WORKING TO ACHIEVE A PEACEFUL SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FREE FROM THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS


Dear Friends,
We are in a World War. It is not nation against nation, but humanity against a virus. It is not a battle amongst nations but a battle against all nations. How we hang together will determine the outcome.

While we look carefully at our individual actions, like whether that trip to the grocery is truly “essential’, let's not forget the new context that reminds us that the health of any neighborhood anywhere can impact the entire planet. This reality makes global cooperation amongst nations a necessity.

This tells us a great deal regarding whether spending money to “modernize” nuclear arsenals and make them more ready to be used is a rational course of action. This informs us whether pursuing national security by threatening nuclear annihilation, or even so called limited uses, is sane at all. It should compel greater levels of cooperation in arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament.

Removing the expanding threat of nuclear weapons is a necessary step to achieve personal, national and global health.

At a micro level there is a recent example of cooperation in stopping a nuclear weapons danger that should have garnered more public attention. It is a paradigm of how we should view the issue. In the mid-1990s a small nuclear reactor was built in Nigeria, to be used for research purposes. Now the highly enriched uranium used in the reactor was in a region where it could fall into the hands of Boko Haram which could use it to make a powerful “dirty” bomb.

A team of American, Russian, Chinese and other experts and contractors, in a story that could be a thriller movie, recovered the material and got it out of the country, and out of harm's way. You can read the full story in Defense News . It is an excellent example of how much can be quickly accomplished when nations have clarity of purpose and political will to succeed.
 
Also, please note the powerful message from GSI Advisor and inspirational leader Dr. Jane Goodall -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R 7skfoh6eA . She reminds us that we are not only linked as humans and must live in right relationship but we are also linked to other living beings and systems with which we must also be in harmony.


The coronavirus is a reminder of our common wealth as humanity and our common survival. We hope to remind leaders and people everywhere that national security means nothing without global human security.

Here’s an article on the subject.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Granoff



'NATIONAL SECURITY' IS TOO CRUDE TO PROTECT US FROM PANDEMICS. IT'S TIME TO SHIFT TO HUMAN SECURITY INSTEAD | OPINION

JONATHAN GRANOFF AND BARRY KELLMAN
ON 3/17/20 AT 3:46 PM EDT

Whose security is threatened by the coronavirus? The Chinese, the Italians, the Americans? The answer, of course, is everyone's security is threatened. The virus has no regard for national identity. It crosses borders unhindered by all the weapons and strategic structures supposed to protect our security.

There is a lesson here that deserves attention: the concept of "security" must be redefined, or at least expanded. For a long time, it has been defined singularly in nationalistic terms, measured by military strength. Many trillions of dollars continue to be spent on weapons to defend nations against threats they pose to each other. Vast institutions have been created around these weapons, and outstanding intellects are dedicating their brilliance to strengthening these institutions and designing strategies for using these weapons—all in the name of national security.

But as this pandemic spirals around the world, and as militaries lie helpless before it, it's appropriate to ask whether we would be better off if more resources and attention were pooled and devoted to addressing threats to human security.

Coronavirus is a wake-up call to stop ignoring our common human condition.