Iraq The Model, which dedicates itself to publishing new points of view about the future of Iraq, has published a sobering post exploring that issue close to all our hearts - the future of the earth. A luxury that we cannot afford Ali talks about the development of nuclear weapons, noting that in chess: making...the safest move is the shortest way to lose.

Mindful that the analogy to a game of chess is an uncomfortable one, what then is the riskiest move? In chess the object is to capture an opponents most powerful piece, the ideal outcome checkmate rather then stalemate. In our world none of us desire to be either wiped off the board nor suspended in limbo, and some of us seek a solution whereby all chess pieces remain free and on board - in essence an entirely new game. Apart from the implications of such an analogy perhaps the riskiest move, where nuclear arms are concerned, would be for every country to stop pursuing nuclear war technology and to dismantle all the nuclear arms that they already possess. This is extremely risky for all countries involved because each is afraid that nobody else is brave enough to follow suit and some even argue that they do not know how to safely undo what they have done.

If this move could be achieved, it would be the best move humanity has ever made in declaring trust and peace in one another. It will be a long time before people will trust each other enough to do this, but it is inevitable if not in our lifetime. If we do not make this move the risk of nuclear accident can only increase. Whether these weapons are ever deployed intentionally or not, the production of arms is a form of calculated madness and we can not expect madness to always be able to contain itself.