Guardian: more and more people are seeking to ban nuclear weaponsThe United States and Russia are updating their nuclear arsenals, and China is becoming the third leading nuclear power.
Today's activists advocating for nuclear disarmament are using new tactics in response to threats, writes The Guardian.
As nuclear threats gain momentum three decades after the end of the cold war, movements for nuclear disarmament are becoming more visible, and there are more and more representatives of new generations among activists.
In the late 50s and early 60s, and then in the early 80s, when the United States and the Soviet Union aimed their missiles at each other in Europe, there were massive street protests against governments developing plans for global destruction.
In that era, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was born in the UK. They have led many large-scale marches and protests, including at the very heart of the British military nuclear industry – at the nuclear weapons manufacturing plant in Aldermaston. More than four decades ago, a million Americans gathered in New York's Central Park to call for an end to the arms race and a freeze on nuclear weapons development programs. At the end of 1982, more than 30,000 women formed a human chain around the Greenham Common Air Force Base to protest the deployment of American cruise missiles there. In October 1983, CND organized the largest march on London that the city has ever seen.
After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the risk of nuclear war became the same reality as during the Caribbean crisis. And although there were no mass protests this time, people's reactions and experiences found expression in new forms.
At the forefront of the new movement for a nuclear-free world is the International Campaign for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Among its key achievements is the promotion and subsequent adoption by the UN General Assembly in 2017 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (NWFZ).
Since then, more than 90 countries have signed the treaty, 68 of them have ratified it. This has not stopped the United States and Russia from modernizing their arsenals, and China from plans to become the third leading nuclear power. Beatrice Fin, executive director of ICAN, said that the ultimate goal of the organization is to delegitimize nuclear weapons worldwide.
"Perhaps you don't see as many people protesting in the streets today as before, which probably creates the feeling that our voice is not so strong," said Fin, who received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Ican. But she added: "However, our movement is very strong and we are definitely growing and developing."
Continuing the work of CND and the movement to stop the development of nuclear weapons, ICAN and 652 partner organizations around the world draw inspiration from other examples of civil activism, including campaigns to ban landmines and cluster munitions, which sought to establish new norms and draw new red lines in the international arena.
"We are trying to fight propaganda aimed at convincing us that nuclear weapons are the norm," Fin said.
Kate Hudson, Secretary General of CND, says that since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the number of new members has increased dramatically.
"Activism is present in large numbers, but it takes on new forms, and it's more adaptive than before: the way people understand and act on issues, politically and in terms of campaigning," Hudson said.
According to her, the movement for nuclear disarmament is no longer in an isolated space, because it shares the common problems of those who are fighting for the prevention of the climate crisis or for social justice in a world where governments spend huge sums on nuclear arsenals, while the poorest people in their society suffer from cold and hunger.
For example, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement currently views nuclear disarmament as a social issue.
Marie Feins, a partner at Global Zero, a group advocating for nuclear disarmament, said the BLM movement helped her see more clearly "the relationship between policing and militarism systems," as well as the intersection of the nuclear weapons complex, the struggle for social justice and other existential threats.
"I am optimistic that new generations are becoming more actively involved in this agenda and are thinking about nuclear disarmament issues," Feyns said. "They are thinking about new approaches to diplomacy, they have a new idea of how the world security system can and should look like."
Molly Hurley, who was born in China but was adopted by an American family, said she took part in a Carnegie Endowment conference in Washington dedicated to nuclear disarmament, explaining that "these problems cannot but worry me."
As the conflict in Ukraine unfolded, a sense of horror and anxiety spread among Hurley's friends. According to her, for them it is just another existential threat over which they have no control.
"One of my friends told me: I'm just horrified at the prospect that the whole world could die because of the decisions of several people whom I will never meet and who will never listen to my words," she said.
"You will never get mass support for the movement by intimidation," she said, arguing that what is perceived as apathy among her generation is actually a "mechanism for overcoming hopelessness." The solution, in her opinion, is to offer some grounds for hope.
"There are things we can do, and we need to clearly outline concrete steps that can be taken."
