title: Facing a nuclear past, not fixing a post-nuclear future: Editorial
content: What Barack Obama will see , when on Friday he becomes the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima , is a large esplanade lined with trees , with a cenotaph monument to the victims of the A-bomb , with the words : “ the error of the past will not be repeated ” . In the memorial park , he will see the gutted , skeletal , dome-shaped building that was once an exhibition hall ; it has been preserved as the only structure left standing in the area where the Enola Gay dropped its charge at 8:15am , on 6 August 1945 . He will also visit a museum exhibiting pictures of the city before and after the blast , as well as descriptions of what its inhabitants suffered in the inferno .
  Mr Obama will not offer an apology for the decision taken by his wartime predecessor , Harry Truman – that would mean breaking a decades-old taboo among successive US administrations , and the White House has made clear Mr Obama would avoid such a move . But he will no doubt find the words to make the call that has been a hallmark of his presidency : the call to work towards a “ world without nuclear weapons ” . Mr Obama first pronounced those words in a 2009 speech in Prague , and they helped him secure the Nobel peace prize later that same year . But seven years on , the message – and the dream – has run up against a wall of geopolitical realities .
  The Japanese have long awaited a US presidential acknowledgement of the horrors unleashed on Hiroshima 71 years ago and then , three days later , Nagasaki . Some may take Mr Obama ’ s visit as vindicating pacifist views , but the strategic context in Asia is not supportive of these . American nuclear deterrence is something many US allies in the region want to see consolidated , not dismantled or diminished . As he burnishes his legacy with this symbolic gesture , the president knows he needs to tread carefully , in an Asia in which China ’ s rise has caused disruptive , and sometimes alarming shifts , in the balance of power . At the heart of this visit is a striking paradox : nuclear weapons are terrifying , but , amid bitter regional standoffs , the nuclear umbrella is as much in demand as ever . And while Japan continues to officially campaign – as Mr Obama has done – for the global elimination of atomic weapons , both it and South Korea actually want to see American defence assurances reiterated , if not strengthened .
  As well as China ’ s new military assertiveness , US allies in Asia have the unpredictability of North Korea to reckon with . China and Japan have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over ownership of the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea . China has put nerves on edge among its neighbours by building and militarising artificial islands in the South China Sea , and by claiming swaths of water . Earlier this year , North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test and it has pushed ahead with ballistic missile development in defiance of international sanctions .
  So while Mr Obama will use his visit to Hiroshima to revisit his anti-nuclear ideals , the substantive US-Japanese dialogue will be concerned with nuclear deterrence in the face of China ’ s military build-up . The US commitment to nuclear military power will not have been reduced in any way under the Obama presidency : this year , his administration released budget proposals which include plans to spend an estimated $ 1tn over 30 years on modernising the nuclear arsenal . Those who hoped for substantive gestures towards disarmament will be left just as disappointed as those who had hoped that a 2010 US-Russia agreement on limiting the number of deployed nuclear warheads would be followed by further efforts . Mr Obama ’ s abolitionist message strikes , at best , a discordant note with current policies , and at worst may sound like outright hypocrisy .
  Geopolitical constraints have caught up with Mr Obama . The behaviour of China , North Korea and also Russia , which has indulged in nuclear sabre-rattling across Europe since the Ukraine war , have led some experts to describe a new era of nuclear deterrence , 25 years after the end of the cold war . These are certainly not developments the president wished for , but they are the circumstances that fate has dealt him .
  More than 200,000 people were killed by the A-bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 . The devastating power of atomic warfare opened up an era where humanity ’ s very survival was suddenly at stake . The world continues to live in the shadow of the bomb , and looks set to do so after the age of Mr Obama , too . It can only be a good thing that , for the first time , a sitting American president will pay respect to Hiroshima ’ s victims . Mr Obama likes symbols and is good at speeches . But the visit also lays bare the daunting gap between a laudable , idealistic vision , and the hard realities and choices that presidents must so often confront .
content_original: What Barack Obama will see, when on Friday he becomes the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, is a large esplanade lined with trees, with a cenotaph monument to the victims of the A-bomb, with the words: “the error of the past will not be repeated”. In the memorial park, he will see the gutted, skeletal, dome-shaped building that was once an exhibition hall; it has been preserved as the only structure left standing in the area where the Enola Gay dropped its charge at 8:15am, on 6 August 1945. He will also visit a museum exhibiting pictures of the city before and after the blast, as well as descriptions of what its inhabitants suffered in the inferno.
  
