PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

HUMAN SURVIVAL PROJECT

 

AN IRRESPONSIBLE RESPONSE TO AN IRRESPONSIBLE STATEMENT

 

WORLD NEEDS DE-ESCALATION NOT ESCALATION, COOL HEADS NOT MUTUAL THREATS

 

What the world needs now is steps that lead away from, not towards, an increased risk of nuclear war, yet Donald Trumps irresponsible response to an equally irresponsible set of threats the day before yesterday by Dmitri Medvedev risks initiating a spiral of escalation that has only one -destination – nuclear war, and the potential end of what we call 'civilisation'.

 

This is not in any way inevitable: At any point, the insecure egos involved may decide that the game of nuclear chicken is too risky, and call it quits.

 

The sooner they do so the better.

 

It has been pointed out that there is in fact no operational need to change the positioning of either US (or for that matter Russian) nuclear submarines. Both US and Russian nuclear subs have the range to reach each others territory and wreak devastation on an unimaginable scale from almost anyplace on the planet. The order to change the subs position is merely a form of 'signalling' that says 'don’t mess with us. If you threaten to vaporise us we may do the same to you'.

 

Thus far, the Russian response seems to be 'our subs are adequate to deal with any threat from the US. We don’t need to take steps in response'.

 

This is wise. The risk is that as response begets escalatory response, we enter a spiral of escalation that we don’t know how to descend from, or even don’t want to descend from because the fragile egos involved wont let us do so, or simply because events assume a tragic momentum all their own that can no longer be controlled by anyone.

 

What is needed is immediate steps to lower tensions between the US and Russia, Russia and NATO.

 

In the longer term, the world as a whole would benefit immensely by the adoption of a policy and posture of No First Use of nuclear weapons (as in India and China), which would ensure that as no one used nuclear weapons first, they never get to be used.

 

In the meantime, what is needed is an outbreak of real commonsense amongst leaders of powerful nations with large nuclear arsenals, and real dialogue (not merely the rehashing of rigid and dogmatic unachievable military goals) between the real protagonists of the terrible conventional war that is already taking place.

 

Steps to lower specifically nuclear tensions and commitments to negotiate nuclear arms limits in Feb '2026, when New START expires are an immediate priority.

 

John Hallam

Nuclear Disarmament Campaigner

People for Nuclear Disarmament

Human Survival Project

Member, No First Use Global Steering Committee

Co-Convenor, Abolition 2000 Nuclear Risk Reduction Working Group

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