12/08/2026
Throughout history, nations have competed for influence, territory, resources and strategic advantage. Whether driven by pride, ideology, religion, economics or national interest, the tendency of stronger states to dominate weaker ones has remained a recurring feature of international politics. Consequently, states perceived as vulnerable have often found themselves subjected to conquest, coercion or external interference.
History offers numerous examples. The trans-Atlantic slave trade, spanning roughly the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, flourished largely because European powers possessed overwhelming military and naval superiority.
Likewise, the colonization of Africa during the late nineteenth century was facilitated by technological and military advantages. In many instances, colonised peoples had to wage prolonged armed struggles before attaining independence in the mid-twentieth century.
The First World War, 1914–1918, and the Second World War, 1939–1945, demonstrated the catastrophic consequences of unchecked military rivalry. The latter culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, introducing humanity to the destructive power of nuclear weapons.
In response, the international community sought to prevent the spread of such weapons. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons, NPT, which entered into force in 1970, aimed to limit the number of nuclear-armed States while encouraging disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Yet the pursuit of nuclear capability did not cease.
Several countries either developed or were believed to have developed nuclear arsenals outside the framework envisioned by the treaty.
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