Abolition 2000 – Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons

Preserve the INF Treaty

On the 17th of January, 2019, the Coordination Committee of Abolition 2000 hosted a webinar on the subject of the imminent unilateral withdrawal from the INF Treaty by the United States of America. The video of this webinar can be found below and each individual presentation can be found under the names of the guest speakers.


Opening remarks

The opening remarks prepared by Abolition 2000 Coordinating Committee member, Jacqueline Cabasso can be found here.

Guest speakers

Andrew Lichterman is a policy analyst and lawyer with the Oakland, California based Western States Legal Foundation. He also serves on the boards of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms and the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, and is a member of the Coordinating Committee of United for Peace and Justice. He has represented peace and environmental activists in a variety of settings, and also taught at alternative law schools for many years. In recent years his work has focused on the purposes and impacts of U.S. weapons programs and on the relationship between nuclear technologies, militarism, and the global economy. Andrew is a member of the Abolition 2000 Global Council.

The paper prepared by Andrew for this webinar can be found here.

Pavel Podvig is an independent analyst based in Geneva, where he runs his research project, “Russian Nuclear Forces.” He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research and a researcher with the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University.

Pavel started his work on arms control at the Center for Arms Control Studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), which was the first independent research organization in Russia dedicated to analysis of technical issues of disarmament and nonproliferation. He led the Center for Arms Control Studies project that produced the book, Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces (MIT Press, 2001).

In recognition of his work in Russia, the American Physical Society awarded Pavel the Leo Szilard Lectureship Award of 2008 (with Anatoli Diakov). He worked with the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University, the Security Studies Program at MIT, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. His current research focuses on the Russian strategic forces and nuclear weapons complex, as well as technical and political aspects of nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, missile defense, and U.S.-Russian arms control process.

Pavel is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials. He has a physics degree from MIPT and a PhD in political science from the Moscow Institute of World Economy and International Relations.

The edited transcript of Pavel’s presentation can be found here.

Dave Webb has been the Chair of the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) since 2010. He is also currently Chair of Yorkshire Region CND; Convenor of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space; a Patron of Scientists for Global Responsibility in the UK; a Vice President of the International Peace Bureau, and a member of the Abolition 2000 Coordinating Committee. Dave is an Emeritus Professor of Leeds Beckett University, having retired from there in 2012. He had been Professor of Engineering but later went on to help found, develop and teach Peace and Conflict Studies.

The edited transcript of Dave’s presentation can be found here.

Regina Hagen has been active in the peace movement for more than 35 years. She has specialized in nuclear weapons, missile defenses and space weaponization, both as an academic and as an activist, in Germany and internationally. Regina is a member of the Abolition 2000 Coordinating Committee, a Board member of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, and a spokesperson for the German campaign “nuclear-weapons-free.now”. She holds a Masters degree in technical translation, has worked in industry and at Darmstadt University of Technology for many years, and is now managing editor of the German magazine “Science and Peace“.

The presentation slides used by Regina in her presentation can be found here.

 

Click on the slides below to view the individual video presentations in youtube.

Andrew Lichterman Pavel Podvig Dave Webb Regina Hagen

Actions you can do to Preserve the INF Treaty:

From Abolition 2000 Germany partners

An urgent international campaign: e-mail or twitter US and Russian embassies in Germany to demand preservation of the INF Treaty. Use graphics from https://tinyurl.com/yd58udp3 available in 7 languages.

Twitter: send tweets to @usbotschaft and @RusBotschaft, use hashtags #SaveTheINF, #INFtreaty and #nuclearban
E-Mail: to feedback@usembassy.de and aussenpolitik@russische-botschaft.de

From United for Peace and Justice

In the United States, call on your legislator to support the Prevention of Arms Race Act of 2018 (S.3667) – see the UFPJ action alert U.S. citizens: Tell Congress to Save the INF Treaty

From Basel Peace Office, et al

Support the Basel Appeal on Disarmament and Sustainable Security, and invite your mayors and parliamentarian to endorse it. The declaration is focused on supporting the INF Treaty and preventing the development and deployment of intermediate and short range nuclear-armed missiles, even if the INF Treaty collapses.  Send endorsements to: info@pnnd.org.

Background information and useful links:

Renew Nuclear Arms Control, Don’t Destroy It
By Andrew Lichterman and John Burroughs for IPS News

Who lost the INF Treaty?
By Pavel Podvig for The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

Is Russia Solely to Blame for Violations of the INF Treaty?
by Theodore A. Postol for The Nation

US Department Of Defense Off-Camera Press Briefing on the 2019 Missile Defense Review
Statement by the US Deparment of Defense

2018 Mayors for Peace US Conference of Mayors resolution
by Mayors for Peace

Submission to the UK House of Commons Defence Committee Inquiry on the INF Treaty withdrawal
by Rebecca Johnson, Acronmyn Institute, UK