Article: How to dismantle the absurd profitability of nuclear weapons

Author: Jon Schwarz

Featured in: The Intercept

We speak with Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, about the ongoing negotiations on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. nuclear stockpile and the path to an international ban on nuclear weapons.

PR - Pacific Island states are celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rarotonga, a regional pact that established the Pacific as an internationally recognized nuclear-weapon-free zone 33 years ago. Government officials from the region also declared their support for the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which aims to make the entire world free of nuclear weapons.

Advocates for nuclear disarmament are pushing Lebanon to sign and ratify a U.N. treaty that would call for the elimination of all nuclear weapons, taking a much stronger stance than previous international agreements have.

World nuclear tensions are mounting, fueled by President Trump Donald John Trump House Republican threatens to push for Rosenstein impeachment unless he testifies Judge suggests Trump's tweet about Stormy Daniels was 'hyperbole' not defamation Rosenstein faces Trump showdown MORE 's careless rhetoric and unilateral withdrawal from the International Iran nuclear deal coupled with rising tensions in our relationship with Russia and the on-again, off-again meeting between the Trump administration and North Korea with his premature declaration of "problem solved"

The moral stature of Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary General who died on Saturday, and his association with Geneva and Switzerland raise the question of Switzerland's moral stature as well. graphic The Alpine country is often said "to punch above its weight", that despite its small size it has a disproportionate influence in world affairs.

NAGASAKI--Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue pressed the Japanese government to join the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the Aug. 9 ceremony commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing on this city. He also voiced concerns about the recent trend of some countries trying to bolster their military capabilities through nuclear weapons.

ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, has made significant progress in the last year, but according to core member Akira Kawasaki the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winning coalition is just getting started. ICAN, based in Geneva and launched in 2007, now has around 450 partner organizations in nearly a hundred countries.

Last month, President Trump was nominated for a Nobel Prize for his peace building efforts on the Korean peninsula — and not for the first time. Trump was endorsed by two separate groups, and although the deadline for this year’s prize has already passed, these nominations make him eligible for consideration next year.