Author: Mike Ryan

Message to Youth

by David Krieger

You are not required
to kill on command, to wear
a uniform, to camouflage yourself,
to place medals on your chest, to check
your conscience at the door, to march
in unison, to bear the burden of the body count.

You are not required
to pledge allegiance to the flag, to sing
patriotic songs, to distort history,
to believe lies, to support leaders when
they are wrong, to turn a blind eye
to violence, or to be cheerleaders for war.

You are required
to love, to live with compassion, to be kinder
than necessary and to seek the truth
in the time allotted to you.

To read this poem on the NAPF website, click here.

On Balance and Choices

by Mia Gandenberger and Ray Acheson

All NPT states parties are legally obligated to participate in activities to eliminate nuclear weapons. They cannot simply choose that a benefit of their possession or reliance on nuclear weapons is that they do not have to act with the same due diligence in accordance with the law as any other state. There is no balance between compliance and non-compliance. If this argument were to be made in another context, it would never be accepted by these states that claim it for themselves when it comes nuclear weapons.

The nuclear-armed states are not even here. They do not even want to have a conversation with the rest of us about what to do. There is only one choice at this point in time when the nuclear-armed states are refusing to even engage let alone comply with their legal obligation to pursue effective measures for nuclear disarmament. Our only choice is to pursue an effective measure without them—to negotiate a treaty that can impact our own engagement with and relationship to nuclear weapons—financially, politically, socially, legally, morally, and ethically.

To read more, click here.

Comments on the Manhattan Project National Historical Park

by Ralph Hutchison

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park project presents complicated challenges to the interpreter. On the one hand, it commemorates a truly stunning achievement of human endeavor—scientific and technical, yes, but also engineering and building, social and cultural. It is rooted, at least in part, in a war effort that almost the entire culture embraced as noble. It’s a story of sacrifice and determination mostly by people who had no idea what they were engaged in.

But like most history that warrants preservation, it is also a story that transcends the time and place in which it took place. The Manhattan Project changed the world; the creation of the world’s first atomic weapon which was then used to create incomprehensible human suffering, and which led to the devotion of many trillions of dollars to an arms race which is still with us today, reverberating in headlines daily as other nations consider or embark on their own quest to do what we have done.

To read more, click here.

China Is Upgrading Nuclear Missiles with Multiple Warheads

On Jan. 22, 2016, Admiral Cecil D. Haney, head of U.S. Strategic Command, confirmed that China is “re-engineering its long-range ballistic missiles to carry multiple nuclear warheads.” According to U.S. intelligence, China has been replacing single-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with multiple, independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), for the past few months.

The former Chinese ICBMs had only one single warhead on top of each missile. The new MIRVs are armed with between three and eight warheads, according to intelligence sources, allowing single missiles to hit a multitude of targets at once. This makes the missiles increasingly difficult to knock out with anti-missile technology. According to Rick Fisher, a China military analyst, “This, combined with China’s aggressive development of missile defenses, space warfare capabilities, and possible non-nuclear prompt global strike missiles, will quickly undermine confidence by U.S. allies in the extended U.S. nuclear deterrent.”

Additionally, a new report by Gregory Kulacki of the Union of Concerned Scientists claims that China’s military wants to put its relatively small nuclear arsenal on hair-trigger alert for the first time. This would be a radical departure from China’s longtime nuclear policy. The U.S. and Russia continue to maintain hundreds of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert.

Franz-Stefan Gady, “Confirmed: China Is Upgrading ICBMs with Multiple Warheads,” The Diplomat, February 15, 2016.

Open-Ended Working Group Begins in Geneva

The open-ended working group (OEWG) on taking forward multilateral disarmament negotiations, established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 2015, began in Geneva in February. The mandate of the OEWG is to substantively address concrete effective legal measures, legal provisions and norms that will need to be concluded to attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons.

All nine of the world’s nuclear-armed nations (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea) refused to participate in the OEWG.

The second session of the OEWG will take place in Geneva from May 2-13. For a summary of the OEWG and many source documents presented thus far, click here to visit Reaching Critical Will.

“Open-Ended Working Group Taking Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations,” United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, February 23, 2016.

