A Middle East Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone

by David Krieger

A Middle East Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone will be advantageous for all countries in the region, including Israel and Iran. No country will have the insecurity of worrying about a possible nuclear war in the region, which would be destructive for all concerned. 

American leadership in this effort will be critical.  It is an essential step toward achieving President Obama’s stated goal of “the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” A possible venue for opening discussions on this important security issue is the Global Summit on Nuclear Security that President Obama pledged to convene within the next year. Progress on achieving a regional ban on nuclear weapons in the Middle East will also help assure success at the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in 2010, and move the world closer to the goal of zero nuclear weapons.

To read more, visit http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2009/06/11_krieger_mideast_nwfz.php. 

Kicking the Nuclear Habit: Why We Need a World Free of Nuclear Weapons

by Dr. Lawrence S. Wittner

What […] is holding us back from nuclear abolition? Certainly it is not the public, which poll after poll shows in favor of building a nuclear-free world. Even many government leaders now agree that getting rid of nuclear weapons is desirable. The real obstacle is the long-term habit of drawing upon the most powerful weapons available to resolve conflicts among hostile nations. This habit, though, has proved a deeply counter-productive, irrational one—worse than smoking, worse than drugs, worse than almost anything imaginable, for it places civilization on the brink of destruction. It is time to kick it—and create a nuclear-free world.

To read more, visit http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2009/06/22_wittner_kicking_habit.php

President Obama Speaks of Nuclear Dangers

On June 4, 2009, President Obama delivered a speech in Cairo, Egypt, in which he focused in part on nuclear issues.

He said, “I understand those who protest that some countries have weapons that others do not. No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons. And any nation – including Iran – should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That commitment is at the core of the Treaty, and it must be kept for all who fully abide by it. And I am hopeful that all countries in the region can share in this goal.”

To read all excerpts of this speech relating to nuclear issues, visit http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2009/06/04_obama_cairo_speech.php.

US Launches Long-Range Nuclear-Capable Missile

On June 29, the United States launched an “unarmed” Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to the Ronald Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands.

The Minuteman III missile is named after the Minutemen of the Revolutionary War and for its ability to be fired within minutes of an order to do so. Both the United States and Russia maintain thousands of nuclear weapons on this hair-trigger alert status nearly two decades after the end of the Cold War.

“It is striking that just weeks after condemning a missile test by North Korea, the United States is performing a test of a nuclear-capable long-range missile,” said David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. “Reinforcing such double standards will not help us reach President Obama’s stated goal of a world without nuclear weapons.”

Russia Ready to Cut Its Nuclear Arsenal

President Dmitry Medvedev promised to further reduce Russian strategic nuclear weapons if the US gives Moscow assurances on a missile defense. The Kremlin is ready to cut its strategic delivery vehicles by several times in comparison with the 1991 START I treaty. The number of warheads could also be considerably reduced. An arms control deal would mark a new beginning in US-Russian relations.

Presidents Medvedev and Obama will meet in Moscow from July 6-8 to discuss the replacement of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires in December.

Max, Arthur, “Russia Wants US Assurances on Missile Defense,” Associated Press, June 20, 2009.

North Korea Defends Nuclear Program

North Korea has boasted of being a “proud nuclear power” and warned the US that it will strike back if attacked. The UN toughened sanctions against North Korea after a nuclear test on May 25, 2009. North Korea has also recently test-fired a number of short-range missiles, and in April launched a long-range rocket. 

Military analysts say North Korea’s longest-range missile - the Taepodong-2 - has the potential range to reach Hawaii and parts of Alaska. Some recent reports have predicted that North Korea will test-launch a long-range missile toward Hawaii sometime in July.

“N Korea Defends Nuclear Programme,” BBC News, June 22, 2009.

