The governments of the United States and China are currently on a very dangerous collision course -- one that could lead to war, possibly even nuclear war. At the same time, these two countries operate the world's largest economies, have the biggest military budgets, and are the leading consumers of energy. Therefore, the world would benefit enormously if they cooperated in addressing global problems. Will they do so? It's certainly possible.
Published Articles by Lawrence Wittner
Although there has been ample warning about three developments that threaten continued human existence -- preparations for nuclear war, climate change, and disease pandemics -- governments have not taken adequate measures to safeguard human survival. The explanation for this failure to cope with these looming catastrophes, despite public support for doing so, can be found in the dominance of corporate priorities and the weakness of global governance.
Is it possible to build social solidarity beyond the state? Given our currently divided, war-torn world, It's easy to conclude that it's not. Even so, over the course of modern history, social movements have managed to form global networks of activists who have transcended nationalism in their ideas and actions.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, as debate raged over the dangers of nuclear weapons testing, volunteers in St. Louis collected hundreds of thousands of baby teeth in an attempt to discover the impact of radioactive nuclear fallout on human health. Although that question never received the kind of scientific scrutiny necessary to provide a definitive answer, a major study now underway at Harvard University, based on the long-forgotten teeth, should finally produce conclusive results.
The United States and China, the world's mightiest military and economic powers, are currently heading toward a Cold War or even a hot one, with disastrous consequences. But an alternative path is available, and could be taken.
Although, beginning in about 2015, nationalist parties made enormous advances in countries around the world, recently they have been on the wane. Consequently, possibilities have re-emerged for addressing global problems on a global basis.
In this crisply written, well-researched book, Lesley Blume tells the fascinating story of the background to John Hersey's pathbreaking article, "Hiroshima," and of its profound impact. It's a story of how a small group of determined journalists dared to challenge the nuclear weapons priorities of major nations and, remarkably, succeeded in breaking through a wall of official silence to reveal the human effects of nuclear war.
After decades of progress in reducing nuclear arsenals through arms control and disarmament agreements, all nine nuclear powers are once again busily upgrading their nuclear weapons capabilities. They can plunge ahead with their nuclear arms race and face the terrible economic and human consequences. Or they can take the path of sanity in the nuclear age and join other nations in building a nuclear weapons-free world.
Last year was a terrible time for vast numbers of people around the globe, who experienced not only a terrible disease pandemic, accompanied by widespread sickness and death, but severe economic hardship. Even so, the disasters of 2020 were not shocking enough to jolt the world's most powerful nations out of their traditional preoccupation with enhancing their armed might, for once again they raised their military spending to new heights.
Given the fact that nuclear war means the virtual annihilation of life on earth, it's remarkable that many people continue to resist building a nuclear weapons-free world. But there is a way to reduce the opposition to nuclear weapons abolition significantly.