Moving Toward a Nuclear Weapons Free World Begins with a Conversation
By Ann Frisch
The US Servas Conference in Minneapolis marked the 81st anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Most SERVAS members on the planet were not yet born. We have, though, been reminded of it and its horror. We have also learned that the US Government censored the news at that time. We have heard about the “testing” of nuclear weapons first in our own country with the bombing in New Mexico leaving radiation to the present day, on the Marshall Islands, Kazakhstan, Nevada, Alaska, Mississippi, not to mention dropping of weapons in South Carolina, Florida, Spain, and other locations where nuclear weapons were dropped accidentally. (Read Eric Schlosser Command and Control. Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters by Serhii Plokhy; it will keep you awake at night.
Access to visuals of nuclear war, such as the comic book story “What If We Nuked a City” make it easy to imagine. And we are reminded daily when officials of various countries threaten to bomb their present enemies, as if to say “we threaten the planet.” We recoil from this news! It does not move us to have conversations, let alone to take action. And in SERVAS we pledge “ to work for a more peaceful world, one conversation at the time.”
Conversations are a very good and necessary way to move toward a nuclear weapons free world. Adopting a listening stance that is required of conversations is a beginning, but can be more demanding than taking positions. Asking our SERVAS guests or hosts what they understand about nuclear weapons, and our mission of peace and understanding while offering people traveling a safe place to stay can promote interesting conversations. Framing at the outset with the dichotomy of “build more/get rid of all” is largely unproductive in conversations, not to mention action.
We can start out with the bare facts. How many nuclear weapons are on our planet: 12 thousand plus. Many of us do not know which countries have them, or the consequences of that. US, Russia, UK, France, Pakistan, India, Israel, China, and North Korea. And those countries hosting US nuclear weapons and personnel: Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Turkiye, Belgium; and possibly Belarus with Russian nuclear weapons.
Over the decades there have been protessts by people in proximity to these launch sites. Current opposition by the US Government to prevent Iran from using their nuclear materials (gifted by the US under a US-friendly regime there) to make nuclear weapons. India made a nuclear weapon with a gift of nuclear material from Canada in 1974. It was controversial at the time. (India did not sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty prohibiting such actions. Iran did, and is still a member in good standing at the NPT. The Democratic Republic of Korea was a member of the NPT, but withdrew when it built nuclear weapons).
In our conversations, we share facts which seem less intimidating. But still worrisome. What could be a productive and exciting conversation would still include the facts, and take hope from how the world is coming together to eliminate their threats and use with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) . It is exciting and conversation-generating to learn that the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a non governmental group much like Servas, worked for decades to create this international treaty, now signed by 94 Nations and ratified by 74, the latter becoming States Parties to the TPNW. These countries, all of which do not have nuclear weapons, further pledged to never “test, develop, produce, manufacture…or assist [other countries in acquiring them."] To “never assist” means removing their complicity even when they do not host or threaten,” Full Treaty Text.
In their support of the TPNW, ICAN works with Member Organizations to encourage corporations and individuals to withdraw or not to invest in companies that contribute to the production or use of nuclear weapons. Here is a link to the ICAN website. Private groups like As You Sow offer a website where individuals can find out what companies produce or assist in Nuclear Weapons Production. An appropriate response would be to withdraw funds, or not invest in them.
Servas members around the world have been monitoring this exciting movement, have attended these meetings as civilian observers, and will be sending delegates to the TPNW Review meeting in November. Servas is already an international Partner to ICAN and has been present at previous Meetings of States Parties. Servas members listen to the countries’ States Parties talk about their efforts to build a nuclear weapons free world, and how we can help.
An alternative approach, pioneered by Ward Hayes Wilson in his book A World without Nuclear Weapons, is gaining traction and that is simply dismantling nuclear weapons on the planet, "Nuclear weapons are not only expensive: they are useless!. Wilson's book lays out how world leaders have shunned nuclear weapons because they are too destructive to be useful.
In her recent blog “How Nuclear Weapons Constrain Options in a Crisis” Sadia Tasleem, a lecturer in Defense and Strategic Studies at Quaid-i-Azam University. shows how Pakistan had to ignore its potential for use in the three day war with India in 2025, and how it presents itself to the Pakistani public and the world. Here is a link to her piece “How the Bomb Failed to Deliver Security in Pakistan”
Servas hosts and travelers have great opportunities to be present on the world stage through conversations. We need to know the dangers of purposeful and accidental use. However, conversations about the United Nations treaty move us toward a nuclear weapons free world. Referring to the research on the uselessness and expense of nuclear weapons gives us opportunities to have conversations without getting bogged down in three underlying questions: should we maintain, build or get rid of nuclear weapons. Without the facts and framworks, those questions are premature. International organizations and private groups help us to remove our complicity through socially responsible investing. These movements are making an impact; we can make an impact as Servas and as Servas members.
These conversations can be in our homes or while visiting, IRL or Zoom meetings. We can share information from books and websites, and be present at the deliberation of the TPNW supporting its efforts to work with civilians and governments to bring about a nuclear weapons free world. Being present at those meetings, being a partner in the quest, is a magnificent first start. You can virtually attend the TPNW Review meeting; your delegates will welcome your engagement.
(Ann can be reached at afrisch09@gmail.com)
