Let’s talk nuclear weapons. Why? They’ve been the elephant in the room ever since we created them in 1945. Nuclear weapons are impossible to control. Nine known countries have access to them, but nuclear weapons threaten the entire planet. Since their invention, there have been terrifying miscalculations, accidents and close calls. Nuclear weapons have the capacity to annihilate the human species and plunder the planet. We have created something that is beyond our capacity to modify or to take back. Perhaps we may think that if we don’t talk about them, they’ll go away and leave us alone.
Historically, we have had anti-nuclear weapon movements with decent results at the times. In the 1980s, the nuclear freeze campaign was a mass movement led by everyday citizens fighting for a freeze in the testing, production and deployment of nuclear weapons. Likewise, the Nuclear Free Zone movement of the ‘80s and ‘90s saw many communities in the U.S. adopting resolutions and ordinances that opposed any nuclear activity in their jurisdiction. On June 12, 1982, 1 million Americans demonstrated in Central Park for the end of nuclear weapons and the Cold War arms race.
The United Nations has led the anti-nuclear effort on many occasions creating nonproliferation treaties between the nuclear powers of the world, with an emphasis on the Cold War superpowers, the United States and Russia.
In 2007, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as ICAN, was formed in Australia and launched in Austria. ICAN is a coalition of over 500 nongovernmental organizations operating in over 100 countries. They have helped revitalize and strengthen the global movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons by reframing the discourse of nuclear weapons from a prioritization of the national security and narrow interests of nuclear weapon states to an emphasis on nuclear weapons as a global humanitarian threat and the shared responsibility of all nations.
ICAN’s success is reflected in the passage of the world’s first comprehensive ban on nuclear weapons. In 2017, the United Nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Nuclear Ban Treaty, creating the first comprehensive ban on nuclear weapons under international law. The day it was introduced in the UN, 122 nations voted to adopt the treaty! Usually, a sober and solemn crowd, the general body of the UN erupted into cheers.
When a nation ratifies the Nuclear Ban Treaty, it is agreeing to not purchase, make, transport, possess or store anything that is used to make nuclear weapons. It is also agreeing to work towards making the nine nuclear nations ratify and implement the treaty.
This is a unique and some would say harrowing time for our planet. We can each name many issues we are deeply concerned about. Nuclear weapons might not make the top five of most people’s list in the United States. But we have a viable opportunity to ban nuclear weapons forever. It won’t be necessary to fear a “mistake” or that bad (fatal) judgment will prevail. The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Treaty provides the framework within which we can work towards a nuclear weapons-free world.
Obviously, our government is not going to begin dismantling its weapons at this time, and such a discussion would go nowhere in our current Congress. However, we the people can begin this process, first by making it an issue: Nuclear weapons should be talked about constantly and consistently. We can educate ourselves, our friends, organizations, faith groups, businesses and city and town governments as to how we can align ourselves and groups with the treaty. To help with this effort, there are two campaigns up and running with active groups in Northampton.
Back from the Brink (BftB) focuses on having town governments, groups and organizations pass a non-binding resolution that specifies five actions for our Congress to pass and to embrace the Nuclear Ban Treaty.
NuclearBan.US educates and mobilizes people to support the treaty and to build pressure for its ultimate implementation in the U.S. They ask that people, institutions, municipalities and states take it to the next level by working to disconnect from the nuclear weapons industry (e.g. through divestment, boycotts and legislation) and to align with the Nuclear Ban Treaty.
BftB serves as an important starting point for building support for national policy changes, and NuclearBan.US encourages people to do what they can to disconnect from the nuclear weapons industry and put direct pressure on the industry and federal government to embrace a policy of de-nuclearization. When a group becomes aligned or a resolution is passed, our state and federal representatives and senators are notified.
Join the campaigns at preventnuclearwar.org and nuclearban.us, and come to an informational gathering on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 6:30 p.m. at The Resistance Center, 2 Conz St., Northampton. We can use the power of the people to create a critical mass and ensure that our state, followed by other states, and then our nation, joins the world in banning the use of nuclear weapons forever.
Susan Lantz, of Northampton, is a longtime planet advocate, peace promoter and anti-nuclear (anything) activist.