Friends,

At the height of the Cold War when the precipice of destruction was all too close leaders met and changed history. Very few people thought it was possible. Again fundamental change is needed. The Pentagon has highlighted the increased risks facing us and the increased likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons but offers no realistic route to greater security while continually asking for and getting more modernized weaponry. 

Military policy makers seem to ignore steps that could immediately lower the risk of the use of nuclear weapons by accident, design or madness and actually believe that by making the weapons more usable and "safe, secure, and reliable" we become safer and more secure. We do not agree and for that reason advocate immediate modest steps to lower the risk of use. Pledges to never use them first is such a policy shift. 

Further, new thinking to meet today's rapidly accelerating changes is needed. A sober analysis by Ward Wilson of the current situation of nuclear disarmament advocacy is worth serious consideration and below please note links to a book by Ambassador James Goodby, a member of GSI's Nonpartisan Security Group, and a sophisticated article by Professor Martin Hellman of Stanford which both set forth approaches for progress. 

Warm regards,
Jonathan Granoff
President, Global Security Institute

At the recent Geneva Summit, President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a joint declaration containing strong echoes of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. It "reaffirm[ed] the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought," and committed Russia and the U.S. to "an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue in the near future that will be deliberate and robust."

Reagan and Gorbachev took similar steps at their 1985 Geneva Summit. It was a time of acute nuclear dangers, which they succeeded in easing. Today, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' Doomsday Clock is at 100 seconds to midnight—the closest to the edge it has ever been. Can Biden and Putin turn it back, and make the world safer than it was in 1985? Time will tell, but history gives us hints.

We draw your attention to an important international launch on July 15 of the NoFirstUse Global, a campaign platform and network promoting no-first-use policies globally as a measure to prevent nuclear war and to help achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Support for No-First-Use policies is growing in nuclear armed countries and around the world, as evidenced by the recent Open Letter to Presidents Biden and Putin on No-First-Use which was endorsed by over 1200 political, military and religious leaders, as well as legislators, academics/scientists and other representatives of civil society. Find out more by attending the launch event.
New book from James Goodby: Approaching the Nuclear Tipping Point
Globalization and technology have created new challenges to national governments. As a result, they now must share power with other entities, such as regional and global organizations or large private economic units. In addition, citizens in most parts of the world have been empowered by the ability to acquire and disseminate information instantly. However this has not led to the type of international cooperation essential to deal with existential threats.

Whether governments can find ways to cooperate in the face of looming threats to the survival of human society and our environment has become one of the defining issues of our age. A struggle between renewed nationalism and the rise of a truly global society is underway, but neither global nor regional institutions have acquired the skills and authority needed to meet existential threats, such as nuclear proliferation. Arms control efforts may have reduced the excesses of the Cold War, but concepts and methodologies for dealing with the nuclear menace have not kept up with global change. 
When World War II ended in 1945 our nation was secure from attack. Since then, we have invested trillions of dollars in an effort to improve our national security. We have applied some of our brightest minds to maximize the value of that investment. Yet, absurdly, we now can be destroyed in under an hour. What went wrong?
Global Security Institute, a leader in the international quest to abolish nuclear weapons, was founded more than 20 years ago by Senator Alan Cranston. Since its founding it has relied on support from donors like you for its work and expansion. Please consider taking a moment to assist us in keeping the message and momentum for nuclear disarmament alive. Thank you.