  Mr Obama will not offer an apology for the decision taken by his wartime predecessor, Harry Truman – that would mean breaking a decades-old taboo among successive US administrations, and the White House has made clear Mr Obama would avoid such a move. But he will no doubt find the words to make the call that has been a hallmark of his presidency: the call to work towards a “world without nuclear weapons”. Mr Obama first pronounced those words in a 2009 speech in Prague, and they helped him secure the Nobel peace prize later that same year. But seven years on, the message – and the dream – has run up against a wall of geopolitical realities.
  
  The Japanese have long awaited a US presidential acknowledgement of the horrors unleashed on Hiroshima 71 years ago and then, three days later, Nagasaki. Some may take Mr Obama’s visit as vindicating pacifist views, but the strategic context in Asia is not supportive of these. American nuclear deterrence is something many US allies in the region want to see consolidated, not dismantled or diminished. As he burnishes his legacy with this symbolic gesture, the president knows he needs to tread carefully, in an Asia in which China’s rise has caused disruptive, and sometimes alarming shifts, in the balance of power. At the heart of this visit is a striking paradox: nuclear weapons are terrifying, but, amid bitter regional standoffs, the nuclear umbrella is as much in demand as ever. And while Japan continues to officially campaign – as Mr Obama has done – for the global elimination of atomic weapons, both it and South Korea actually want to see American defence assurances reiterated, if not strengthened.
  
  As well as China’s new military assertiveness, US allies in Asia have the unpredictability of North Korea to reckon with. China and Japan have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over ownership of the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. China has put nerves on edge among its neighbours by building and militarising artificial islands in the South China Sea, and by claiming swaths of water. Earlier this year, North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test and it has pushed ahead with ballistic missile development in defiance of international sanctions.
  
  So while Mr Obama will use his visit to Hiroshima to revisit his anti-nuclear ideals, the substantive US-Japanese dialogue will be concerned with nuclear deterrence in the face of China’s military build-up. The US commitment to nuclear military power will not have been reduced in any way under the Obama presidency: this year, his administration released budget proposals which include plans to spend an estimated $1tn over 30 years on modernising the nuclear arsenal. Those who hoped for substantive gestures towards disarmament will be left just as disappointed as those who had hoped that a 2010 US-Russia agreement on limiting the number of deployed nuclear warheads would be followed by further efforts. Mr Obama’s abolitionist message strikes, at best, a discordant note with current policies, and at worst may sound like outright hypocrisy.
  
  Geopolitical constraints have caught up with Mr Obama. The behaviour of China, North Korea and also Russia, which has indulged in nuclear sabre-rattling across Europe since the Ukraine war, have led some experts to describe a new era of nuclear deterrence, 25 years after the end of the cold war. These are certainly not developments the president wished for, but they are the circumstances that fate has dealt him.
  
  More than 200,000 people were killed by the A-bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. The devastating power of atomic warfare opened up an era where humanity’s very survival was suddenly at stake. The world continues to live in the shadow of the bomb, and looks set to do so after the age of Mr Obama, too. It can only be a good thing that, for the first time, a sitting American president will pay respect to Hiroshima’s victims. Mr Obama likes symbols and is good at speeches. But the visit also lays bare the daunting gap between a laudable, idealistic vision, and the hard realities and choices that presidents must so often confront.