February 2012
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Notes from Reaching Zero
Three hundred students gathered at Yale on February 18-19 for Reaching Zero, a Student Summit for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Want to get a sense of what it was like to be part of that motivated group of student activists?
Here’s an excerpt from Alex White’s blog, a Reaching Zero attendee:
Earlier this year, the global doomsday clock ticked one minute closer to midnight....
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Global Zero Calls for U.S., Russia to Remove...
Map of U.S. and Russian combat bases in Europe where tactical nuclear weapons may be deployed and of national storage facilities.
Last week, Global Zero was at the Munich Security Conference where we released this report calling for the United States and Russia to remove all of their tactical nuclear weapons from combat bases on the European continent.
The Global Zero NATO-Russia...
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Show Your Friends You Support a World Without...
Facebook has officially unveiled Timeline, a new profile layout where you can customize your home page and fill in your profile with events spanning your entire life. Part of the new Timeline feature is the custom cover photo — a big photo banner on your profile. Here at Global Zero, we’ve created some cover photos that you can add to your Facebook Timeline profile to show your...
January 2012
3 posts
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Cutting Nukes: In An Era of Tough Sacrifices, It’s...
by Jennifer Knox
Jennifer Knox, a sophomore at Cornell College, recently joined the Global Zero team as an intern through the Cornell Fellows program. Her work focuses on logistics planning for the 2012 Reaching Zero summit at Yale, tracking nuclear news, and researching policy objectives.
The new congressional Budget Control Act mandates cuts of $487 billion from the defense budget over the...
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Global Zero 2011 Highlight Reel
A heartfelt thank you to all of you who made 2011 a remarkable year for Global Zero. Thank you signatories, students, staff and supporters for your work and commitment to creating a world without nuclear weapons. And now, here’s the 2011 Global Zero highlight reel:
APRIL
The GZ|DC Convention at The George Washington University brought together hundreds of exceptional students and young...
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This Month in Atomic History
As we begin a fresh new year, it seems fitting to ponder some past events that set the stage for nuclear weapons in today’s world. Here’s January, in atomic history: January 1945
First plutonium reprocessing production run at the Hanford Site in Washington. The site was home to the B Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world.
January 1950 Klaus Emil...
December 2011
4 posts
Global Zero Remembers President Václav Havel
Global Zero was saddened by the news that former Czech president and Nobel peace laureate Václav Havel passed away on Sunday, December 18 at the age of 75.
Widely known for his tireless dedication to peace, security and democracy, President Havel joined Global Zero in the fall of 2009. We were honored by his support and participation.
On behalf of the Global Zero community, we extend our...
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Lawrence Bender Awarded for His Work with Global...
Lawrence Bender, Producer of Countdown to Zero and a Global Zero signatory, will receive the UN Correspondents Association Advocacy of the Year Award today! Here, he urges leaders to act with much greater urgency in setting a course for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. This piece was published in Huffington Post on December 14, 2011.
The Indispensable Choice: Eliminating Nuclear Weapons by...
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Reaching Zero: Student Summit At Yale
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” -Nelson Mandela
More than 100 outstanding students from universities across the country will convene at Yale University on Feb. 18-19, 2012 to strategize and build the Global Zero movement. The Reaching Zero Student Summit will “arm” students with the tools and skills they’ll need to launch Global Zero campaigns on...
November 2011
5 posts
How Student Leaders Got Yale Excited About Cutting...
by Donna Horning, Global Zero Student Leader
My name is Donna Horning, and I’m a junior at Yale University originally from Seattle, WA majoring in Global Affairs and Political Science.
My interest in nuclear issues actually began in high school, when I completed National History Day projects on the Manhattan Project and the Space Race, and did nuclear physics research at the University of...
Youth Find Meaning and Hope in Global Zero
by Kim Erdmann, Global Zero Student Leader and participant at the recent Student Institute and Global Zero Summit in LA.
Arriving in Los Angeles for the first time I felt empowered, destined to save the people I quickly passed in the airport. Could they see that I was part of a group of students who would protect them from potential nuclear fallout? Hmm… probably not. Truth is, few are aware...
Nuclear Weapons Should Not be Our Legacy
This op-ed was published today in France’s La Croix. It is written by General Hugh Beach, Margaret Beckett, General Bernard Norlain, Paul Quilès, Michel Rocard and General David Ramsbotham on the 22nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
It is now 22 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. This major event, followed by the dismantling of the Soviet bloc, brought an abrupt end to a...
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Students and their Moms Are Working Together to...
by Courtney Smith, Global Zero Student Leader
Since I first learned about nuclear weapons, I have been a proponent of disarmament. However, I assumed that there was nothing that a college student could do about proliferation issues that would actually make a difference. Then, I learned about Global Zero. I was ecstatic about Global Zero’s support in establishing a chapter at my college. I...
