{"id":85444,"date":"2017-01-16T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2017-01-16T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=85444"},"modified":"2017-01-14T14:49:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-14T14:49:39","slug":"open-letter-to-president-elect-donald-trump-on-nuclear-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/01\/open-letter-to-president-elect-donald-trump-on-nuclear-weapons\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Nuclear Weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>8 Jan 2017 – <\/em>The text below is an Open Letter to the next American president urging complete nuclear disarmament as an urgent priority. The letter was prepared under the auspices of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and its current list of signatories is listed below. It is hoped that concerns with nuclear weapons policy will rise to the top of the global policy agenda and will engage people everywhere. It is our view that the elimination of nuclear weaponry is a matter of upholding the human interest of all peoples, as well as promoting the national interest of each country. https:\/\/www.wagingpeace.org\/open-letter-trump\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Open Letter to President-elect Trump: Negotiate Nuclear Zero<\/strong><\/p>\n

As president of the United States, you will have the grave responsibility of assuring that nuclear weapons are not overtly threatened or used during your term of office.<\/p>\n

The most certain way to fulfill this responsibility is to negotiate with the other possessors of nuclear weapons for their total elimination.\u00a0 The U.S. is obligated under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to engage in such negotiations in good faith for an end to the nuclear arms race and for nuclear disarmament.<\/p>\n

A nuclear war, any nuclear war, would be an act of insanity.\u00a0 Between nuclear weapons states, it would lead to the destruction of the attacking nation as well as the attacked.\u00a0 Between the U.S. and Russia, it would threaten the survival of humanity.<\/p>\n

There are still more than 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world, of which the United States possesses more than 7,000.\u00a0 Some 1,000 of these remain on hair-trigger alert.\u00a0 A similar number remain on hair-trigger alert in Russia.\u00a0 This is a catastrophe waiting to happen.<\/p>\n

Even if nuclear weapons are not used intentionally, they could be used inadvertently by accident or miscalculation.\u00a0 Nuclear weapons and human fallibility are a dangerous mix.<\/p>\n

Nuclear deterrence presupposes a certain view of human behavior.\u00a0 It depends on the willingness of political leaders to act rationally under all circumstances, even those of extreme stress.\u00a0 It provides no guarantees or physical protection.\u00a0 It could fail spectacularly and tragically.<\/p>\n

You have suggested that more nations \u2013 such as Japan, South Korea and even Saudi Arabia \u2013 may need to develop their own nuclear arsenals because the U.S. spends too much money protecting other countries.\u00a0 This nuclear proliferation would make for a far more dangerous world.\u00a0 It is also worrisome that you have spoken of dismantling or reinterpreting the international agreement that places appropriate limitations on Iran\u2019s nuclear program and has the support of all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany.<\/p>\n

As other presidents have had, you will have at your disposal the power to end civilization as we know it.\u00a0 You will also have the opportunity, should you choose, to lead in ending the nuclear weapons era and achieving nuclear zero through negotiations on a treaty for the phased, verifiable, irreversible and transparent elimination of nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

We, the undersigned, urge you to choose the course of negotiations for a nuclear weapons-free world.\u00a0 It would be a great gift to all humanity and all future generations.<\/p>\n

To add your name to the open letter, <\/strong>click here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Initial signers:<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Krieger<\/p>\n

President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Richard Falk<\/p>\n

Senior Vice President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Daniel Ellsberg<\/p>\n

Distinguished Fellow, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Noam Chomsky<\/p>\n

Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n

Oliver Stone<\/p>\n

Film director<\/p>\n

Setsuko Thurlow<\/p>\n

Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Survivor<\/p>\n

Anders Wijkman<\/p>\n

Co-President, Club of Rome<\/p>\n

Helen Caldicott<\/p>\n

Founding President, Physicians for Social Responsibility<\/p>\n

Ben Ferencz<\/p>\n

Former Nuremberg war crimes prosecutor<\/p>\n

Robert Jay Lifton<\/p>\n

Columbia University<\/p>\n

Hon. Douglas Roche, O.C.<\/p>\n

Former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament<\/p>\n

Martin Hellman<\/p>\n

Professor Emeritus, Stanford University<\/p>\n

Robert Laney<\/p>\n

Chair, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Rick Wayman<\/p>\n

Director of Programs, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Ruben Arvizu<\/p>\n

Latin America Representative, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Jonathan Granoff<\/p>\n

President, Global Security Institute<\/p>\n

Medea Benjamin<\/p>\n

Co-Founder, Code Pink<\/p>\n

Peter Kuznick<\/p>\n

Professor of History and Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute, American University<\/p>\n

Barry Ladendorf<\/p>\n

President, Veterans for Peace<\/p>\n

Dr. Hafsat Abiola-Costello<\/p>\n

Founder and President, Kudirat Initiative for Democracy<\/p>\n

Marie Dennis<\/p>\n

Co-President, Pax Christi International<\/p>\n

Elaine Scarry<\/p>\n

Professor, Harvard University<\/p>\n

Richard Appelbaum<\/p>\n

Board of Directors, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Sandy Jones<\/p>\n

Director of Communications, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Joni Arends<\/p>\n

Executive Director, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety<\/p>\n

Sergio Grosjean<\/p>\n

Instituto Mexicano de Ecologia Ciencia y Cultura<\/p>\n

John Avery<\/p>\n

Associate, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Leonard Eiger<\/p>\n

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action<\/p>\n

April Brown<\/p>\n

Marshallese Educational Initiative<\/p>\n

Jill Dexter<\/p>\n

Board of Directors, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Robert Aldridge<\/p>\n

Associate, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Charles Genuardi<\/p>\n

Board of Directors, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Bill Wickersham<\/p>\n

Associate, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

John Hallam<\/p>\n

People for Nuclear Disarmament<\/p>\n

Mark Hamilton<\/p>\n

Board of Directors, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Mary Becker<\/p>\n

Former Board member, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Judith Lipton, M.D.<\/p>\n

Security Committee, Physicians for Social Responsibility<\/p>\n

Sherry Melchiorre<\/p>\n

Board of Directors, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Elena Nicklasson<\/p>\n

Director of Development, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation<\/p>\n

Daniel Smith<\/p>\n

Appellate Lawyer<\/p>\n

Cletus Stein<\/p>\n

The Peace Farm<\/p>\n

Mario Fuentes<\/p>\n

Sector Salud<\/p>\n

Jim Knowlton<\/p>\n

Blue Ocean Productions<\/p>\n

Peter Low<\/p>\n

Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury<\/p>\n

Jenny Maxwell<\/p>\n

Hereford Peace Council<\/p>\n

Rodrigo Navarro<\/p>\n

Comunicar para Conservar<\/p>\n

Sergio Rimola<\/p>\n

National Hispanic Medical Association<\/p>\n

Julian Rodriguez<\/p>\n

#Revolucionando<\/p>\n

___________________________________<\/p>\n

Richard Falk is a member of the TRANSCEND Network<\/a>, an international relations scholar, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, author, co-author or editor of 40 books, and a speaker and activist on world affairs.\u00a0In 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Council<\/a> (UNHRC) appointed Falk to a six-year term as a United Nations Special Rapporteur<\/a> on “the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories<\/a> occupied since 1967.” Since 2002 he has lived in Santa Barbara, California, and taught at the local campus of the University of California in Global and International Studies, and since 2005 chaired the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. His most recent book is <\/em>Achieving Human Rights (2009).<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 richardfalk.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 Jan 2017 – The text below is an Open Letter to the next American president urging complete nuclear disarmament as an urgent priority. The letter was prepared under the auspices of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and its current list of signatories is listed below. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-transcend-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}