Third Millennium Equipoise.

• Author: Rutsch, Horst
• Position: Review

By Vinod Saighal, 1998 Lancer Publishers New Delhi, London, Hartford

Reviewed by Horst Rutsch

With the end of the cold war and the resultant contradictory ends of increased globalization and growing fragmentation, United Nations efforts to coordinate and sustain the strengthening of international peace and security have gained considerably in significance. Several recent studies have advocated a culture of prevention and emphasized the centrality of the United Nations, while recognizing the need for reforming certain aspects of the Organization, so that the international community will be better prepared for the manifold challenges that lie ahead.

In Third millennium Equipoise, Vinod Saighal sets forth a comprehensive blueprint for global governance and nuclear disarmament that attempts to facilitate a gradual transition from a culture of war, based on nuclear deterrence, to a culture of peace that focuses on restoring the deteriorating ecology of the planet.

In this fascinatingly detailed blueprint for a nuclear-weapons-free world, Saighal's identifies several elements as being central for the movement toward global harmony and commitment to ecological survival of the planet: voluntary nuclear restraint of States with actual or potential nuclear capabilities; the establishment of a "World Nuclear Council" as an independent monitoring body for nuclear disarmament; the necessity for an irreversible movement toward a "Zero nuclear-Weapons State" (by 2050); and the expansion and transformation of the Security Council into a "Planetary Council" responsible for...