Uncertainty Around Iranian Nuclear Program Continues

The IAEA reported that Iran sped up its production of nuclear fuel and increased its number of installed centrifuges to 7,200 - sufficient for fueling up to two nuclear weapons per year. Experts found no evidence that any of Iran’s uranium had been enriched to a weapon-grade purity. Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the IAEA, told the BBC, “It is my gut feeling that Iran would like to have the technology to enable it to have nuclear weapons, if it decides to do so.” ElBaradei pointed out that countries with nuclear capabilities enjoy more international attention and said he believes Iran strives to be recognized as a major power in the Middle East.

William J. Broad and David E. Sanger, “Iran Has Centrifuge Capacity for Nuclear Arms, Report Says,” New York Times, June 5, 2009.

“Iran ‘would like nuclear option,’” BBC NEWS, June 17, 2009. 

Weapons Supermarket for Terrorists in the United States

In the United States high-end military technology is easy to find and even easier to export. Undercover inspectors successfully purchased high-grade gear and evaded export bans. The companies selling the equipment, including nuclear triggers, had not violated any laws. Lax laws and regulations could allow terrorists to succeed just as easily. According to US officials, in 2008 more than 145 people were charged with violating export control laws, with 43% of those intending to ship gear to Iran and China.

Nasaw, Daniel, “America a Weapons Supermarket for Terrorists, Inquiry Finds,” The Guardian, June 8, 2009.

United States Discloses Civilian Nuclear Sites

A 266-page document providing confidential details of US civilian nuclear sites was posted on the internet. The Government Printing Office took down the “sensitive but unclassified” data after experts expressed concern. The document includes information on the location of the fuel stockpiles as well as on the nuclear weapons laboratories at Los Alamos, Livermore and Sandia. US officials stressed that information released constituted no security threat.

“US in Nuclear Disclosure Blunder,” BBC NEWS, June 3, 2009.

Letting Unmanned Nuclear Bombers Loose

Adam Lowther, a research professor at the Air Force Research Institute at Maxwell Air Force Base, suggests replacing US strategic bombers with nuclear-armed pilotless aircrafts. The drones are called the nuclear-dedicated unmanned combat aerial vehicle, or ND-UCAV. In the new issue of Armed Forces Journal Lowther writes, “The Air Force could take advantage of the more than $800 million previously invested in the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program and the $635 million currently dedicated to X-47B development and rapidly develop a ND-UCAV capable of penetrating defended air space with a small nuclear weapons payload.”

“Unleash the Nuclear-Armed Robo-Bombers: Air Force Researcher,” WIRED, June 3, 2009.

US Fortifies Hawaii Against North Korean Missile

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ordered deployment of missile interceptors and radar to protect Hawaii from a North Korean strike. “We’re obviously watching the situation in the North with respect to missile launches very closely,” Gates said. The US military also vowed to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 that calls on international navies to request inspection of suspect cargo vessels.

Shanker, Thom, “US Fortifies Hawaii’s Defenses Against North Korean Arms,” New York Times, June 18, 2009.  

Biofuels Could Clean Up Chernobyl Soil

Biofuels can clean up lands contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster within decades rather than hundreds of years. Crops could suck up the radioactive strontium and cesium, and the heavy radioactive residues will be burned in a power station. A team of Irish technologists is hoping to buy radioactive sugar beet and other crops grown on the contaminated land to make biofuels for sale across Europe. The Greenfield Project Management insists that no radioactive material will get into the biofuel. A 40,000 square kilometer area, or one fifth of the territory of Belarus, the country affected by much of the fallout, may be fit to grow food again.

Pearce, Fred, “Biofuels Could Clean Up Chernobyl ‘Badlands,’” New Scientist, June 27, 2009.

Win a Trip to the United Nations Annual NGO Conference in Mexico this September

Now through the end of July, the World Federation of United Nations Associations is accepting submissions for this year’s “Students for a Nuclear Weapons Free World” Contest. Winners will be invited to present their campaigns to the United Nations Department for Public Information and Non-Governmental Organizations (UN DPI/NGO) conference in Mexico City from September 9-11, 2009. The theme for the 2009 conference will be on disarmament.