U.S. Nuclear Workers Discarded Nuclear Secrets in Unclassified Trash

In June 2014, workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex found documents containing classified U.S. nuclear secrets in dozens of bags meant to be tossed out as typical trash. Upon further investigation by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), officials determined that Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12, LLC, the contractor responsible for running the site at the time, had been improperly disposing of nuclear secrets in a way that compromised national security for more than 20 years.

Almost two years later, the NNSA informed David J. Richardson, president of Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services, Y-12, LLC, that the NNSA would be citing his company for violations including failure to appropriately label classified information, failure to protect and control classified information, and insufficient assessment of its own performance. Despite actions that haphazardly left crucial national defense secrets vulnerable to theft for years, the NNSA decided not to fine the former Y-12 contractor nor impose any substantial civil penalty.

Patrick Malone, “Workers Threw Out U.S. Nuclear Secrets With Common Rubbish for 20 Years,” The Center for Public Integrity, February 3, 2016.

North Korea Launches Long-Range Rocket

On February 7, North Korea (DPRK) launched a satellite into space, claiming that the launch was for scientific and peaceful purposes. Other nations, including South Korea and the United States, believe that the launch was actually a front for a ballistic missile test.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, “This is the second time in just over a month that the DPRK has chosen to conduct a major provocation, threatening not only the security of the Korean peninsula, but that of the region and the United States as well.”

During the 1950s, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles were used by the United States and the Soviet Union both as delivery vehicles for nuclear warheads and for the development of space programs.

Ralph Ellis, K.J. Kwon and Tiffany Ap, “U.S., Other Nations Condemn North Korean Launch of Long-Range Rocket,” CNN, February 7, 2016.

U.S. Launches Two Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles

The U.S. launched Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles from Vandenberg Air Force Base on February 20 and 25. The missiles flew over 4,200 miles to a target in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Col. Craig Ramsey, commander of the 576th Flight Test Squadron, said, “Perhaps most importantly, this visible message of national security serves to assure our partners and dissuade potential aggressors.” Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said, “We and the Russians and the Chinese routinely do test shots to prove that the operational missiles that we have are reliable. And that is a signal…that we are prepared to use nuclear weapons in defense of our country if necessary.”

NAPF President David Krieger responded, “These comments have the quality of those of a character in Alice in Wonderland; that is, our nuclear-capable missiles have only the best of purposes, despite the fact that they are part of an illegal, immoral and insane weapon system that could result in the total destruction of the U.S. and civilization.”

“Minot Tests Minuteman III with Launch from Vandenberg AFB,” Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs, February 22, 2016.

French President Recognizes Effects of Nuclear Tests

French President Francois Hollande has acknowledged that the 193 nuclear tests conducted by France in French Polynesia had serious consequences. Mr. Hollande said, “I recognize that the nuclear tests conducted between 1966 and 1996 in French Polynesia had an environmental impact, and caused health consequences.” In a cold change of tone, Hollande then said that without its overseas territories like French Polynesia, “France would not now have nuclear weapons and the power of [nuclear deterrence].”

President Hollande also announced a review of the application process for compensation of testing victims. Approximately 20 people have received compensation from France, out of over 1,000 applicants, for cancers caused by nuclear testing.

“Hollande Acknowledges ‘Consequences’ of Nuclear Tests on Polynesia Trip,” France 24, February 23, 2016.

Obama Administration Blames Russia for $1 Trillion U.S. Nuclear Modernization Plan

There has recently been a noticeable change in the public justifications presented by the Obama administration for its plan to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal at a cost of $1 trillion over the next 30 years. Previously, the administration insisted that the plan did not represent a return to an arms race or rivalry with Russia. In fact, in 2015, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that “the Cold War playbook…is not suitable for the 21st century.”

However, in recent months, Russia has become the after-the-fact public justification for the massive nuclear modernization plan. In the Obama administration’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget, the administration states, “We are countering Russia’s aggressive policies through investments in a broad range of capabilities…[including] our nuclear arsenal.” In testimony before Congress, Obama administration official Brian McKeon said, “We are investing in the technologies that are most relevant to Russia’s provocations…to both deter nuclear attacks and reassure our allies.”

Alex Emmons, “Obama’s Russian Rationale for $1 Trillion Nuke Plan Signals New Arms Race,” The Intercept, February 23, 2016.

Rep. Blumenauer Speaks Out Against Nuclear Modernization

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) delivered a floor speech in the House of Representatives on February 25 criticizing the Obama administration’s plans to spend billions of dollars on modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal in fiscal year 2017.

Blumenauer said, “There are billions of dollars for the controversial modernization of each leg of the nuclear triad—the land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles and bombers—which have not been used in 65 years, have been unable to help us with the military challenges that we face now in the Middle East, and are going to consume huge sums of money in this hopelessly redundant program.”

“Rep. Blumenauer Floor Speech on Excessive Nuclear Modernization Spending,” C-SPAN, February 25, 2016.

Oral Arguments at the International Court of Justice Begin March 7

Oral arguments in the Marshall Islands’ lawsuits against the United Kingdom, India and Pakistan will begin at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on March 7 and conclude on March 16. These hearings will be on preliminary objections raised by the respondent countries. Rick Wayman, NAPF’s Director of Programs, will attend the hearings. Click here to sign up to receive Rick’s daily email update and analysis of what is happening in The Hague.

International Peace Bureau Secretary General Comments on Nobel Prize Nomination

Colin Archer, Secretary General of the International Peace Bureau, recently did a radio interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation about IPB’s nomination of Tony de Brum and the legal team representing the Marshall Islands in the lawsuits against the world’s nine nuclear-armed nations.

Mr. Archer said, “[The Marshall Islands] could have concentrated on their own situation. But I think they had a bigger vision, and it’s to their credit that they decided to take this case to the International Court of Justice and also to the U.S. Federal District Court. We think it’s the most promising international effort and it does put the spotlight on the legal aspect, because it’s not possible to use these weapons in any legal way.”

Richard Ewart, “Nobel Peace Prize Nomination for Former Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony de Brum,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation, February 7, 2016.

March’s Featured Blog

This month’s featured blog is Watchblog from Nuclear Watch New Mexico. Blog topics primarily focus around nuclear weapons-related research and production taking place at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Some articles focus on broader issues of U.S. nuclear weapons modernization and the environmental impact of nuclear weapons production.

Recent titles include “Los Alamos Lab Would Get $2.1 Billion in Proposed Budget; Officials Discuss Plans for Making Plutonium Pits,” “Watchdogs Call for Renewed Investigation of Corruption at Los Alamos Lab,” and “Nuclear Watch NM Gives Notice of Intent to Sue Over Lack of Cleanup at the Los Alamos Lab.”

This Month in Nuclear Threat History

History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the most serious threats that have taken place in the month of March, including the March 14, 1961 incident in which a U.S. B-52F-70 BW Stratofortress carrying two Mark-39 hydrogen bombs crashed near Yuba City, California, tearing the nuclear weapons from the plane on impact.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.

Why an Emergency Response to a Nuclear Attack Is Impossible

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) has published a short presentation in video format about the emergency response to a nuclear attack. The four-minute video describes in simple, stark words and images the overwhelming obstacles that would confront doctors and first responders following a nuclear attack.

To watch the video, click here.

Dr. Ira Helfand of IPPNW recently gave a TEDx talk entitled “Can We Prevent Nuclear War?” Click here to watch this nine-minute video.

The Future of the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

The Center for American Progress has launched a new website that highlights the high cost of the Obama administration’s plans to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The Obama administration’s plan would replace nearly every missile, submarine, aircraft and warhead in the force, driving the cost of modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal to $1 trillion over 30 years.

This website allows visitors to explore the Obama administration’s plan and the alternative plan proposed by the Center for American Progress. It also has tools that allow visitors to create their own plan for modernization.

Click here to visit the site.

Declassified: U.S. Nuclear Weapons at Sea

Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris have published a new report analyzing newly declassified documents from the United States about the number of nuclear weapons it deployed at sea during the Cold War.

The declassified documents show that the United States during much of the 1970s and the 1980s deployed about a quarter of its entire nuclear weapons stockpile at sea. The all-time high was in 1975 when 6,191 weapons were afloat, but even in 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there were 5,716 weapons at sea. That’s more nuclear weapons than the size of the entire U.S. nuclear stockpile today.

To read the full report, click here.

Poetry and Video Contests Now Accepting Entries

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s annual poetry and video contests are currently accepting entries. The 2016 Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest invites contestants to submit videos of up to three minutes on nuclear weapons modernization – specifically, why we should “humanize, not modernize.” Entries must be submitted by April 1, 2016.

