For over 40 years Ploughshares Fund has supported the most effective people and organizations in the world to reduce and ultimately eliminate the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.
Russia got rid of an estimated 1,000 nuclear warheads last year, according to a new report from Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris of the Federation of American Scientists, a Ploughshares Fund grantee. That brings the estimated number of nuclear warheads in the world down below 20,000 for the first time since 1959. Russia had already retired these warheads and slated them for dismantlement, so the strategic calculus has not changed. However, it is a strong data point showing the steep downward trend of global nuclear arsenals.
Anniversaries have a way of generating reflection and re-assessment, and that is a good thing. But next week’s anniversary of the Fukushima catastrophe risks missing a huge piece of the story – that ALL things nuclear are inherently risky and that our assumptions about how we can control them need to be rethought.
Today is International Women’s Day, a time to recognize the economic, social, and political achievements of women worldwide. That makes it a perfect time to pay tribute to the many women making a powerful impact on nuclear weapons policy.
There are plenty of songs out there that reference some kind of nuclear holocaust but few, if any, are as up-tempo and cheerful as satirist Tom Lehrer’s “We will all go Together when We Go.” This performance was recorded in 1967, in the midst of the Cold War.
Ploughshares Fund is conducting interviews with some of our first donors - recording their stories of why they initially took a risk on Sally Lilienthal’s big idea. Board member and former Ploughshares executive director Gloria Duffy interviews Lew Butler, our first chairman of the board below....
Last week, hopeful news of potential cuts to the U.S. nuclear arsenal floated through Washington. A classified report from the Pentagon is being prepared for President Obama’s review, which has been reported to provide three ranges for possible nuclear reductions: 1,100 to 1,000, 800 to 700, or 400 to 300.
Ever since their remarkable op-ed "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons" hit the Wall Street Journal in 2007, the world has been fascinated by the continuing efforts of five former high-profile Cold Warriors to rid the world of nuclear weapons. A new book, The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and their Quest to Ban the Bomb, by former New York Times journalist Phil Taubman takes us behind the scenes of this remarkable group.
Newspapers today are abuzz with a new announcement from Iran claiming advances in its nuclear program. Against the backdrop of continued talk of military strikes, what does this announcement mean? President Joe Cirincione explains in two tweets.
Kim Jong Il has been dead eight weeks, and commentators are still treating his successor, Kim Jong Un, as if he’s the latest celebrity teen star. But there’s more at stake than speculation over the young Kim’s staying power.
When U.S. President Barack Obama took to the podium during a rare visit to the Pentagon early last month, he announced a new strategy for the country's military posture abroad. The United States would shift from being able to fight two major wars simultaneously to increasing its focus on Asia. But the president also explained that reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal would be key to future defense: "We will continue to get rid of outdated Cold War-era systems," he said, "so that we can invest in the capabilities we need for the future."
