Disarming Our Planet

At a recent event at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in NYC, Chris King from the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs addressed the need for countries to come together to find a way to reduce nuclear weapons arsenals.

The risks of functionally delegating complex tasks – and associated decisions – to sensors and data-driven algorithms is one of the central issues of our time, with serious implications across sectors and societies. Nowhere are these more acute than in relation to decisions to...

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.

Jerry Ross describes his recent experience in Nagasaki at the 2018 World Conference Against Atom and Hydrogen Bombs where atom bomb survivors and activists represented a global mobilization to rid the world of nuclear weapons once and for all.

While there are a range of disarmament treaties that merit discussion, some recent ones mentioned in the news such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the New START, and the Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons are explained here more fully for our readers’ clarification.

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.

The four pillars of the Poor People's Campaign, poverty, racism, militarism and the war economy, and health and a healthy planet align closely with the initiatives of the United Nations - and this work must be shared.

Jerry Ross, UU-UNO Envoy at First Parish in Bedford, MA, reports on his experiences attending nuclear disarmament conferences in New York City.

This week's post in Disarming Our Planet is a statement by Mr Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, reposted here from the ICRC's website as an appeal to States, global leaders, and citizens. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)...

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....

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...

Explore lessons the United States can take from other countries' gun control policies to reduce the risk of recurring tragedies such as the recent Las Vegas shooting.

Rev. Rob MacPherson reflects on Australia's experience with gun violence and gun control laws, as well as his own childhood in a gun-owning household in Baltimore.