The 2016 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards encourage poets to explore and illuminate positive visions of peace and the human spirit. Entries must be postmarked by April 30, 2016.

More information, including submission instructions, for both contests is available online at www.peacecontests.org.

Peace Literacy Curriculum

One month ago NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell published his essay on “Why Our World Needs Peace Literacy.” His next step is the development of the NAPF Peace Literacy curriculum.

Paul Chappell will introduce the new NAPF Peace Literacy curriculum at a one day workshop for educators on June 8, 2016, at the International Conference on Conflict Resolution Education (ICCRE) at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.  His co-presenter will be Dayton International Peace Museum Board Member Katherine Rowell, who is Professor of Sociology at Sinclair Community College, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and received the 2005 Outstanding Community College Professor of the Year award from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

To read more about this exciting new development, click here.

NAPF Welcomes Elena Nicklasson as New Director of Development

Elena Nicklasson has joined the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation as the new Director of Development. Ms. Nicklasson comes to the Foundation with a background in International Policy Studies in Non-Proliferation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA. She has served as a consultant for the World Bank sponsored projects in Russia, and developed organizational policies for the International Institute for Promoting Innovative Development. Prior to coming to Santa Barbara, Elena was a development consultant at the Global Fund for Women in San Francisco and Development Manager at On Lok Lifeways, also in San Francisco.

Robert Scheer Delivers Lecture on War, Peace, Truth and the Media

On February 18, Robert Scheer delivered the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 15th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future. Mr. Scheer is one of the nation’s most outspoken and progressive journalists, Professor of Communications at the University of Southern California, and Editor-In-Chief of truthdig.com.

Video of the lecture will be available in mid-March. Click here for more information on the Kelly Lecture series and to read about Robert Scheer’s 2016 lecture, including NAPF President David Krieger’s opening remarks.

“The first day we pointed to our countries. The third day, we pointed to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth.”

— Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, Saudi Astronaut. This quote is featured in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.

“Even the most hawkish among us must acknowledge that modernizing everything nuclear in sight does not really send the kind of international signals that will make America secure. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty regime is now foundering, in substantial part because of this policy. The U.S. and other nuclear weapon states have not kept their end of the bargain.”

— Greg Mello, Executive Director of the Los Alamos Study Group, in a February 26 op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal.

“The UK boycott of the Geneva talks [the open-ended working group] begs fundamental questions. Since David Cameron’s government is hell bent on going ahead with Trident replacement and is also refusing to participate in multilateral UN talks on nuclear disarmament, what are we doing to comply with our non-proliferation and disarmament obligations? Why should anyone take Britain seriously when this government is wasting billions on an outdated weapon system that most countries are determined to prohibit?”

— Rebecca Johnson, Executive Director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, in a February 26 op-ed in Open Democracy.

Lindsay Apperson
David Krieger
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman

North Korea: How Many Wake-Up Calls Will It Take?

by David Krieger

North Korea has been sounding alarms since it withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003.  Its latest wake-up call in early 2016 was its fourth nuclear test.  This time it claimed to have tested a far more powerful thermonuclear weapon, although seismic reports do not seem to bear this out.

North Korea has been roundly condemned for its nuclear tests, including this one.  To put this in perspective, however, the U.S. has conducted more than 1,000 nuclear tests, continues to conduct subcritical nuclear tests, has not ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, is in breach of its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, regularly tests nuclear-capable missiles, and plans to spend $1 trillion modernizing its nuclear arsenal.  The U.S. and the other nuclear-armed countries are quick to point fingers at North Korea, but slow to recognize their own role in fanning the flames of nuclear catastrophe.

If we are not awakened by North Korea’s latest test, what will it take?  What other, louder alarm is necessary for the world to come together and work toward achieving nuclear zero before nuclear weapons are used again and we all become victims of a war from which humanity will never awaken?

To read more, click here.

Political Responsibility in the Nuclear Age: An Open Letter to the American People

by Richard Falk, David Krieger and Robert Laney

Dear fellow citizens:

By their purported test of a hydrogen bomb early in 2016, North Korea reminded the world that nuclear dangers are not an abstraction, but a continuing menace that the governments and peoples of the world ignore at their peril.  Even if the test were not of a hydrogen bomb but of a smaller atomic weapon, as many experts suggest, we are still reminded that we live in the Nuclear Age, an age in which accident, miscalculation, insanity or intention could lead to devastating nuclear catastrophe.

What is most notable about the Nuclear Age is that we humans, by our scientific and technological ingenuity, have created the means of our own demise.  The world currently is confronted by many threats to human wellbeing, and even civilizational survival, but we focus here on the particular grave dangers posed by nuclear weapons and nuclear war.

To read more, click here.

Why Our World Needs Peace Literacy

by Paul K. Chappell

Imagine if there were a high school in America today with a zero percent literacy rate, a high school where none of the students or teachers know how to read. Would this high school get national media attention? Actually, it would probably get international media attention, because today we recognize that literacy is the foundation of education, and we have constructed our society around literacy.

What if all of us in the twenty-first century are living in a preliterate society and we don’t even realize it? We are not preliterate in reading, but in something else. What if we are living in a society that is preliterate in peace, and a major reason why we have so many national problems, global problems, and even personal and family problems is because our society is preliterate in peace. Just as literacy in reading gives us access to new kinds of information such as history, science, and complex math, literacy in peace also gives us access to new kinds of information such as solutions to our national and global problems, along with solutions to many of our personal and family problems.

To read more, click here.

Israel Receives Fifth Nuclear-Capable Submarine from Germany

Israel has received a fifth Dolphin-class submarine produced by Germany. According to a 2012 report in Der Spiegel, the German-made submarines are capable of carrying nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. The submarine cost approximately $500 million to produce, with Germany providing 1/3 of the funding.

At a dedication ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is “capable of striking in very great strength at all those who would harm it.” While Israel officially does not confirm that it possesses nuclear weapons, it is well-known that it is the only nuclear-armed nation in the Middle East.

“Israel Receives Fifth Submarine with German Help,” Associated Press, January 12, 2016.

Doomsday Clock Stays at Three Minutes to Midnight

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has announced that it is keeping its “Doomsday Clock” at three minutes to midnight, unchanged from last year. The clock is a metaphor for how close humanity is to destroying the planet.

“Three minutes (to midnight) is too close. Far too close,” the Bulletin said in a statement. “We, the members of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, want to be clear about our decision not to move the hands of the Doomsday Clock in 2016: That decision is not good news, but an expression of dismay that world leaders continue to fail to focus their efforts and the world’s attention on reducing the extreme danger posed by nuclear weapons and climate change.

“When we call these dangers existential, that is exactly what we mean: They threaten the very existence of civilization and therefore should be the first order of business for leaders who care about their constituents and their countries.”

Todd Leopold, “Doomsday Clock Stays at Three Minutes to Midnight,” CNN, January 26, 2016.

Setsuko Thurlow and Hibakusha Voted Arms Control Person of the Year

Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and an active campaigner for the abolition of nuclear weapons, together with the hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been named the “Arms Control Person of the Year” by the Washington, DC-based Arms Control Association.

Setsuko Thurlow and the hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nominated for their unyielding dedication to sharing first-hand accounts of the catastrophic and inhumane effects of nuclear weapons, which serves to reinforce the taboo against the further use of nuclear weapons and to maintain pressure for effective action to eliminate and outlaw nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons testing.

Ms. Thurlow also received the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Distinguished Peace Leadership Award in 2015 for her leadership in the movement to abolish nuclear weapons. Click here to watch a video of that event.

“Setsuko Thurlow and the Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Voted the Arms Control Person of the Year,” Arms Control Association, January 7, 2016.

Air Force Withheld Nuclear Mishap from Pentagon Review Team

On May 17, 2014, three Air Force airmen were troubleshooting a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in a silo in Colorado. A “mishap” occurred, causing $1.8 million in damage to the nuclear-armed missile. At the same time that the mishap occurred, a Pentagon team appointed by then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was reviewing the many problems with the U.S. nuclear force.

The Air Force chose not to report this incident to the review team. The Air Force has denied an Associated Press Freedom of Information Act request for the incident report. Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists said, “By keeping the details of the accident secret and providing only vague responses, the Air Force behaves as if it has something to hide and undermines public confidence in the safety of the ICBM mission.”

