Have you ever tried to join an exclusive club that does not allow “your type” to become a member? I suppose that one of the attractions of such clubs is that they allow the members to indulge in the illusion that they are better than the people whom they exclude. Chauvinism is a fairly common attitude among many people in many different cultures.

     Chauvinism is at its most pernicious when it is practiced by those with inordinate power. All too often, chauvinists with power don’t just exclude other people, but use their power to oppress them and advance their own interests.

     Power, in turn, comes in many different forms. A person, organization or nation may be powerful because it possesses moral authority, economic resources, a network of support, intelligence, destructive capabilities or some combination of these or other attributes.

     At this point in history, the United States is the most powerful nation on earth. Unfortunately, it is also highly chauvinistic in its dealings with other nations. It takes the position that it is authorized to ignore and violate international law at will, while selectively and unilaterally enforcing it against other nations.

     The current U.S. dispute with Iran over its nuclear ambitions is a perfect example of this chauvinism. The U.S. claims that it is seeking to enforce the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (“N.N.P.T.”) against Iran. In truth there is a significant lack of evidence that Iran is presently or in the future will violate the N.N.P.T. At the same time, President Bush has openly avowed his intention to start a massive program to build a new generation of nuclear bombs in flagrant violation of the same treaty it wants to enforce against Iran.

     The N.N.P.T. places obligations on all signatories to the treaty, which includes both Iran and the United States. The treaty gives nations that do not have nuclear weapons the right to develop nuclear power as a source of energy. At the same time, such nations are forbidden from acquiring nuclear weapons. For nations that already have nuclear weapons, it mandates that they work to reduce their inventories of such weapons.

     The U.S. may have its suspicions about the future intentions of Iran, but it has not identified any hard evidence that Iran has nuclear weapons or is seeking to obtain them. Iran has denied that it seeks such weapons. President Bush, on the other hand, is quite open about his plans to engage in a massive violation of the N.N.P.T. through the construction of new weapons of mass destruction.

     The U.S. position is not based on international law, but on power and chauvinism. One significant problem with that type of approach to international relationships is that it encourages other powerful nations to also flaunt international law. Similarly, it encourages the less powerful nations to seek to become more powerful.

     The ultimate source of power in international relations is the credible threat of the use of nuclear weapons. Any nation attacking a nation that possesses nuclear bombs risks a devastating retaliation.

     The nations in the nuclear club know this, and seek to preserve their own power by preventing other nations from joining the club. That way, they can continue to pretend that they are better than the nations which are not in the club, and can use their advantage to advance their own interests.

     The efforts to limit club membership are falling apart. Knowledge and technological prowess are almost impossible to contain over the long run. India and Pakistan both joined the club recently, and several other nations aspire to membership.

     Before anyone accuses me of sympathizing with the nations that want to acquire nuclear weapons, let me be very clear. No nation should have any nuclear weapons. This includes both Iran and the United States.

     The only real solution to nuclear proliferation is to build and enforce strong and verifiable international agreements which will disarm the existing nuclear nations, and which will comprehensively monitor the nuclear operations of all nations. Instead of trying to preserve the advantages of the existing members of the nuclear club, we need to get rid of nuclear weapons entirely and permanently disband the club.

     We will always need to enforce a universal ban through inspections, but all nations will be a lot less motivated to build new weapons if they know that nobody else has them either.

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