A radical proposal for disarmament

Survival for All: The Alternative to Nuclear War with a Practical Plan for Total Denuclearization, by A. J. Aizenstat. New York: Billner & Rouse. 216 pp. $14.95. This intriguing plan for a United Nations-like organization is, not surprisingly, proposed by a former senior adviser to the UN. Through a treaty on Nuclear Disarmament (suggested in an appendix), a Nuclear Disarmament organization would be formed by all nations signing the treaty. This organization would include a Nuclear Disarmament Council made up of the five nuclear powers and a small number of other states, and a Nuclear Control Board run by the US and USSR. This board is essential, because it insu res superpower control on an equal and shared basis. Nuclear stockpiles would then be eliminated over a two-year period, after which all countries would remain open to inspection by the Nuclear Control Board. The board would also control a Joint Nuclear Force of perhaps 500 weapons, which would be sufficient to meet a challenge by any government or terrorist group. Blue-sky utopianism? This plan is certainly no more wild-eyed than the SDI -- which is being explored -- and it could be far less expensive and dangerous. Aizenstat concludes his book with a chapter that addresses possible objections to his proposal.

Other reviews of books on nuclear issues appeared on Mon., Nov. 4 and Wed., Nov. 6.