Global Day of Action Against Nuclear Weapons

A person wouldn’t know it in Big Grove Township yet today has been designated a Global Day of Action Against Nuclear Weapons by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). This is in advance of the upcoming Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which convenes tomorrow in New York.

All around the world, people will be taking action to demonstrate to meeting delegations that we expect them to be bold, courageous and use the TPNW to dismantle nuclear deterrence, and make sure the rest of the world is paying attention to this crucial opportunity. “Your action can take whatever shape you can pull off,” ICAN said in a statement.

Absent interested others near me, this post is what I can pull off.

While the TPNW entered into force on Jan. 22, 2021, it has not been ratified by the countries that possess nuclear weapons. The United States has turned a blind eye to TPNW. It does not appear any of the nuclear states will break the silence and ratify the treaty any time soon.

During negotiation of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), signed in 1968, it was agreed by the parties nuclear weapons should be eliminated and the parties should work toward that end. If anything, the risk of detonation of nuclear weapons is as great as it has been. The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East created risk that one of the players (Russia and Israel particularly) will use nuclear weapons. People forget the devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 so we may be bound to repeat that error.

While our lives are complex and possess numerous challenges, nuclear abolition should be on our radar. One single activist won’t bring about the change we need. Working together, we might. It is worth the effort.