Robert Burns, “Air Force Withheld Nuclear Mishap from Pentagon Review Team,” Associated Press, January 23, 2016.

North Korea Tests Nuclear Weapon, Calls for Peace Treaty

On January 6, North Korea conducted its fourth test of a nuclear weapon. While North Korea claimed that it tested a hydrogen bomb, many experts around the world doubted that claim since the explosion was approximately the same size as its third nuclear test, which was an atomic bomb.

North Korea has stated that it would halt its nuclear weapon tests if South Korea and the United States stop conducting joint military exercises, and a peace treaty is signed to conclude the 1950-53 Korean War.

Tony Munroe, Hideyuki Sano and David Brunnstrom, “North Korea Says Peace Treaty, Halt to Exercises Would End Nuclear Tests,” Reuters, January 16, 2016.

Former Officials Wary of Nuclear Modernization Plans

Many former Obama Administration officials are among the critics of the administration’s plans to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal at a cost of $1 trillion over the next 30 years. Andy Weber, former assistant secretary of defense and director of the Nuclear Weapons Council, has been a vocal critic of the administration’s plans to build a new nuclear cruise missile. Weber said, “It’s unaffordable and unneeded. The president has an opportunity to set the stage for a global ban on nuclear cruise missiles. It’s a big deal in terms of reducing the risks of nuclear war.”

Ellen Tauscher, a former undersecretary of state for arms control in the Obama Administration, expressed disappointment in the lack of nuclear arms reduction. She said, “I think there’s a universal sense of frustration. Somebody has to get serious. We’re spending billions of dollars on a status quo that doesn’t make us any safer.”

William Broad and David Sanger, “As U.S. Modernizes Nuclear Weapons, ‘Smaller’ Leaves Some Uneasy,” The New York Times, January 11, 2016.

Stratcom Chief Calls for Full Nuclear Modernization

U.S. Strategic Commander Adm. Cecil Haney called for full modernization of the nation’s nuclear triad of submarines, bombers and land-based missiles during a visit to Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which oversees 150 of the United States’ 450 land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles. Haney said, “We must modernize the force, including the people, to ensure this force remains capable of delivering strategic stability and foundational deterrence well into the future.”

Adm. Haney also said, “All [three legs of the nuclear triad] remain essential to our national security and continue to provide a stabilizing force in the global geopolitical fabric of the world.” Haney’s comment is in stark contrast to the viewpoint of numerous high-ranking military officials, including former U.S. Strategic Commander Gen. Lee Butler. In an interview with Robert Kazel for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in 2015, Gen. Butler said, “Rather than being concerned about the moral implications of [nuclear weapons], we continue to pursue them as if they were our salvation—as opposed to the prospective engine of our utter destruction.”

Jenn Rowell, “Nuke Chief Visits Malmstrom to Outline Priorities,” Great Falls Tribune, January 14, 2016.

International Peace Bureau Nominates Tony de Brum and Nuclear Zero Legal Team for Nobel Peace Prize

The International Peace Bureau (IPB) has nominated former Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony de Brum and the legal team working on the Nuclear Zero Lawsuits for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. IPB highlighted the courageous step of bringing legal actions against the world’s nine nuclear-armed states at the International Court of Justice, and additionally against the United States in U.S. Federal Court.

In its nomination, IPB writes, “It is certainly not the case that the RMI, with its some 53,000 inhabitants, a large proportion of whom are young people, have no need of compensation or assistance. Nowhere are the costs of a militarized Pacific better illustrated than there. The country is burdened with some of the highest cancer rates in the region following the 12 years of U.S. nuclear tests. Yet it is admirable that the Marshall Islanders in fact seek no compensation for themselves, but rather are determined to end the nuclear weapons threat for all humanity.”

Colin Archer, “International Peace Bureau Nominates de Brum and Nuclear Zero Legal Team for Nobel Peace Prize,” Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, January 28, 2016.

International Court of Justice Announces Dates for Oral Arguments

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague has announced that initial oral arguments in the Marshall Islands’ lawsuits against the United Kingdom, India and Pakistan will take place from March 7-16, 2016. The ICJ was founded in 1945 to rule on legal disputes between nations.

