nuclear-news

Ambassador to address U.S. foreign policy, nuclear disarmament

Ambassador to address U.S. foreign policy, nuclear disarmament PENNSTATE LIVE  Feb 6 2009 Penn State’s School of International Affairs is pleased to announce an important public lecture series by Ambassador Richard Butler AC, distinguished scholar for international peace and security at the School of International Affairs………………….He also has served as Australian ambassador to the United Nations; chairman of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons; Australian ambassador for disarmament, Geneva; Australian ambassador to Thailand and Cambodia; governor of Tasmania; and Australian deputy representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Paris. In 2003, Butler was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia‘s highest civilian honor………………………………….

In his second lecture, Butler will discuss the safe elimination of nuclear weapons, an effort he believes should be revived after a decade of inaction. He will analyze the threat of nuclear arms and propose viable solutions to eradicating the problem.

“Twenty years after the end of the Cold War, the terrifying hallmark of which was the nuclear arms race and the doctrine of mutual assured destruction, almost 30,000 nuclear weapons continue to exist,” said Butler. “Their existence poses the greatest threat to the human race and the planetary environment.” 

In this presentation, he will argue that nuclear weapons have no utility and that any security issues they are purported to solve would only be made worse by their use.

“There is no serious problem on which military action may be needed which cannot be solved through the use of conventional weapons,” said Butler. “Most disturbing is that possession of nuclear weapons is proliferating, which enlarges the possibility that they may be acquired by non-State groups.”
 

Penn State Live – Ambassador to address U.S. foreign policy, nuclear disarmament

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium

February 7, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized