Nuclear Disarmament/Redefining Security

Since 1945, when the United States dropped atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world has faced an existential threat of nuclear war. Today the danger of another nuclear weapons use is at its highest since World War II. More than 13,000 nuclear weapons, most an order of magnitude more powerful than the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki— 92% held by the U.S. and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable threat to humanity. The detonation of even a small number of these weapons would have catastrophic human and environmental consequences that could affect everyone on the planet.

All the nuclear-armed states (U.S., Russia, China, U.K., France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel) are engaged in programs to qualitatively upgrade their nuclear arsenals. Over the next 30 years, the U.S. plans to spend an estimated $1.7 Trillion to replace its entire nuclear weapons infrastructure and upgrade its nuclear bombs, warheads, and delivery systems. An alarming trend is the increased scale and tempo of war games by nuclear-armed states and their allies, including nuclear drills. Ongoing missile tests, and frequent close encounters between military forces of nuclear-armed states exacerbate nuclear dangers.

The nuclear-armed nations maintain that nuclear weapons are the ultimate guarantor of their “national security”, but nuclear weapons endanger everyone’s security. Security must be fundamentally redefined in human and environmentally sustainable terms. UFPJ works with civil society organizations at home and internationally to promote complete nuclear abolition.