On June 1, 1983, well-experienced English readers were surprised to read the statement of the Prime Minister of England, M. Thatcher, in the newspapers. It formulated the policy of the British Government in the field of nuclear armaments1 . This statement makes it very relevant to study the policy of the current British conservative government in the field of nuclear weapons. Such research is especially important today, when the primary task of states and peoples is to avert the threat of nuclear war from humanity, which is growing due to the aggressive policies of the governments of the United States and some other NATO countries, when the issue of nuclear weapons is the subject of important international negotiations. Based on this, the author made an attempt to consider in this article the British policy in the field of nuclear weapons in 1979-1984.
In an effort to save humanity from nuclear catastrophe, the Soviet Union proposed that relations between the nuclear Powers should be subject to certain binding norms agreed between them, the purpose of which would be to prevent nuclear war, such as the refusal to propagate it, the obligation not to be the first to use nuclear weapons, to prevent their proliferation in any form, and to promote the creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones, a course to reduce nuclear weapons up to their elimination. This is a constructive program for preventing nuclear war that meets the requirements of the current world conditions. It is addressed to all the nuclear Powers together and to each of them separately; hence, to England.
London and its NATO allies have remained silent on this crucial Soviet proposal. To understand their silence, a review of the conservative government's nuclear policy helps.
Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party of England in 1975. By that time, she had already established herself as a figure of extreme right-wing views in the field of domestic and foreign policy. She spoke out as a hardliner in dome ...
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