In the next two years, Ploughshares Fund will substantially increase our operations and investments in efforts to achieve the peace and security of a world free of nuclear weapons. We have an ambitious, practical strategy to seize this unique – but brief – political moment. Combining high-level advocacy, an enhanced grantmaking capacity and our own expertise, we believe we can help to fundamentally change U.S. and global nuclear weapons policy.
President Obama has begun that change with his historic
April 2009 speech in Prague. Our job now is to overcome obstacles to the implementation of this agenda. To do so, we need to accomplish five key objectives:
- Establish that the sole purpose of nuclear weapons is to prevent the use of nuclear weapons by others;
- Achieve agreement to reduce U.S. and Russian arsenals to no more than 1,000 total weapons each;
- Achieve U.S. ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty and facilitate its entry into force;
- Contain the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran, thus strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty;
- Demonstrate improved relations among conflicting parties in nuclear-armed South Asia, a critical hot spot where the threats of terrorism, nuclear weapons and regional tension converge.
Ploughshares Fund will orient our resources toward achieving these objectives. We will reduce the total number of grants, but increase the amount of some grants in order to strengthen the organizational effectiveness and analytical capability of our grantees. We will work closely with key partners to network organizations to maximize impact. In order to achieve these five objectives, we will support organizations, projects and individuals who seek to influence the policy debate in the U.S. and other key countries on three major themes:
Promote the Goal of Eliminating Nuclear Weapons: Our investments will support policy-oriented research, policy advocacy, lobbying, media outreach and rapid response, and organizing aimed at reorienting the nuclear posture of the United States; making deep cuts in global nuclear stockpiles, achieving ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and developing and promoting specific steps towards a nuclear weapon-free world. We will consider grants primarily in the U.S., Russia and the United Kingdom.
Prevent the Emergence of New Nuclear States: We support Track 2 dialogue, civil society engagement, policy-oriented research, policy advocacy, lobbying, and media outreach and rapid response to promote diplomatic solutions to the nuclear stalemate with Iran and opportunities to re-engage North Korea in rolling back its nuclear program. We will consider grants primarily in the U.S., China and other third party countries that play a diplomatic role with North Korea or Iran.
Build Regional Security In Key Areas of Concern: Our investments support fact-finding missions, on-the-ground analysis, Track 2 dialogue, confidence building measures, policy advocacy and media outreach to advance the transformation of conflicts in regions where nuclear weapons are factors, specifically in South and Southwest Asia. We will consider grants primarily in the U.S., India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Although our strategies and policy goals are focused and specific, we place very few restrictions on our grantmaking. We give where our grants can have the greatest impact – last year our grants went to nine countries around the world; we often make emergency grants and, unlike most foundations, we fund individuals as well as organizations.
We are currently not funding projects that focus on space security and conflict regions not associated with the South Asian nuclear context.
