On the Ethics of Nuclear Weapons

Today’s international law regime leaves little room for lawful use of nuclear weapons.1 At the same time, there is no prohibition of these weapons per se.2 This situation distinguishes them from biological and chemical weapons, which are subject to comprehensive bans under the 1972 Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, respectively. The ‘legal gap’ became a major focus in discussions at the third ‘Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons’, held in Vienna from 8 to 9 December 2014. Both Austria’s summary3 and subsequent national pledge4 noted this gap, as well as the desirability of filling it with a prohibition. Importantly, Austria also recognized the existence of profound moral and ethical questions concerning nuclear weapons that go beyond questions of law. As with other controversial areas of life in general, law’s ambivalence ON THE ETHICS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS