Who’s Who
- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: Advocating for a nuclear-weapons-free-world, and says that real security lies with solving economic issues, healing poverty, greater multilateral cooperation, etc. At the third PrepCom for the 2010 NPT Review Conference, he ended his statement by addressing the delegations, “If you can set us on a course towards achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world, you will send a message of hope to the world.”
President Barack Obama: President Obama sent a strong message with his new nuclear policy, advocating for significant reductions in the US arsenal, ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, full compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and moving towards a world free of nuclear weapons. While on his first official tour of Europe as president, Obama laid out the new American nuclear policy in a landmark speech in Prague. President Obama's Prague Speech
George P Schultz:: a former Secretary of State, joined fellow Cold War veterans, Henry Kissinger (former Secretary of State), Sam Nunn (former chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee), and William Perry (former Secretary of Defense) for two powerful Wall Street Journal op-eds citing the absolute need for a nuclear-weapons free world.
The first op-ed (2007)
The second op-ed (2008)
Rose Gottemoeller: Ms. Gottemoeller moved from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to the State Department this spring where she took on the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation. She is a critical member of the American team meeting with Russian representations as both the US and Russia aim for a new START agreement.
Robert Einhorn: the special advisor to the Secretary of State on nonproliferation and arms control.
Senator John McCain: McCain issued a floor statement on 3 June 2009 where he supported a call for a world without nuclear weapons. Many of his statements recalled President Reagan’s vision of a nuclear-weapons free world, and echoed the sentiments of President Obama’s Prague speech.
Senator McCain's Statement
Senator Casey (& his three point plan): Senator Bob Casey (D, Pennsylvania) is one of the Senate’s forward thinkers when it comes to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. He has a three point plan for nuclear disarmament which includes raising the costs and risks associated with nuclear material and the transport/exchange of this material; the creation of a fissile material library through cooperation with the IAEA which would allow better tracking and control over that material; and US commitment to non-proliferation including Senate ratification of the CTBT.
Craig Eisendrath: A former Foreign Service officer, Craig was in charge of US international relations for outer space at the age of 22. He has a PhD from Harvard, and has served as the president of Pennsylvania Humanities Council, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, and is now the chairman of Project for Nuclear Awareness. He is an award-winning author and playwright, as well as the leading scholar on space weaponry and banning such weapons.
Edward A. Aguilar: The executive director of Project for Nuclear Awareness. He has been a teacher, a lawyer, and a long-time activist for peace, environmental justice, and the non-proliferation and elimination of nuclear weapons. He was on the national board of Lawyers Alliance for World Security, and is currently on the President’s Council of Common Cause-USA. Ed was part of the World Court Project, which wrote a draft UN Nuclear Weapons Convention, or treaty on nuclear elimination. He has represented PNA at conferences in Washington, at the UN in New York, and Geneva.
IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency. Currently headed by Mohamed ElBaradei until November 2009, the IAEA is in charge of inspections, safeguards and regulations for nuclear energy and weaponry. They are a critical part of the international effort for verification systems and inspections to ensure that all countries are complying with the NPT.