As the UN General Assembly debates issues of world peace, a space is given to civil society organisations to make presentations. This statement by Andrew Lichterman, of Western States Legal Foundation, was delivered by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation and endorsed by Pressenza IPA among 133 organisations.
As this Committee meets, the nuclear-armed countries are edging ever closer to direct military confrontation in conflict zones around the world, from Ukraine to Syria and the broader Middle East to the Western Pacific. The danger of nuclear war is growing again on a scale measured in months or years. Those who rule in the nuclear-armed states appear comfortable approaching disarmament on a time scale measured in generations—and show no interest in taking up the task again anytime soon.
In closing remarks, the chair of last year’s First Committee said, “I believe that one of the most urgent messages that rang out loud and clear from the deliberations and draft resolutions of the First Committee … is the need to revitalize the disarmament machinery, which is in danger of losing both credibility and relevance.”[1] Consider the contrast between the Chair’s assessment and the view on prospects for disarmament two decades ago. Then, a General Assembly resolution concerning the work of the First Committee could declare that the assembled states were “Encouraged by the changed political climate in the post-cold-war era, which is conducive to further bilateral, regional and multilateral efforts in disarmament…”[2]
No amount of tinkering with the disarmament machinery can turn it into a vehicle for disarmament progress when those in the driver’s seat have no intention of moving forward. The new round of conflicts and confrontations, and the resumption of arms racing, are driven by those who have the power to shape policy in the nuclear-armed states. Primary responsibility for the continued scourge of industrialized warfare world-wide lies with the military-industrial complexes and national security state elites at the apex of the global war system, and those in the United States above all. Nuclear-armed states account for three quarters of global arms exports; the United States and Russia together for over half.[3] They provide the kinds of weapons that turn local, low-intensity conflicts into industrial-scale wars that fragment societies, destroy vital infrastructure, and destabilize entire regions. These human catastrophes are used to justify competing armed interventions that raise the stakes even higher, with nuclear-armed militaries operating in close quarters in proxy confrontations that easily could spiral out of control. A small fraction of humanity benefits in the short run from these high stakes competitions; all of us bear the risk.
A civilization in which endless competition is the motor for development is approaching its limits. The quest for advantage within economies has generated immense disparities of wealth, and with it endless conflict. The project of control of the many by the few—an inescapable characteristic of a society that generates stark inequality both within and among states—has brought with it the endless perfection of state violence. The quest for advantage among states has created weapons that can destroy all states. Heedless extraction of natural resources in the service of endless wealth, and the endless state power that sustains it, threatens to destroy the ecosystems all else depends on.
Progress towards a global society that is more fair, peaceful, and ecologically sustainable is interdependent. We are unlikely to get far on any of these objectives without progress on all. They are not “preconditions” for disarmament, but, together with disarmament, are preconditions for human survival. In our relationships both with each other and the planet, we are now hard up against the choice: nonviolence or nonexistence. Our time is running out.
This statement was drafted and coordinated by Western States Legal Foundation and has been endorsed by the following organizations:
INTERNATIONAL
Association of World Citizens
International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA)
International Association of Peace Messenger Cities
International Peace Bureau
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Pax Christi International
Pressenza International Press Agency
Soka Gakkai International
Womens International League for Peace and Freedom
World Beyond War
World without Wars and Violence
AUSTRALIA
People for Nuclear Disarmament, Sydney
The Human Survival Project, Sydney
AUSTRIA
Internationaler Versöhnungsbund, österreichischer Zweig (Fellowship of Reconciliation)
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Landmine Survivors Initiatives
CANADA
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Québec
Committee for Future Generations, Northern Saskatchewan
Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Cooperative, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Les Artistes pour la Paix PEACE-NB, Saint John, New Brunswick
PEACE-NB, Saint John, New Brunswick
Peace River Environmental Society, Alberta
Physicians for Global Survival, Ottawa
Project Ploughshares
Religions for Peace Canada
Religions pour la Paix – Québec
Saskatoon Peace Coalition, Saskatchewan
FIJI
FemLINKPACIFIC, Suva
FRANCE
Action des Citoyens pour le Désarmement Nucléaire (ACDN)
Armes nucléaires STOP
GERMANY
American Voices Abroad Berlin
IALANA Germany
Scientists for Peace
The Nuclear-Free Future Award Foundation, Munich
INDIA
Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace
Global Futures Network, Mumbai
ITALY
AIMPGN, Associazione Italiana Medicina per la Prevenzione della Guerra Nucleare (Italian Medical Association for the Prevention of Nuclear War)
Italian Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms
Beati i costruttori di pace (Blessed Are the Peacemakers)
Rete Italiana per il Disarmo (Italian Disarmament Network)
JAPAN
Hiroshima Peace Culture Village, Miyoshi, Hiroshima
Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations)
Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo)
Peace Depot, Inc.
