SUPPORT THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IS THE MOST POWERFUL TOOL WE HAVE HAD IN DECADES TO RID THE WORLD OF THE NUCLEAR THREAT.
Shortly after invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded the world that there are nine people on the planet who have the power to trigger a nuclear holocaust that would render Earth uninhabitable. When Putin threatened to use his nuclear weapons if other nations interfered in his plan to take over Ukraine, he revealed the paradox of nuclear weapons — they are useful to exert power, and they are useless to stop the exertion of power.
The reawakening of the media and the public to the nuclear threat has led to considerable hand-wringing and, on the part of weaponeers, defense contractors, and posturing politicians, a doubling-down on nuclear weapons as a military weapon.
Fortunately, even as we face a peril greater than at any time since 1962, we are not powerless. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is the most powerful tool we have had in decades for our work to eliminate nuclear weapons from the planet.
The Treaty entered into force on January 22, 2021. It was adopted by 122 nations at the UN in July 2017. None of the nine nuclear armed states or the countries sheltered by their “nuclear umbrellas” have signed the Treaty.
The Treaty has two kinds of force: legal and moral. The legal power of the Treaty applies only in countries that have signed it. The moral power of the Treaty is not constrained by boundaries and does not know or care who has signed it.
A grassroots effort, the Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative, is working to harness the moral power of the Treaty, to elevate its profile in the US, and to push for the US to sign, ratify, and implement the Treaty.
The Ban Treaty Collaborative has four active Working Groups that are always happy to welcome new members. You can find out more about this effort on the Ban Treaty Collaborative web site.
IF YOU ARE AFFILIATED WITH A COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY, YOU CAN TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT THE BAN TREATY AND OPPOSE NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
The ICAN report Schools of Mass Destruction identifies fifty universities and colleges in the United States that are directly involved in the production of nuclear weapons of mass destruction. If your school is on that list, you can do two things now:
• sign the University Pledge
• write to the President of your school and ask that the school end its involvement in nuclear weapons work.
If your school is not on the list, you are not off the hook. Most universities and non-religious affiliated colleges have massive endowments and faculty pension funds, and those funds likely invest in companies that are involved in weapons production or in financial institutions that provide funding to companies building nuclear weapons.
You can ask your school for a list of its endowment and pension fund investments and compare them to the corporations and financial institutions listed in Perilous Profiteering, an ICAN and PAX report.
Once you’ve identified the connections, you can write your letter…