By yourself, with your friends or with a group, create a campaign that educates, invigorates, and activates your community in advancing the global push for a nuclear weapons-free world. Find out more and send your submissions to hub@wfuna.org.

SIPRI Yearbook 2009 Looks at Top 10 Arms Spenders, Arms Producers

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), United States military spending reached $607 billion in 2008. This was by far the highest total of any country; China spent the second-most at $84.9 billion.

Four of the top five arms-producing companies are also based in the United States: Boeing ($30.5 billion); Lockheed Martin ($29.4 billion); Northrop Grumman ($24.6 billion); and General Dynamics ($21.5 billion).

SIPRI Yearbook 2009 is a compendium of data and analysis in the areas of security and conflicts, military spending and armaments, non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament. SIPRI Yearbook 2009 also has extensive annexes on arms control and disarmament agreements and international security cooperation bodies, and a chronology of events during 2008 in the area of security and arms control.

Click here for more information on the 2009 SIPRI Yearbook.

CRISIS 21: Civilization's Crisis in the 21st Century

John Avery has released a book entitled “CRISIS 21: Civilization’s Crisis in the 21st Century.” The book uncovers the relationships between the major problems that will be facing the world during the 21st century. The well-known problems include the threat of nuclear war; growing population and vanishing resources; threats to the environment; and intolerable economic inequality.  

Avery is a theoretical chemist noted for his research publications in evolution, thermodynamics, and quantum chemistry and a notable world peace activist. He currently is an Associate Professor in quantum chemistry at the University of Copenhagen.

To download a copy of the book, click here.

Become a Peace Leader in Your Community

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Peace Leaders Program helps volunteers become peace leaders in their own communities all over the world. Peace leaders educate people about nuclear weapons and the steps that can be taken to eliminate the global nuclear threat. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation supplies peace leaders with materials and resources, including free DVDs, to help them inform others about nuclear issues. Peace leaders commit to reaching out to at least 50 people over six months.

If you are interested in becoming a Peace Leader, go to http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/action/peace-leaders/ to find out more information and sign up.

2009-2010 Action Plan

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation seeks a world free of nuclear weapons. We believe that nuclear arms reductions and the stabilization of nuclear dangers are not ends in themselves, but must be viewed in the context of achieving the total elimination of nuclear weapons. This is required by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Court of Justice. It is a matter that affects the future well-being, even survival, of the human race. In this light, the Foundation is pursuing a five-point program with tangible goals that it seeks to accomplish over the next 12 to 18 months. These goals will guide our efforts in providing leadership toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons. 

The Action Plan was adopted by the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. We would welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

To read the 2009-2010 Action Plan, click here.

Putting the Nuclear Genie Back in the Bottle: Video Contest

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 2009 Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest received 120 entries this year. This year's theme is “Breakthrough: Putting the Nuclear Genie Back in the Bottle.” Watch the videos here on our YouTube group page. Winners will be announced on July 15.

“Why do we need nuclear weapons? If other nuclear states are ready for (a nuclear-weapons-free world), we are too.”

-- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

“I am of course struck that so many of my colleagues who are so worried about the deficit apparently think the Pentagon is funded with Monopoly money that somehow doesn’t count.”

-- Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).

“In the final analysis, the nuclear danger can only be removed by abolishing nuclear weapons. But unless we address the need to demilitarize international relations, reduce military budgets, put an end to the creation of new kinds of weapons, and prevent the weaponization of outer space, all talk about a nuclear weapon-free world will be just empty rhetoric.”

-- Mikhail Gorbachev, the last head of state of the USSR, IPS, 11 June 2009.

“By outlawing all nuclear tests, the CTBT in force would greatly contribute to global efforts to curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons while advancing nuclear disarmament.” 

-- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the urgency of the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, June 15, 2009.

Volha Charnysh
David Krieger
Vicki Stevenson
Rick Wayman