"Signs of hope – prospects for nuclear disarmament"

Kathleen Sullivan is a disarmament educator, author, activist and producer who has been engaged in the nuclear issue for the last 22 years. She has worked with young people, community organizers, academics, government representatives and nuclear industry officials in many countries, including China, India, Japan, the UK and the US. Receiving her Ph.D. from Lancaster University, UK, her independent research comprises nuclear criticism, environmental ethics, feminist theory, social theory and science studies. Formerly the coordinator of the Nuclear Weapons Education and Action Project of Educators for Social Responsibility, a large scale youth programme designed to teach nuclear awareness to American high school students, Dr. Sullivan is a consultant to the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs, writing disarmament curricula posted on the UN's Cyberschoolbus website. She recently produced her first film, an award-winning feature documentary entitled “The Last Atomic Bomb” (2005). She is currently establishing her own NGO, the Institute for Disarmament Education and Action (IDEA) which aims to provide lesson plans and interactive arts-based activities for young people to engage in working towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

Roundtable Topic

So far in 2007 the outlook for nuclear disarmament has not been looking good. Since the beginning of the year China has tested an anti-ballistic missile, the US Department of Energy is proposing to modernise the US nuclear arsenal, the UK is set to renew Trident and the Sunday Times of London has reported that Israel has drawn up a plan to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities with tactical nuclear weapons, while other sources cite US military activity in the region gearing up to accomplish the same. It is no wonder that in January the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists inched ever forward. It is now five minutes to midnight. At its London press conference held in January this year, Professor Stephen Hawking said “As citizens of the world, we have a duty to alert the public to the unnecessary risks that we live with everyday. We foresee great peril if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete.” It is important to re-iterate that while building new hydrogen bombs and sophisticated delivery systems, nuclear weapons states cannot expect to be taken seriously when they tell other countries what to do. Proliferation on the part of some states is often the leading cause of further proliferation amongst others.

However, many signs of hope exist. This Roundtable will examine the recent progress that has been made in the international community and what needs to be done to further the cause of nuclear disarmament. Given the moral authority of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is imperative to explore what can be done from here?