,butinthesenseofacriticalmass,
ofpassingbeyondapointofnoreturn.Thisisthemostsignificanteventwithinthese
societies:theemergence,intheverycourseoftheirmobilizationandrevolutionary
process(theyareallrevolutionarybythestandardsofpastcenturies),ofanequivalentforceofinertia,ofan
immenseindifferenceandthesilentpotencyofthatindifference.Thisinertmatterofthe
socialisnotproducedbyalackofexchanged,informationorcommunication,butbythe
multiplicationandsaturationofexchanged.Itistheproductofthehyperdensityofcities,
commodities,messagesandcircuits.Itisthecoldstarofthesocialand,aroundthat
mass,historyisalsocooling.Eventsfollowonceanother,cancelingeachotheroutina
stateofindifference.Themasses,neutralized,mithridatized2byinformation,inturn

neutralizehistoryandactasascreenofabsorption.Theythemselveshavenohistory,
meaning,consciousness,ordesire.Theyarethepotentialresidueofallhistory,
meaning,anddesire.Astheyhaveunfurledinourmodernity,allthesefinethingshave
stirredupamysteriouscounterphenomenon,andalltodayspoliticalandsocial
strategiesarethrownoutofgearbythefailuretounderstandit.
The ultimate question then, is how we to restore meaning of hope to contemporary
life, to contemporary individuals. Without meaning, the globe is reduced to a state of
hyper-nihilism, a cycle of decay and a total lack of humanity. Any conception of justice
requires the possibility of human agency, whereas hyper-nihilism eradicates agency by
rendering all acts meaningless, and leading to a global cycle of destruction.
Theimplicationsofhypernihilismareworseforjusticeonaglobalscalewithregard
tobothindividualagencyandtheoriesofdistribution.
Baudrillardcontinues(p68):JustastheeconomiccrisisoftheWestwillnotbe
completesolongasitcanstillexploittheresourcesoftherestoftheworld,sothe
symboliccrisiswillbecompleteonlywhenitisnolongerabletofeedontheotherhalfs
humanandnaturalcatastrophes.Weprovidethem,throughourmedia,withthemeans
toexploitthisparadoxicalresource,justaswegivethemthemeanstoexhausttheir
naturalresourceswithourtechnologies.Ourwholeculturelivesoffthiscatastrophic
cannibalism,relayedincynicalmodebythenewsmedia,andcarriedforwardinmoral
modebyourhumanitarianaid,whichisawayofencouragingitandensuringits
continuity,justaseconomicaidisastrategyforperpetuatingunderdevelopment.Upto
now,thefinancialsacrificehasbeencompensatedahundredfoldbythemoralgain.But
whenthecatastrophemarketitselfreachescrisispoint,inaccordancewiththe
implacablelogicofthemarket,whenwerunoutofdisastersfromelsewhereorwhen
theycannolongerbetradedlikeothercommodities,theWestwillbeforcedtoproduce
itsowncatastropheforitself,inordertomeetitsneedforspectacleandthatvoracious
appetiteforsymbolswhichcharacterizesitevenmorethanitsvoraciousappetitefor
food.Itwillreachthepointswhereitdevoursitself.Whenwehavefinishedsuckingout
thedestinyofothers,weshallhavetoinventoneforourselves.
Thus,Icontendthatreplacingdeterrencewithmilitaryforceisnecessarytodisrupt
thelogicofhypernihilism.
First,thenegativelogicofdeterrenceprecludesthepossibilityofrevolutionary
actionsand,instead,entrenchesthecycleofhypernihilism
Baudrillardwrites(17):Deterrenceisaverypeculiarformofaction:itiswhat
causessomethingnottotakeplace.Itdominatesthewholeofourcontemporaryperiod,
whichtendsnotsomuchtoproduceeventsastocausesomethingnottooccur,while
lookingasthoughtitisahistoricalevent.Orelseeventsdotakeplaceinthesteadof
someothereventwhichdidnot.War,history,realityandpassiondeterrenceplaysits
partinallthese.Itcausesstrangeeventstotakeplace,eventswhichdonotinanyway

advancehistory,butratherrunitbackwards,backalongtheoppositeslope,
unintelligibletoourhistoricalsense(onlythingswhichmoveinthedirectionofhistory
havehistoricalmeaning),eventswhichnolongerhaveanegative(progressive,critical,
orrevolutionary)potencysincetheironlynegativityisinthefactoftheirnottaking
place.Disturbing.
Movingpastdeterrenceradicallychangestherealityoftheinternationalsphere,
creatingnewrisksbutalsonewpossibilitiesfornegativeandagenticandrevolutionary
actions.Specifically,affirmingcreatesthedualpossibilitiesofaworldwithoutnuclear
weaponsandworldindangeroffullscalenuclearwar.Respectively,theutopianand
apocalypticpossibilitiescreateanexplosioninthemindsofindividuals,openingaspace
forhopeandgivingnewmeaningtoexperiencedlife.
Baudrillardcontinues(p20):Thesublimereferencetotheorigininnostalgiaisas
beautifulasthereferencetotheundinutopia.Itissomethingelseagaintobe
confrontedwiththeliteralmanifestnessoftheend(ofwhichwecannolongerdreamas
end),andtheliteralmanifestnessoftheorigin(ofwhichwecannolongerdreamas
origin).Now,wehavethemeanstodaytoputintoplaybothouroriginsandourend.
Weexhumeoutoriginsinarchaeology,reshapeourcrypticcapitalthroughgenetics,and
operationalizeourdreamsandthewildestutopiasbymeansofscienceandtechnology.
Weappeaseournostalgiaandourutopiandesiresinsituandinvitro.Weare,then,
unabletodreamofapastorfuturestateofthings.Thingsareinastatewhichisliterally
definitiveneitherfinishes,notinfinite,nordefinite,butdefinitive:thatis,deprivesof
itsend.Now,thefeelingwhichgoeswithadefinitivestate,evenaparadisiaconeis
melancholic.Whereas,withmourning,thingscometoanendandthereforeenjoya
possibilityofreturning,withmelancholiawearenotevenleftwiththepresentimentofan
endorofareturn,butonlywithressentimentattheirdisappearance.Thecrepuscular3
profileofthefindesiecle4ismoreoflessofthisorder,combiningthefeaturesofalinear
orderofprogressandaregression,itselfalsolinear,ofendsvalues.
Insteadofanemptynostalgiaforameaninglesspast,removinghistoryfromthis
definitivestateallowsforanewdevelopmentofendsvalues:thatis,theimaginationof
anendofthecurrentstateandthusthepossibilityofhumanitytoshapethatendand
replacewithanewsystemfueledbyagenticnegativeenergy.
Finally,militaryinterventioncreatesmorecompetitionforgreaterformsof
technology,bothtowardmilitaryendsandinlieuofmilitarycompetitionbetweenstates,
pushingthesystemfastertothepointofimplosion,creatingnewpossibilitiesfor
individualstoexposeandexploitgapsinsurveillanceandmilitarytechnologies,to
reclaimthesetechnologies,andtosubvertsocialconstellationsofdomination.