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October 2011
3 posts
Women Must be at the Forefront of Nuclear...
by Dr. Jennifer Allen Simons Founding Partner of Global Zero and President of The Simons Foundation
The greatest danger to humans is the existence of nuclear weapons. Yet it is a danger that seems to be banished from conscious awareness. Jonathan Schell believes this is because we cannot bear to face our own death. For the most part, it is in our dreams that our fear of nuclear annihilation...
WatchThis video is the first in a series of powerful interview clips from attendees at the Global Zero Summit, October 11-12, 2011.
Visit the Global Zero Summit 2011 video series on Take Part’s website to see what George Shultz, Jeff Skoll, Richard Burt, Larry Brilliant, Bruce Blair and other international leaders say about getting to zero, including:
“When I go to sleep I like to think...
September 2011
4 posts
Shouldn’t People of Faith Call a Halt to Nuclear...
by Richard Cizik, President, New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good
As we observe this week’s International Day of Peace, I can’t help but reflect on a headline that recently caught my attention: “World Spending on Nuclear Weapons Surpasses $1 Trillion Per Decade.” The source of this information, a recent report from the co-founders of Global Zero, Bruce Blair and Matt Brown, goes so far...
Tips for Growing Your Global Zero Chapter
In Part 1 of this post we discussed how to get a Global Zero chapter started at your school. Now that you’ve got the ball rolling, here are some tips for establishing, growing and nurturing your chapter. For starters, try not to get discouraged or overwhelmed by the complexity of the non-proliferation issue.
This is a deeply complex subject and there are massive amounts of information related...
Want to Start a Global Zero Chapter? Here’s How!
Our student chapters are the lifeblood of the Global Zero movement!
Student involvement is crucial to the success of our movement and the elimination of nuclear weapons. Our students provide the enthusiasm and support that our signatories and the world’s policy makers need to continue to propel the movement forward. As a student, the most interactive and rewarding way to get involved with the...
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August 2011
7 posts
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Join the Cut Nukes Petition Challenge to Win a...
Sign-up to compete in the Global Zero Cut Nukes Petition Challenge as an individual or as a school and you could win great prizes like stickers, shirts, sunglasses and plenty of love and kudos from us! If your school participates, one lucky student could win an all-expense paid trip to a Global Zero event! What’s it All About? Politicians around the world are asking citizens to tighten their belts...
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Thank You for Making a Big Difference on the Road...
As we forge on toward our goal of collecting 100,000 petition signatures by the G20 in November, we want to thank those who have helped us share our petition with the world! By sharing the petition via email blasts, website widgets, tweets, Facebook posts, and blogs, these stellar organizations and luminaries have significantly raised awareness of the costs associated with nuclear weapons,...
Global Zero student leader and family remembers...
I am Keni Sabath. And I am just a high school student. Well, I am also a high school debater. From the perspective of debate, I have witnessed a peculiar phenomenon that occurs only within the high school interscholastic debate community: an obsession with nuclear war.
To win a debate, a debater must prove that her or his theoretical “world”—one where a certain policy is or is not...
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Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki
This week we’re remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the unimaginable destruction and death that followed the use of nuclear weapons at the end of World War II. Sixty-six years later, these pictures, many made available by Life Magazine, strengthen our resolve that the only answer is a world without nuclear weapons. Help ensure that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nightmare never happens again....
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Fewer Nukes, More Jobs
by John-Michael Donahue, Global Zero Field Assistant
Since the financial crisis, US unemployment has skyrocketed and the job market remains in peril. The American People continue to bear the burden of fiscal irresponsibility of a few. Elected officials are now charged with the responsibility of making drastic cuts to our budget in order to get our spending under control. But are politicians...
July 2011
8 posts
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From the Summit Floor: Why Students Must Care...
by Christina GL Walters Four years after the 2007 financial crisis, individuals around the world are still facing increasing economic insecurity. Plagued by unemployment and rising costs, it’s time that our governments rid their budgets of unnecessary nuclear weapons programs and reallocate these resources to where they are truly needed.
For students in the US, we face increasing tuition costs...
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Pitchfork: Great Music, Good Times and Solidarity...
by Ellie Cooper
What an incredible weekend! As I write this I’m sitting in the back of the Global Zero van on the way back to DC after three excellent days of music and discussion about getting to zero at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.
The Global Zero tent at Pitchfork 2011.
When I volunteered to help talk to festival-goers about the Global Zero cost campaign, I anticipated a fun...
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I’ve Got Hope for Global Zero!
by Claudia Cheffs This piece is excerpted from a longer article about Claudia’s experience attending the Global Zero Student Institute and Summit last month in London. You can read the full story on Claudia’s blog. We all walked in through the doors of the Savoy Hotel, where the Summit was held, with our jaws wide open. It was something I had never seen before. The room was decorated in Global...
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Why We Must Cut Nukes, Not Education
by Holly Davis
Education has always been my passion, and until joining the Global Zero staff I spent much of my own studies and professional life focused on the American education system. Education is a critical investment in our future – here’s just one of many studies that outline the big return on investments in early education. The bottom line is that spending money on early childhood...
