More than any other people on this planet, the Marshall Islanders are survivors of the two greatest threats facing humanity: nuclear weapons and climate change. Their idyllic archipelago, a sapphire entity between Hawaii and Australia, is located 5,000 miles west of Los Angeles and 500 miles north...

Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro chose to begin their book, The Internationalists, with the following description of the historic event on August 27, 1928: “On that day, crowds gathered outside the Quai d’Orsay to watch the world leaders arrive at the Clock Room in the immense Foreign...

If conflict is inevitable in human relations, so might be efforts to reconcile and reach a state of peace. ...

In the centennial year 2000, while the world was getting used to writing or typing the year beginning with a “2” instead of a “1,” nations were introduced to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals encouraging the 189 member states to adopt a set of 8 goals for a timeline of 15...

There are many aspects to helping our planet disarm meaningfully. 108 countries are now part of treaties that have established nuclear free zones around the world. They are making a concerted effort to create a nuclear free planet and that alone needs to be applauded and the trend encouraged.

Much of the following text is taken from a blog post from the International Committee of the Red Cross: Human Cost of Cyber Operations—Key ICRC Takeaways from Discussion with Tech Experts. ICRC has encouraged readers to share this blog, and they invite feedback from readers. The authors are...

On April 14, 2019 the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ hosted a conference on Steps To A Nuclear Weapons-Free World. According to the NJIT coordinator, Jay Kappraff, the purpose of the conference was to focus on the watershed moment we are facing: “Nuclear forces are being...

While disarming our planet in today’s world includes among other things the goal of eliminating the use of weapons of mass destruction in large- and small-scale combat situations we generally describe as war, one wonders when and how did the notion of “war” and a soldier’s “right to...

According to a video and transcript can be found at the State Department’s website. Take a listen. You might be favorably surprised with Dr. Ford’s tone, language, and message. When was the last time you heard anyone in public office, especially at the federal level even mention the word...

Work to disarm our planet continues. Some good news of late reveals increasing support of the Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons with the ratification by South Africa, the 22nd country to do so with the distinction of being the only country which gave up its program to develop nuclear weapons and is now...

Recent news from companies like Salesforce, Google, and Microsoft has seen a segment of their work force protesting their companies’ connections with military policies in support of issues of major concern to those working for disarmament. ...

It seems time for some more good news. In opening up the homepage from the International Atomic Energy Agency website, the lead article read: “EU and IAEA Review Progress and Agree on Priorities in Nuclear Cooperation at Annual Meeting.” There it was: an actual story of agreement and...

If you are old enough to have lived through it or have studied it, do you remember the Marshall Plan? Officially known as the European Recovery Program, the Marshall Plan was a 1948 American initiative to aid post-WWII Western Europe to rebuild their economies through economic assistance from...

The following was graciously submitted by Georgina Long, the Interfaith Coordinator for the Brahma Kumaris UK, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the World Parliament in Toronto, Canada in November. ...

The following blog is taken from a talk given by Guy Quinlan to the Harvard Club of New York City in September 2018 on the book by Daniel Ellsberg, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner, and is reprinted with his kind permission. Please refer to this original document for...

This blog is dedicated to the humanitarian workers of the world for their efforts to directly implement human rights values in working to disarm our planet. One such organization is the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, whose Executive VP reflects here on Tzu Chi's work at a Tijuana migrant caravan shelter.

The First Committee of the United Nations is a forum for countries to hold a dialogue on all disarmament-related matters. Where some countries promote disarmament to strengthen security for their population, others oppose disarmament as a threat to the security of their population. Which is correct?

Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954, changing the essence of the holiday to celebrating and honoring patriotism, the warriors, and the wars. What veterans really need is for society to reclaim the spirit of Armistice Day and unite in the common desire of the human spirit for peace.

Credit is seldom given to the daily work performed by international civil servants at the United Nations specialized agencies and programs. In the field of disarmament, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs and others work to bring the range of weaponry and destructive conflict to the fore so disarmament is possible.

Trump's memorable visit to the United Nations in September 2018 included a conversation at the Security Council about weapons of mass destruction. During that session, many countries highlighted the need for nuclear powers to comply with existing treaties.

This blog post examines the consequences of lethal drones and autonomous weapons systems, on the rise in state and non-state weapons systems around the world.

This blog is dedicated to the upcoming anniversary of a landmark Mine Ban Treaty and the work done by the Canadian Government and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in their efforts to implement the treaty.

While there are a range of disarmament treaties that merit discussion, these are some recent ones mentioned in the news, explained here more fully for our readers’ clarification. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons July 1st of this year marked the 50th anniversary of the 1968...

Many governments often spend millions in order to strengthen their armed forces (or billions in the case of the United States), there are 22 nations that have made the decision to have no army at all. 

This blog is in tribute to the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival in commemoration of the Poor People’s March 50 years ago organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under Martin Luther King’s leadership. Learning of the pillars supporting the Poor...

How do you ever get the membership of the United Nations to sit down and talk about disarmament and even set off a large enough public response to have a significant downsizing of nuclear arsenals as a result? All we need is another Homer Jack. “And who is he?” you ask. Certainly not a commonly...

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that is investigating the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria is authorized to enforce the Convention, but punishment for use of these weapons is not clearly defined.

Information direct from a UN staffer shows the risks in modern times relating to nuclear weapons, including recent efforts by nuclear-weapons states to modernize and develop new nuclear weapon technologies.

Just as the initiation of recent student led advocacy from Parkland, Florida brings hope for positive change in this country, so too have students in Japan addressed the issue of nuclear disarmament in their country by sharing the stories of nuclear blast survivors.

An overview of the contributions the Holy See made to the negotiations process leading up to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Pope Francis has been outspoken in support of nuclear disarmament.

This edition of Disarming Our World explores the story behind how the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons came to be.

Nuclear disarmament may still be far away, but significant steps are being taken at the United Nations through the leadership of 122 countries who have declared nuclear weapons illegal. The other, nuclear-armed countries must listen and learn from them.

This new series on the UUA International Blog is devoted to building our knowledge of disarmament efforts then and now, with the goal of helping to create a more peaceful world with much fewer weapons. As the UN Charter indicates, there is a real need for security - and provision is needed for some measure of control - but certainly not at this level of military expenditure and ongoing military undertakings.