KENYA
Association of Physicians and Medical Workers for Social Reponsibility, Nairobi
NEW ZEALAND
Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace
NIGERIA
Media Rights, Lagos
POLAND
World PeaceLab Szczecin (Polish affiliate of International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms)
SPAIN
FundiPau (Fundació per la Pau – Foundation for Peace), Barcelona
SWEDEN
Swedish Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms
Swedish Peace Council
UNITED KINGDOM
Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
Article 36
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Hereford Peace Council
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
American Muslim Voice
Architects Designers Planners for Social Responsibility
CODE PINK
Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Peace Action
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Proposition One Campaign
Roots Action.org
United for Peace and Justice
Veterans For Peace
WarIsACrime.org
Western States Legal Foundation
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – US section
Abalone Alliance Safe Energy Clearinghouse, San Francisco, California
Brooklyn For Peace, Brooklyn, New York
Canticle Farm, Oakland, California
Christians For The Mountains, Dunmore, West Virginia
Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes, Monroe, Michigan
Code Pink NY, New York, New York
Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations, New York, New York
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Ecological Options Network, EON, Bolinas, California
Fairmont, Minnesota Peace Group, Fairmont, Minnesota
Franciscan Action Network, Washington, DC
FukushimaResponse.org, Sonoma County, California
Hibakusha Stories, New York, New York
Idle No More, San Francisco Bay Kansas City Physicians for Social Responsibility, Kansas City, Kansas Kateri Peace Conference, Fonda, New York
Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, New York, New York
LEPOCO Peace Center (Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern), Bethlehem Pennsylvania
Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, Garden City, New York
Los Alamos Study Group, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Metta Center for Nonviolence, Petaluma, California
Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center, Walnut Creek, California
Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice, Palo Alto, California
Nafsi ya Jamii (The Soul Community), Oakland, California New Jersey Peace Action
Nuclear Hotseat Podcast. Los Angeles, California
Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Takoma Park, Maryland
Nukewatch and The Progressive Foundation, Luck, Wisconsin
Oakland CAN (Community Action Network), Oakland, California
Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Office of the Americas, Santa Monica, California
Oregon PeaceWorks, Salem, Oregon
Pax Christi Long Island, Hicksville, New York
Pax Christi Metro New York Pax Christi New Jersey
Peace Action New York State
Peace Boat US, New York, NY
Peace Resource Center of San Diego, San Diego, California
Peaceworkers, San Francisco, California
Popular Resistance, Baltimore, Maryland
Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Boulder, Colorado
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, San Luis Obispo, CA
Seven Generations Consulting, Oakland, California
Sisters of Charity of New York, New York, New York
Straits Area Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice and Environment (SACCPJE),Cheboygan, Michigan
The House of the Lord Churches, New York, New York (Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry, National Presiding Minister)
The Peace Farm, marillo, TX
The Rachel Carson Council, Inc.,Bethesda, Maryland
Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), Livermore, California
US Peace Council, New Haven, Connecticut
Veterans For Peace Chapter 10, Albany, New York
WeAreWideAwake.org, Florida, USA
World Peace Now, Point Arena, CA
[1] Closing Remarks by H.E. Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations and Chairman of the First Committee, 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, 3rd November 2014
[2] United Nations General Assembly, 48th Session, Resolution 48/87, Rationalization of the work of the Disarmament and International Security Committee (First Committee), A/RES/48/87 13 January 1994.
[3] Pieter D. Wezeman And Siemon T. Wezeman , “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2014,” SIPRI Fact Sheet, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, March, 2015 (Table 1: The 10 largest exporters of major weapons and their main clients, 2010–14).