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Help Us Deliver 25,000 Petition Signatures to...
It’s crunch time!
Politicians have just two more weeks to strike a deal on how to cut the deficit to prevent the nation’s default on our debts.
President Obama says: “Everything must be on the table.” But it seems there’s one thing that is NOT on the table –– the $600 BILLION the US will spend this decade on dangerous and useless nuclear weapons. Washington is putting education, Medicare,...
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From the Summit Floor: The Time to Act is Now!
by Ellie Cooper It’s exhilarating to look around a room of 40 student leaders from around the world knowing that you’re all devoting two days of brainpower exclusively to advancing the Global Zero cause. And yet, the prospect of convincing students back home that the abolition of nuclear weapons is a moral and an international security imperative can be daunting. That said, the methods and tools...
So, You Want to Cut the Defense Budget? Look to...
Holly Davis—Global Zero program coordinator and former program assistant with AmericaSpeaks—contributed this article to the AmericaSpeaks blog last month. It calls on governments to cut budget for nuclear weapons, not for education and important programs. Here is an excerpt from Holly’s guest post on AmericaSpeaks:
At this time last year, I was excited to hear what the thousands of participants...
From the Summit Floor: The Global Zero Opportunity
By Natalie Chindipha
For a long time I wanted to become part of an organization that advocated for a cause I’m truly passionate about. From the moment I came in contact with Global Zero I just knew I had to be involved. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
During the London Institute and the Global Zero Summit at the end of June, I learned so much—not only about Global Zero but also about...
June 2011
5 posts
From the Summit Floor: My Place in the Global Zero...
By Melissa Goodall Although I’ve been involved with Global Zero since last September, it hasn’t always felt global to me. But being at the summit in London has changed my view of Global Zero, both as a political movement and also as a personal movement. I’ve had the truly unique experience of listening to many distinguished signatories. I met Queen Noor and chatted with Indian signatories and...
Global Zero Summit Shines a Light on Nuclear...
Last week, politicians, celebrities, student activists, and others gathered at the annual Global Zero Summit in London, where the media shone a bright light on the growing international movement to eliminate nuclear weapons.
BBC and CNN (video clip above) discussed nuclear spending with Global Zero signatory Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; MSNBC spoke about the very real threat of nuclear...
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Worldwide Nuke Spending to Hit $1 Trillion in the...
Dr. Bruce Blair, Global Zero Co-Coordinator and president of the World Security Institute, has published a shocking article, World Nuke Spending to Top $1 Trillion Per Decade on Time.com. Exposing this never-before-seen tally of nuclear spending by all of the world’s governments, Blair’s article poses the question: Why are governments cutting budgets for the things their citizens...
The Economist Reports the "Growing Appeal of Zero"...
In today’s article “The growing appeal of zero,” The Economist profiles Global Zero! In the lead up to next week’s Global Zero Summit in London, the article covers Global Zero’s history and outlines our step-by-step plan for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. We’re very encouraged to see the nuclear weapons risk front-and-center in mainstream...
BOOM! or 8 Reasons to Attend a Global Zero Student...
Connolly Colbert is a Global Zero student leader at the College of William & Mary. She attended the DC Student Leadership Institute last summer and went on to start a Global Zero chapter at William & Mary. Here’s why Connolly is calling on students to sign on for their own transformational summer institute experience this year!
1. Get great advice from former Ambassadors from more...
May 2011
1 post
Global Zero’s Got Summer Plans…Are You In?
A Global Zero movement snapshot:
Over 400,000 citizens worldwide have signed the declaration, CHECK!
More than 300 political, military, business, faith and civic leaders are Global Zero signatories, CHECK!
More than 70+ student chapters throughout the world, CHECK!
But, we’re not nearly done. So what’s next?
This summer we’re hosting and attending events to spread the Global Zero message and...
April 2011
2 posts
WatchBefore the GZ|DC 2011 Convention kicked off in April, a small group of students earned the remarkable opportunity to sit down with UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to discuss the role young leaders play in nuclear non-proliferation in the global community. Throughout his diplomatic career the Secretary General has worked for the elimination of nuclear weapons through programs like “We...
March 2011
4 posts
International Women's Day turns 100!
Valerie Plame Wilson defies convention. In the Huffington Post today, she paid brief homage to the women of the world, but then jumped head first into an issue that is so big, it is genderless - nuclear proliferation. Read more after the jump.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-plame-wilson/nuclear-proliferation_b_832399.html
February 2011
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Global Zero at Tufts EPIIC Symposium this weekend!
Global Zero is at Tufts University this weekend for the Institute for Global Leadership’s annual symposium, EPIIC on an epic (hah!) tour of the Northeast to recruit participants in our April 8-10 youth convention, GZ|DC2011. This year’s topic is Our Nuclear Age: Promise and Peril, and symposium Chair Professor Sherman Teichman has been amazingly enthusiastic about bringing Global Zero...