Dear Abolition 2000 family,
As the year comes to a close, we want to update you about Abolition 2000’s activities and plans for 2026 and ask for your financial support to continue to make our work possible.
Nuclear weapons are back in the news, and not in a good way.
- The world is facing an unprecedented array of flashpoints involving nuclear-armed states: the Russian war on Ukraine and rising NATO-Russia tensions; U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan; ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan; and chronic security crises on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East.
- More than 12,000 nuclear weapons – over 85% of them held by the United States and the Russian Federation – remain in the global nuclear arsenal and contin
- ue to pose an intolerable risk to humanity.
- All of the nuclear-armed states are engaged in costly programs to qualitatively upgrade and in some cases quantitatively expand their nuclear arsenals.
- With chaos and uncertainty arising from Donald Trump’s October 29 factually challenged social media post announcing that the U.S. will start testing nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with other countries, the U.S. government’s first ever No vote, two days later, on the annual General Assembly resolution in support of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty raises further troubling questions about U.S. intentions.
- The last remaining U.S. – Russian arms control agreement, New START, will expire on February 5, 2026, with no apparent negotiations for a follow-on agreement underway. If New START comes to an end – full stop – there will be no limits on the number of U.S. and Russian deployed nuclear weapons for the first time in 50 years. These are just some of the challenges and uncertainties facing the upcoming 5-year Review Conference (RevCon) of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which will take place at the UN in New York, April 27 – May 22, 2026. The viability of the treaty is under growing pressure, and given the bedlam in international relations being wreaked, in particular, by Putin who knows what will happen by April?
We are already working with a consortium of Japanese groups including Gensuikyo, Nihon Hidankyo, the Consumers Coop, and Gensuikin, who will be bringing more than 100 of their members to New York City for the 2026 NPT RevCom. As Yayoi Tsuchida, Assistant general secretary of Gensuikyo (Japan Council against A and H Bombs) wrote:
“We do not have any expectation that we can get a good outcome from the NPT. However, at this critical juncture described as the brink of nuclear war, with the Trump administration declaring the resumption of nuclear testing, and nuclear powers prioritizing their own interests and plunging the entire world into crisis, while trampling upon the UN Charter’s principles of nuclear abolition and peaceful resolution of conflicts, we cannot remain silent. We demand that nuclear powers take action for the elimination of nuclear weapons and peace.”
With our Japanese colleagues, the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, and others, we are organizing an international conference, a street action and side events during the RevCon. Please donate now and help Abolition 2000 have the most powerful and effective presence possible at the RevCon.
Looking back on 2025
The Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons was founded during the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference. We celebrated our 30th anniversary during the 2025 NPT Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting in New York, where our member groups made statements to the governments, held side events, and did an online “live from the NPT” report.
On July 11 – 12, 2025, Abolition 2000 held our 29th Annual General Meeting. Representatives from the global nuclear disarmament movement met online to share updates on existing nuclear risk reduction and disarmament campaigns, discuss the new geopolitical realities, and develop new approaches and initiatives to meet today’s turbulent times. We also affirmed our Coordinating Committee and Global Council members.
In 2025, we were proud to announce the relaunch of Youth Fusion, the Abolition 2000 youth network, with all new members. See the infographic for the full list of activities and accomplishments this year.
On September 26, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (Nuclear Abolition Day), Abolition 2000 played key role in bringing together civil society organizations around the world to organize joint actions in conjunction with the day. This included establishing the NuclearAbolitionDay.org online platform, undertaking a global social media action, and presenting a joint appeal to the United Nations. The success of Nuclear Abolition Day this year has led the organizers to decide to continue the initiative next year with the aim of making it even more successful in 2026. Read more.
Abolition 2000 receives no financial support from foundations or governments. Your donations make it possible for Abolition 2000 to maintain and nurture our international network of organizations which share our commitment to the achievement of a world without nuclear weapons. Please donate now – in any amount.
New Year – New Opportunities!
As we look ahead to 2026, we take note of key moments that have shaped the nuclear age. Click here or on the image below for a list of important anniversaries related to nuclear weapons, and let us know how you’re using them in your organizing and educational activities.
We have identified seven key dates next year around which we want to encourage coordinated actions among our member groups.
- January 28, 2026: The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will announce the setting of the “Doomsday Clock,” currently at 89 seconds to midnight
- March 1, 2026: The 72nd anniversary of the “Castle Bravo” hydrogen bomb test by the United States at Bikini atoll in the Marshall Islands, 1000 times more powerful than the Nagasaki blast
- April 21 – May 22, 2026: The 11th NPT Review Conference
- July 8, 2026: The 30th anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on the (il)legality of nuclear weapons
- July 16, 2026: The 81st anniversary of the first nuclear test, “Trinity,” in New Mexico
- August 6 and 9, 2026: The 81st anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- September 26, 2025: The UN International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Please let us know what your organization is planning.
Honoring Peter and Cora Weiss
Before closing, we want to honor and remember two giants of our movement, Peter and Cora Weiss, who early this year initiated the idea for Nuclear Abolition Day (September 26) with Abolition 2000. Peter Weiss was a human rights lawyer and nuclear abolition advocate, who passed away on November 3, 2025, just one month before his 100th birthday. Peter was a co-founder and President of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (USA) and was also the founding President of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms.
Cora Weiss passed away at the age of 91 on December 8, 2025, which would have been her husband Peter’s 100th birthday. Cora was a prominent activist for more than half a century in support of gender equality, international peace, the anti-Vietnam War movement, civil rights, and nuclear disarmament. Among her numerous accomplishments, Cora was a key organizer of the huge demonstration for nuclear disarmament during the 1982 UN Second Special Session for Disarmament, which drew over 1 million participants.
We will miss Cora and Peter and send our deepest condolences to their family. But they will continue to inspire us as we carry on their legacy and work to fulfill their – and our – vision.
Help us achieve our goals in 2026!
Please help us do that by making an end-of-year donation. Abolition 2000’s biggest expense is paying a very modest stipend to our Secretary, Ivan Siluianov, who is in charge of drafting and providing you with every newsletter, of 3,000 Euros/year – about $3,500 dollars. Our other expenses are web hosting and Zoom. If we had additional funds, we could help support Youth Fusion and subsidize travel to NPT meetings among other things. If everyone reading this newsletter would donate just $10 – $25 dollars we would easily make our budget. Please give as generously as you can.
In these dark and difficult times, we can’t afford to give up. We’re all in this together – one global family on the right side of history! We wish you a peaceful holiday season and a happier new year!
P.S. Please let us know if you’re planning to be in New York for the NPT RevCon, or if you’re even considering it. Send your questions and comments to secretariat@abolition2000.org
In solidarity,
The Abolition 2000 Coordinating Committee