“For there to be peace among nations, there must also be peace within them, among groups and individuals. The UN Charter says ‘Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defence of peace must be constructed.’ All of us, young and old, rich and poor, governments and civil society alike, must do our part. Let us now pool our efforts and make good on its great potential. The culture of peace can be ours.” -- Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary GeneralI have been gathering web links relevant to peace and disarmament and posting them on the blog. I hope that people who visit this blog will find the time and explore these links.
I am currently studying nonproliferation, and I hope that my eventual work in this pertinent field will make a significant contribution towards achieving peace and disarmament. But as Annan said, everyone has a stake as part of the global solution to these world issues, irrespective of our divergent walks of life, and that any act, big or small, will amount to something, no matter how cynical or bleak the world seems at times.
Let's cultivate a Culture of Peace.
Trisha
3 comments:
Dear Trisha,
Being relaxed I decided to explore blogs, and tried on a topic close to my heart and work- disarmament.
It was great to read your blog and your commitment to a peace culture. As you pursue nonproliferation, please remember that under the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty there was a commitment that those states that had nuclear weapons would disarm.
To keep faith, we need to see verifiable movement towards disarmament, as well as a continued committment to non proliferation as in no new states gaining nuclear weapons and those with weapons not developing new ones. Keep up the good work. Want to support the moves towards a treaty that would outlaw nuclear weapons, like chemical weapons and some forms of landmines???
Marian from New Zealand
Hello Marian,
I am taking a nuclear/missile nonproliferation course at the moment, and we have heavily discussed the nooks and crannies of the NPT. Yes, the norm to the nuclear nonproliferation regime is eventual disarmament. It is one of the main pillars of the NPT, and the regime. Nonetheless, you have Art. IV.
I totally agree about finding more effective ways for verification, which is what the IAEA is doing, but budgetary (and political) constraints delimit it from doing its work thoroughly and effectively. With Art. IV stating that states have an "inalienable" right to nuclear technology as long as it is for peaceful purposes (i.e., energy) and with verification having difficulty to discern a peaceful program from a military one, states go by mutual distrust for the other (founded or not), as we are seeing with Iran. We have to ask ourselves that with climate change now being widely accepted and oil reserves being depleted, will we will be seeing more states turning to nuclear energy as an alternative? Nuclear procurement poses such as dual-use dilemma, so we are to improve verification or something, we have to find a way to quiet this perturbing issue.
I have been learning about nuclear (weapon)-free zones (NWFZs) and that is something that a region or state could unilaterally do towards nuclear disarmament. However, there are conflicts with these internationally recognized zones, but each state has the sovereign right to recognize one and not the other.
Thank you for the words of encouragement. As one person, I can only do so much, but I'm happy to be part of a growing team of nonproliferation experts.
I'll be frank with you that my interest in nonproliferation happened recently. I majored in molecular biology and did my Master's work in biodefense. I was fortunate to have had guest lecturers who are nonproliferation experts or were former UNSCOM inspectors. They inspired me to pursue nonproliferation. With my background in biology and to some extent, (bio)chemistry, I'm very interested in working in the field of CBW nonproliferation. For some time, CBW nonproliferation has gotten short shrift by the nuclear nonproliferation efforts. But the 2001 anthrax attacks changed all of that, though it began as early with the Clinton administration in 1995. And now in Iraq, there are news of insurgents using chlorine bombs.
One thing I want to add...
As much as I believe that disarmament is an answer to peace, it will be a difficult road. Studying nonproliferation made me realize that there are very, very complex issues that underlie at least the broader reasons as to why states go nuclear or look into CBW armament. In addition, we are seeing non-state actors in either aiding proliferation of sensitive technology to clandestine states programs and possibly in the hands of ambitious militant/terrorist groups.
Many of our policies and diplomacy just reach the surface of what's truly going on. To do anything effective is to get the root of the problem. In the end, the question is whether we have the patience and emotional fortitude to look into these issues, to think rationally. when people are getting hurt and dying as a result of these weapons.
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