2009 Haas Award recipient and former Secretary-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Dr. Hans Blix recently attended a preparatory conference for the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Blix is 4^th from left, below, behind former president of India, Abdul Kalam (foreground center), and the conference host, President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea (right).

Dr. Blix attended the conference as a member of the Eminent Persons Group for the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Summit. The purpose of the summit is to strengthen international commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Dr. Blix accepted PNA’s Haas Award for International Peace and Social Justice in October, 2009 (below). The 2012 Haas Award will be presented to Dr. Helen Caldicott on March 29^th.  Keep checking our website for details!

Dr. Hans Blix with PNA’s Chairman Craig Eisendrath, Executive Director Ed Aguilar and PNA staff at 2009 Haas Award Ceremony

November 9, 2011
3:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Location: Friends Center, 1500 Cherry Street, Room 21, Philadelphia, PA 19102

PNA and PSR invite you to join us for another important phone banking opportunity to call friendly Pennsylvania voters and encourage them to call Sen. Pat Toomey and Rep. Chaka Fattah about the nuclear weapons budget. Next Wednesday, November 9, we will be hosting a phone bank pizza party at the Friends Center in Room 21 (1500 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 – parking across the street, and only a block from SEPTA trains and buses at Suburban Station) for everyone who would like to participate in this campaign against wasteful nuke spending. You can join one of two sessions, or both:

Session A: 3:30-5:30 PM
Pizza Break!
Session B: 5:30-7:30 PM

Bottom line: We can save some $200 billion, over ten years, by reducing various aspects of the nuclear arsenal– whether by cutting new nuclear submarines, 200 new missiles, or spending for new, totally unneeded warheads. In fact, the government’s nuclear “modernization” program flies in the face of our New START Treaty, which promises cuts of 30% of the arsenal, and this is totally unnecessary for our defense, even some leading generals have noted.

Please join us for this great opportunity to get engaged in supporting cuts to our nuclear weapons budget and have your voice heard. To confirm your participation, message the PNA Group, email infopna@gmail.com or call (215) 546-3030. When you confirm, please note which session you will attend, a phone number and email, and whether or not you can bring a cell phone to use. At the session, you will receive a copy of our Phone Banking Toolkit, and a list of friendly voters from PNA and PSR. We hope that you will take advantage of this great opportunity to make a difference at this critical time before Congress votes on the 2012 budget.

PNA invites supporters and friends to commemorate the 66^th Anniversary of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombing with the Coalition for Peace Action in Princeton, NJ on Tuesday, August 9. The Coalition for Peace Action will be sponsoring a picnic at the Woodrow Wilson School Plaza from 6:00pm to 9:00pm complete with an intriguing program of speakers and performers that will educate, enlighten, and entertain the public. The suffering and horrific devastation witnessed at Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1945 at the hands of nuclear weapons only strengthens PNA’s goal of nuclear weapon abolition.  For more information, please visit their website.

Come join PNA at UN Cafe for open discussion about nuclear non-proliferation.

Place: Grey Social Club & Bar (132 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19106)

Date: Thursday August 4, 2011

Time: 6PM

Topic: Nuclear Non-Proliferation

On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, we at PNA urge Philadelphia citizens, communities, and organizations to join the world’s citizens in observing and celebrating the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Peace.  The United Nations’ theme for the 2011 International Day of Peace is: Let Your Voice Be Heard! We hope you will become involved and make your voice heard in the name of peace.

Do something, large or small, that is meaningful to you- in your home, in your community or in your world– and let us know, so we can let others know!

The Project for Nuclear Awareness is teaming up this year with the UN Association of Greater Philadelphia, and many allied groups to do joint activities for Philly Peace Day.

Drexel University’s Office of International Programs and the Project for Nuclear Awareness

Present:

Peace Visions: A World Free of Nuclear Threats & Small-Arms Menace

3:00-4:30pm

Speakers:

Dr. William H. Hartung, Center for International Policy
Dr. Jacqueline Reich, Chestnut Hill College

Location:                    

Creese Student Center, Drexel University

3210 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19104

Cost: This event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Hartung, an international expert on world arms trade, will discuss current arms policy/issues as well as the nuclear dilemma facing the world.  Dr. Reich will present “The Vision of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty– How Can We Make It a Reality?”

William Hartung is the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy and a Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation.  He is an expert on weapons proliferation, the politics and economics of military spending, regional security, and national security strategy.  His most recent book, Prophets of War, is an exposé of America’s largest military contractor, Lockheed Martin.

Jacqueline Reich is a professor of political science at Chestnut Hill College.  The courses she teaches at Chestnut Hill have focused on International Relations and American Foreign Policy.  She specializes in international relations theory, international conflict and cooperation, and security studies.

*William Hartung’s Prophets of War will be for sale at the event. CHECKS AND CREDIT CARDS ONLY. Cash will NOT be accepted.

The U.S.-Russian deal should get bipartisan support.

By Joseph Cirincione

Last week’s election threw everything up in the air, including President Obama’s national security strategy, right? Well, no.

There is a surprising bipartisan consensus on key national security issues that has been obscured lately by election campaigns and political sniping. Turning that consensus into policy will require the president to reach out – and to flex his muscle. It will also require Republicans in the new Congress to demonstrate that they are serious about national security issues.

The first test for both sides will come during the post-election Senate session later this month. The Senate has yet to approve the nuclear-arms reduction treaty Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed last April. Dubbed “New START,” the treaty would cut both sides’ weapons stockpiles by about 30 percent and reestablish a tough verification system allowing U.S. inspectors to monitor Russian nuclear forces.

Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush established these inspections with START I, which was signed in 1991 and ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the Senate. But the inspections stopped in December, when that treaty lapsed. As of Monday, it will have been 338 days since U.S. inspectors were allowed in Russia.

