Tag Archives: nuclear weapons

January 23, 2022 · 3:18 pm

Chicago Sun Times oped: We must mobilize against nuclear weapons to turn back the Doomsday Clock

The Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, on Jan. 20, announced the Doomsday Clock is again at 100 seconds to midnight. The Doomsday Clock, designed in 1947 by Chicago artist Martyl Langsdorf, measures how close we are to nuclear war, as well as the impact on human existence of climate change and pandemics.

With the Doomsday Clock remaining so close to midnight, there is a call to action for each of us to advocate for eliminating nuclear weapons.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is asking people to join the #TurnBackTheCloick challenge. On social media you are encouraged to share stories and ideas about how we can eliminate nuclear weapons, and people are encouraged to use the hashtag #TurnBackTheClock.

see my full commentary in the Chicago Sun Times

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Filed under arms control, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, disarmament, nuclear weapons

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February 2, 2019 · 3:59 pm

Newsweek oped: Trump Ditching Our Nuclear Treaty with Russia Betrays Reagan’s Legacy—and Endangers The World

The decision of President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to withdraw the U.S. from the INF Treaty with Russia endangers our national security. Plain and simple.  Along with the Trump administration’s plans to develop new low-yield nuclear weapons, we are risking an arms race with Russia and others – a staggering, utterly unnecessary revival of an existential danger the world thought it had put to sleep a generation ago.

The 1987 INF Treaty with Russia, signed by President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, disarmed medium and short range nuclear missiles. Citing alleged Russian violations of the treaty, Trump is taking the lazy way out and crashes out of the pact. But diplomacy has barely been given a chance. Exiting the agreement will not solve those concerns over violations.

See my full commentary at Newsweek:

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June 5, 2018 · 11:01 am

If We Want to Show We’re Serious About Denuclearizing Korea We Should Sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

The summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un comes near the anniversary of one of President John F. Kennedy’s most famous speeches.  JFK, in a 1963 commencement address at American University, proposed to the Soviet Union ending nuclear weapons testing.

If Trump and Kim are wise, they will follow up on JFK’s test ban proposal to strengthen their own peace effort.

Let’s begin with the fact that North Korea has just dismantled its nuclear test site.  Why not take the next step and end all nuclear testing forever on the Korean peninsula and beyond.

See my full commentary at the History News Network