“THE LOGIC OF ZERO” IS GOOD FOR HUMANITY

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

Ambassador Ivo Daalder

Nuclear Security Summit 2014 ready

An African proverb of Ghanaian origin warns: “Never dare insert your finger in the mouth of a snake that does not bite.”

Have you ever heard of this philosophical axiom which says that, “There is no accident in God’s plan?” In His supreme wisdom, the Creator God or Allah or MAWU – call Him/Her whatever you please, at every point in human history, sends someone who is destined to redeem mankind is one way or another. Buddha was one; Mohammed and many others followed.  But arguably, the greatest of them all was the Master Jesus the Christ.

In our time, this author is tempted to cite President Barako Obama as the latest of those enlightened souls sent to make a difference in human history. Ironically, though, history has proved   that most of  such illustrious individuals  came to  live among  ordinary people and were  hardly regarded  by their  contemporaries  let alone  accept them  as 'angels in action.'

On Tuesday, 18 March 2014, at exactly 16:00hrs GMT, in the City of The Hague, a young looking middle-aged man came from America to deliver a very brief but profound lecture. This brilliant chap was a Dutch-American citizen of the world. His name is Ambassador Ivo Daalder. He is a veteran politician and an international diplomat of repute. He is President, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former US Representative to NATO.

Ambassador Ivo Daalder who was born in 1960, looks so simple and an unassuming in deed. It was only when  he was introduced to the audience by Mr. Willem Post, the International Adviser of the Mayor and Vice-Mayors of The Hague, that  some of us got to know he was not a ‘small man’ at all as we say in Ghana. And Ambassador Daalder’s biological father was among the audience, too. Incidentally, this writer was in the conference hall at the Cronwne Plaza Hotel before Mr. Daalder Snr. was ushered in. When he was accompanied to the hall, he was shown a reserved sit in the front row and had himself-seated.

Then no  sooner  did the lady usher   who brought him leave than  Mr. Daalder Snr. started  looking  left,  right, and left  again as if he was about to cross a road. Then quietly, he stood up and came back to the second row and planted him between me and another friend on my right. Both of us were African students from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam among other Universities in The Hague invited to attend that lecture.

 Then I watched Mr. Daalder Snr. engaged my friend in a conversation. He was so simple and down to earth.  It was only when the function was about to start and the Speaker for the event Ambassador Ivo Daalder was introduced that it was mentioned in passing that his father was in the audience. And a finger was pointed towards his direction. And he nodded his head. So, the ‘young’ man who came to sit between two African students was the father of the keynote Speaker who was flown all the way from the United States of America to give that lecture? I asked myself.

I relate this seemingly irrelevant incident to prove a vital point. That those who are great are always very humble. So one can see that the simplicity of Ambassador Daalder Jnr. and the humility of Mr. Daalder Snr. shows that this is a great family with 'humility blood' flowing through their veins. The little information I gathered  online about Daalder Snr. (his first name is Hans) indicates that he was not only a political scientist but the biographer of ‘Prime Minister Drees of the Netherlands. Apparently, the said Prime Mister died in 1969 and “a moon rock" presented  to him by astronauts while he was alive  was displayed for public admiration   and  later  sent to a  museum in The Hague.

The Logic of Zero

The lecture for the day itself was part of pre-events in preparation towards  the third Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) being hosted in The Hague from March 24-25, this year. It was under the theme : “THE LOGIC OF ZERO – Why We should Eliminate Nuclear Weapons and How Nuclear Security Summit Can Help.” The NSS 2014 is world summit aimes at preventing nuclear terrorism around the globe.

 Thus, three previous informative meetings organised by  the Hague Bridge, World Class The Hague and ‘The Hague Programme on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Efforts’ had already been held.  These were addressed by Dr. Dan Plesch (10 December, 2013); Willem Post (30 January, 2014); and Dr. Henk Geveke (20 February, 2014) respectively. So, the fourth and the last of the series is what Ambassador Daalder came down to deliver before the main event itself  scheduled to open 24 March . It would be attended by over 50 world leaders and would be  officially declared open by President Barako Obama.  In fact, President Obama is the brain child of the NSS. Thus, the very first summit was held in Washington DC in 2010; the second version in Seoul 2012 and The Hague edition is the third one  running. 

The conceptualization or the philosophy of “The Logic of  Zero’ as explained by Ambassador Daalder sounded so simple. But it seems to me to be  more complex than one can imagine.  And as a lay man hearing the term for the first time  I will not dare go into any technicalities at all. For the purpose of this article I just want to report it the way I understood it personally. Period!

