Category: Action

The Arms Control Association, a prominent Washington, DC-based group promoting arms control policies, has announced the finalists for its annual Arms Control Person of the Year award.

One of the finalists is the government of the Marshall Islands and its former Foreign Minister Tony de Brum, “for pursuing a formal legal case in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against the world’s nuclear-armed states for their failure to initiate nuclear disarmament negotiations in violation of Article VI of the 1968 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and customary international law.”

We appreciate the good work done in 2016 by all the nominees. However, we believe that the courage and foresight demonstrated by the Marshall Islands in filing these cases is unparalleled. And let’s not forget that the Marshall Islands’ case against the United States is still active. Receiving this award would help bring added attention to this ongoing effort in U.S. Federal Court. The Marshall Islands’ sustained effort to bring these issues to the highest judicial forums deserves strong recognition.

I encourage you to submit your vote for the Marshall Islands in this year’s contest, and to ask your friends, family, and colleagues. Voting is open now through January 5, 2017, at this link: https://www.armscontrol.org/acpoy.

We also have some social media content ready for you to share about this vote. Please re-tweet this tweet from @napf, and share this image on Facebook. Your support is much appreciated!

It is reported that President Obama is considering important changes in U.S. nuclear weapons policy that will make the world safer and that he can make as commander-in-chief without Congressional involvement. We urge the President to be bold and initiate the following seven policy changes:

1. Declare a No First Use policy. The U.S. currently maintains a policy that it is acceptable for it to use nuclear weapons first in certain scenarios. A No First Use policy would make nuclear war less likely.

2. Eliminate launch-on-warning. This would make mistaken launches due to computer error less likely.

3. De-alert the nuclear arsenal. Taking U.S. nuclear weapons off high-alert would allow decision makers more time to consider the use of nuclear weapons.

4. Remove U.S. nuclear weapons from foreign soil. This would decrease tensions with Russia and make nuclear war less likely.

5. Eliminate land-based nuclear weapons. This would remove these easy targets and alleviate the “use them or lose them” scenario.

6. Zero-out funding for “modernizing” the U.S. nuclear arsenal. This would reverse the current nuclear arms race and free hundreds of billions of dollars for fulfilling societal needs.

7. Convene the nine nuclear-armed countries to commence good faith negotiations for total nuclear disarmament. This would show that the U.S. is serious about complying with its legal obligations under Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Please take a moment to send a message to President Obama today, encouraging him to use his last months in office to de-escalate global nuclear tensions and set the world on a path to nuclear zero.

Did you know that all nine nuclear-armed countries are modernizing their nuclear forces? The United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea together spend over $100 billion annually on their nuclear forces.

While the majority of nuclear weapons funding comes from taxpayers in nuclear-armed countries, private sector investors also provide financing that enables the production, maintenance and modernization of nuclear arsenals.

A new report by PAX entitled “Don’t Bank on the Bomb” examines in great detail the companies that produce nuclear weapons and the financial institutions that back them.

State Farm, an insurance and financial services company in the United States, is one of the many companies that finance nuclear weapon producers. State Farm presents itself as a “good neighbor” – their advertisements tell you, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”

Please take a moment today to write to State Farm CEO Michael Tipsord to let him know that financing nuclear weapons is unacceptable.