In July, referring to New START, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress, “This treaty has the full support of your uniformed military.” Cabinet officials from every administration since Richard Nixon’s also gave their support to the treaty during 20 Senate hearings and briefings. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee gave it a bipartisan 14-4 vote of approval. With this level of consensus, Senate passage of New START would seem like a no-brainer.

But senior Republicans led by Sen. Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) nevertheless delayed action on the treaty. They did so for two reasons: to deny the president a political victory before the election, and to get assurances about extra funding for U.S. nuclear weapons.

Now the election is over, and the president has promised to spend $180 billion on nuclear weapons over the next 10 years – more annually than George W. Bush budgeted. Still, Republicans may procrastinate.

It’s up to Obama to force the issue in this early test of how he intends to govern in the wake of GOP gains. He should aggressively and publicly reach out to Republicans, calling them now and meeting with them when they return to Washington. His top officials must speak out about the security consequences of not approving the treaty. And Obama must make it clear that there would be political consequences, too.

It should not be hard. Even for new members of Congress elected with the support of the tea-party movement, it will be tough to appear patriotic while dismissing the military’s unanimous advice. Rejecting New START would make them vulnerable to charges that they are playing politics with national security, giving Democrats a foreign-policy issue at a time when Republicans want to focus on domestic matters.

But to press that point, Obama must stay committed to getting the treaty done. As Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morell said last week, “This treaty is absolutely critical to the effectiveness of our nuclear arsenal, our knowledge of Russian nuclear capabilities, and U.S. national security overall. There’s no sense in putting off what we need now to the next Congress.”

With New START, Washington has a chance to show the American people that the two parties can act together in the best interests of the nation. To make that happen, Obama must demonstrate bipartisanship and strength; one without the other will not work. And Republicans, for their part, have to demonstrate their interest in responsible governance.

If either side of Pennsylvania Avenue misses this opportunity, our national security will suffer.

Joseph Cirincione is the president of Ploughshares Fund and the author of “Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons.”

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Featuring a Tribute to PNA’s Chairman, Dr. Craig Eisendrath, PhD
in Recognition of Lifetime Achievement
Down Town Club, 11th floor, Sixth and Chestnut Streets
Philadelphia, PA, USA   |   November 8, 2010

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REGISTER ONLINE HERE!

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Nuclear Futures: Steps to a Nuclear Weapons Free Planet, will feature a keynote presentation by Ploughshares Fund President, Joe Cirincione.  This conference will also include panels of expert speakers.  Each panel will address a facet of the nuclear disarmament issue. After panel sessions, participants will be invited to join smaller breakout sessions.  These more casual discussions will provide the opportunity to explore in greater depth aspects of the panel discussion.  This format will afford speakers and participants the opportunity to listen and learn from one another, thus generating new and exciting ideas, debates and resolutions.

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The tribute to Dr. Eisendrath will be presented by Ed Aguilar and Matthew Schwartz, MD.

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Conference Schedule
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11:00 am
Sign-In, Registration for Topics: Downtown Club, Lounge. Pre-Registrants may simply
pick up conference materials and lunch table numbers.

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11:30 am
Lunch: Ballroom, 11^th floor
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12:15 pm
Keynote:  Joe Cirincione, President, Ploughshares Fund: 
Global Zero- Can We Get There from Here?

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12:45-1:15 pm
Q & A with Joe Cirincione

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1:15- 1:45 pm Break

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1:45- 2:45 pm
New START, Treaties, and How Do NGO’s Make a Difference in Peace and Security?

Jules Zacher, PNA and Council for a Livable World, on New START; Mary Day Kent, UNA-GP, David Hart, PSR, and Ken Luongo, Co-Chair, Fissile Materials Control Group, Pres., Partnership for Global Security

Moderator:  Kate Etherington, PSR/ Philadelphia

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2:45- 3:30 pm
Coffee Break and Table Discussions, Breakouts by Topic, led by PNA, PSR, UNA staff.

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3:30- 4:30 pm
What Path to Zero? The World Court Project and Nuclear Weapons

John Burroughs, Director, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy;
Rachel L. Williams, Esquire; Ed Aguilar, Executive Director, PNA.

Moderator:  Mary Boardman, Assistant Director, PNA

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4:30 pm
Conclusion: Christina Madden, PNA D.C. Representative, and Tribute to
Craig Eisendrath (Matthew Schwartz, Ed Aguilar)—Acceptance by Craig Eisendrath.

Down Town Club, 11th floor, Sixth and Chestnut Streets
Philadelphia, PA, USA   |   November 8, 2010  |  5pm – 8:30pm

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Register Online Today

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John and Chara Haas have actively supported work in the field of peace and social justice for many years.  In honor of their commitment, the annual John C. and Chara C. Haas Award for International Peace and Social Justice recognizes exceptional work on these issues.

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This year PNA will honor the organizations involved in the World Court Project for their joint efforts to establish global consensus on the illegality of nuclear weapons.

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The World Court Project was led by the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), the International Peace Bureau (IPB), and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

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Accepting the award on behalf of the World Court Project are:
Peter Weiss, President of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and Vice President of International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms
Cora Weiss, UN Representative for the International Peace Bureau
John Loretz, Program Director of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

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Evening Schedule

5:00-6:00 pm Cocktail Hour with Cash Bar

6:00 pm Dinner: Ballroom

7:15 pm
Introduction, Haas International Peace and Justice Award: Craig Eisendrath; Award Presentation: Dr. Matthew Schwartz; Acceptance and Dialogue with Recipients:  Peter Weiss, Cora Weiss, John Loretz, for  IALANA, International Peace Bureau, and International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War, respectively.

Q&A with Audience.

8:30 pm Closing.

Register Online Today