Lawrence Wittner

Lawrence Wittner is professor of history at the State University of New York/Albany and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus. His latest book is Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement (Stanford University Press).

In Debates, Let’s Raise the Issue of How To Avert Nuclear War

You mass media folks lead busy lives, I’m sure. But you must have heard something about nuclear weapons – those supremely destructive devices that, along with climate change, threaten the continued existence of the human race. Yes, thanks to popular protest and carefully-crafted arms control and disarmament agreements, there has been some progress in limiting … Continue reading “In Debates, Let’s Raise the Issue of How To Avert Nuclear War”

Breaking the Grip of Militarism: The Story of Vieques

Vieques is a small Puerto Rican island with some 9,000 inhabitants. Fringed by palm trees and lovely beaches, with the world’s brightest bioluminescent bay and wild horses roaming everywhere, it attracts substantial numbers of tourists. But, for about six decades, Vieques served as a bombing range, military training site, and storage depot for the U.S. … Continue reading “Breaking the Grip of Militarism: The Story of Vieques”

Don’t Expect Rulers of Nuclear-Armed Nations to Accept Nuclear Disarmament – Unless They’re Pushed to Do So

At the beginning of February 2019, the two leading nuclear powers took an official step toward resumption of the nuclear arms race. On February 1, the U.S. government, charging Russian violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, announced that it would pull out of the agreement and develop new intermediate-range missiles banned by it. … Continue reading “Don’t Expect Rulers of Nuclear-Armed Nations to Accept Nuclear Disarmament – Unless They’re Pushed to Do So”

Lurching Toward Catastrophe: The Trump Administration and Nuclear Weapons

In July 2017, by a vote of 122 to 1, with one abstention, nations from around the world attending a United Nations-sponsored conference in New York City voted to approve a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Although this Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons received little coverage in the mass media, its passage was … Continue reading “Lurching Toward Catastrophe: The Trump Administration and Nuclear Weapons”

Getting Ready for Nuclear War

Although many people have criticized the bizarre nature of Donald Trump’s diplomacy with North Korea, his recent lovefest with Kim Jong Un does have the potential to reduce the dangers posed by nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. Even so, buried far below the mass media coverage of the summit spectacle, the reality is that … Continue reading “Getting Ready for Nuclear War”

The ‘Merchants of Death’ Survive and Prosper

During the mid-1930s, a best-selling exposé of the international arms trade, combined with a U.S. Congressional investigation of munitions-makers led by Senator Gerald Nye, had a major impact on American public opinion. Convinced that military contractors were stirring up weapons sales and war for their own profit, many people grew critical of these "merchants of … Continue reading “The ‘Merchants of Death’ Survive and Prosper”

A Negotiated Curbing of North Korea’s Nukes Is Good, But Not Good Enough

The North Korean government’s progress toward developing a long-range nuclear weapons capability, accompanied by bellicose pronouncements, has been alarming enough to spark worldwide public dismay and new sanctions by a unanimous UN Security Council. But even if, at the very best, sanctions (which, so far, have not worked) or diplomatic negotiations (which have yet to … Continue reading “A Negotiated Curbing of North Korea’s Nukes Is Good, But Not Good Enough”

Playing Nuclear ‘Chicken’ With Our Lives

What kind of civilization have we developed when two mentally unstable national leaders, in an escalating confrontation with each other, threaten one another – and the world – with nuclear war? That question arises as a potentially violent showdown emerges between Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Donald Trump of the United States. In … Continue reading “Playing Nuclear ‘Chicken’ With Our Lives”

National Illusions and Global Realities

For as long as they have existed, nations have clung to the illusion that their military strength guarantees their security. The problem with this kind of thinking is that the military power that one nation considers vital to its security fosters other nations’ sense of insecurity. In this climate of suspicion, an arms race ensues, … Continue reading “National Illusions and Global Realities”

Why Is There So Little Popular Protest Against Today’s Threats of Nuclear War?

In recent weeks, the people of the world have been treated to yet another display of the kind of nuclear insanity that has broken out periodically ever since 1945 and the dawn of the nuclear era. On April 11, Donald Trump, irked by North Korea’s continued tests of nuclear weapons and missiles, tweeted that “North … Continue reading “Why Is There So Little Popular Protest Against Today’s Threats of Nuclear War?”