At least everybody knows what the word  ‘ZERO’means. Yes, it means nothing. So, if you add 100 zeros  and multiply them by 1000 it will come to ‘ZERO’. In effect, Ambassador Daalder is saying  that in the opinion of President Obama, there should be  no NUCLEAR WEAPONS at tall on the face of the earth. The logic comes in when  until 2007 or 2008 when then candidate  Obama was campaigning to be elected  President of America, he reasoned that nuclear weapons are so deadly and dangerous to humanity that even  the basic material used in making  them –‘uranium’ should  NOT be possessed by anybody at all let alone allowing them to manufacture weapons out of it. His fear was that should  uranium and others  fall in the hands of any ‘terroristic'- minded person the entire world could be finished one day. Just recall what happened to Hiroshima in 1945 with atomic bomb which eventually brought the World War II to an end in August that year?

Since then the world has decided to sign some Nuclear  Proliferation or Reduction Treaties. But President Obama’s philosophy or vision  is that  nobody should even possess the ingredients of nuclear weapons let alone make it or reduce its  use  in the first place. And I totally agree with him.  What sense does it make to possess a weapon but not make use of it when the need arises? So, the conception is that no country should be allowed to have access to uranium at all let alone manufacture nuclear weapons. Is that  clear?

According to Ambassdor Daalder, right now, America’s policy is NOT to use nuclear weapons again any country even if any country uses nuclear weapons against America. That policy is what is known in America as “THE LOGIC OF ZERO.” Basically, this is  my layman’s comprehension of the term ‘the logic of zero.’   There were so many US journalists in attendance at the lecture. And mind you, the American journalists who are in The Hague to cover the Nuclear Security Summit to be addressed by President Obama come Monday March 24 are not teenagers or cop journalists. 

They are veterans, mature and experienced journalists in their 60s and above. So, when they talk or pose a question they know exactly what  they are about. One question that was fired at Amabassdor Daalder was something to this effect; if you say America would not use nuclear weapons at all even if some countries use it against America, are you not saying that America is weak or exposing the US citizens to danger?

Do you know how Ambassador Daalder answered that question? He looked at the veteran journalist who posed the question straight in the face and said: “Let anybody dare and see.” Then he cited the case of Saddam Hussane of Iraq when he invaded Kuwait in the early 1990s. He recalled that when some countries threatened to use nuclear weapons in their warfare and the US dared them that if they did, the consequences would be too deadly, 'did any one  dare?'  he pointed out with confidence. 

As he put it, America is the most powerful country on ‘the face of the earth’ and will continue to be so. So, the fact  that  the US has adopted ‘The Logic of Zero’ policy does not mean America hasn't got the capacity. This is why I quoted the African proverb in my opening sentence that “Never dare put your finger in the mouth of a snake that does not bite.” If you dare, you will live to regret it.

Without exaggerating, it is the opinion of this writer that Ambassador Daalder is a wise man. Little wonder he worked  in the former US President Clinton’s administration and now one of advisers in President Oboma’s government. Before he started his lecture, Mr Willem Post who moderated the entire proceeding requested that he should briefly update the audience about the situation in Ukraine. And reader, you need to be there to ear the man! He spoke as if he  just arrived  from Ukraine. He graphically described what  was going on and informed the audience that just about 12 hours ago, Russian President Putin signed a decree declaring Crimea as  part of the Russian Federation or so, something to that effect. Ambassador Daalder went ahead to give details and analyzing the scenarios in Russia . He noted what happened when the former Soviet Union collapsed about 20 years ago and what is likely to follow Putin’s action in the ‘21st century’ and not in primitive centuries in authoritarian history, none knows yet. His brief statement about the situation in Ukraine was even more comprehensive that the lecture itself. He is a man of knowledge to say the least.

To conclude this article I will like to  politely  recommend the entire world to  read Luke 23:34 of the  Christian Bible.  Just meditate on  the short prayer Jesus was reported to have  uttered when his detractors were brutally and savagely assaulting him   and  spitting into his face?

This author will like to respectfully and humbly  encourage President Obama, even though he is not Jesus, but to imitate the Christ! . He must  remain calm and maintain ‘The Logic of Zero’ Nuclear Weapons policy for the sake of children of the world. He must do this  even in the face of extreme provocation from global terrorism mongers. For THE LOGIC OF ZERO is just right and good  for humanity and posterity will be his judge!

The author is MA Student at the  International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Hague, The Netherlands.  abissath@gmail.com