In the cases against India and Pakistan, the court will examine whether the tribunal in The Hague is “competent” to hear the lawsuits. The hearing against the United Kingdom will examine preliminary objections raised by the UK.

“Marshall Islands Sue Britain, India and Pakistan Over Nuclear Weapons,” Agence France-Presse, January 29, 2016.

February’s Featured Blog

This month’s featured blog is the Nobel Women’s Initiative. This initiative was established in 2006 by Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Betty Williams and Mairead Maguire.

The blog covers many different topics, including human rights, refugees, peace, women’s rights, and much more. To read the blog, click here.

This Month in Nuclear Threat History

History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the most serious threats that have taken place in the month of February, including the February 5, 1958 incident in which a B-47 bomber jettisoned a 7,600-pound Mark-15 hydrogen bomb into a Savannah River swamp off Tybee Island, Georgia after colliding with an F-86 fighter jet.  The weapon, which contained 400 pounds of conventional high explosives and highly enriched uranium, was never recovered despite an extensive two-month-long search by U.S. Navy personnel.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.

Engaging Youth in Nuclear Abolition Work

The British American Security and Information Council (BASIC) has published a new report entitled “Reframing the Narrative on Nuclear Weapons.” The publication represents 14 months of investigation into how future nuclear weapons policy can become more relevant to the concerns and the security of the next generation. BASIC’s aim was to explore this by engaging new perspectives within the next generation of policy shapers, those with ideas unstructured by Cold War experiences, but nevertheless motivated to take action to move beyond the legacies from past generations, focused on future decisions over global policy challenges.

To read the full report, click here.

Essays on the World’s Problems and Solutions

John Scales Avery, a frequent contributor to NAPF’s wagingpeace.org website, has published a collection of essays on the urgent problems the world is facing and the solutions available to us. Avery said, “We must work together to save human civilization and the biosphere from the twin threats of nuclear war and climate change. Together we can do it.”

To access many of Avery’s essays, click here.

Robert Scheer to Deliver the 15th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is pleased to welcome Robert Scheer, one of the nation’s most outspoken and progressive journalists, Professor of Communications at the University of Southern California, and Editor-In-Chief of Truthdig.com, to deliver the 15th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future.

Scheer’s lecture, entitled “War, Peace, Truth and the Media,” will take place on Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. at the Faulkner Gallery in the Santa Barbara Public Library, 40 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, California. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, click here.

2016 Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest is Launched

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has announced the topic for its 2016 Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest. This year’s contest will address NAPF’s new program “Humanize Not Modernize,” which opposes the modernization of nuclear arsenals and supports funding the many unmet human needs in the world.

All nine of the world’s nuclear-armed nations are modernizing or planning to modernize their nuclear arsenals. This is not only extraordinarily expensive, but also very dangerous. The United States alone plans to spend $1 trillion over the next 30 years to modernize its arsenal. Many of its proposed modernization programs will serve to make nuclear weapons more usable in conflict.

Contestants will make videos of no more than 3 minutes about why we need to #HumanizeNotModernize. The video can address issues around all nine nuclear-armed nations, or one nation in particular.

The contest is free to enter and is open to people of all ages around the world. For more information, visit www.peacecontests.org.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Endorses NAPF for 2016 Nobel Peace Prize

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the 1990 Nobel Peace Laureate and member of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Advisory Council, has endorsed NAPF for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. NAPF is one of three nominees that Archbishop Tutu has endorsed for this year’s prize. Click here to read an article about his endorsement.

To read the nomination letter by Bill Wickersham, Peace Studies professor at the University of Missouri, click here.

“That’s what nuclear bombs do, whether they’re used or not. They violate everything that is human; they alter the meaning of life. Why do we tolerate them? Why do we tolerate the men who use nuclear weapons to blackmail the entire human race?”

— Arundhati Roy. This quote is featured in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.

“…weapons-modernization programs in the U.S. and Russia continue to violate the spirit—and, I believe, the letter—of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”

— Lawrence Krauss, chair of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Click here to read his op-ed in the New Yorker about the Doomsday Clock.

“War destroys. And we must cry out for peace. Peace sometimes gives the idea of stillness, but it is never stillness. It is always an active peace. I think that everyone must be committed in the matter of peace, to do everything that they can, what I can do from here. Peace is the language we must speak.”

— Pope Francis

David Krieger
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman