Civil Society is to Nuclear Disbarment as Bordeaux is to a Lamb Shank

Thus far, what has come from attending the nuclear disarmament abolitionist meeting — ICAN Vienna Civil Society Forum, is the apparent lack of students or activists from Russia or China. The concept that a ban on nuclear weapons or total disarmament happening anytime soon is, to say the least, — fleeting. Meetings such as ICAN although inspiring are completely unrealistic, BUT they are necessary and cannot be lived without. US Ambassador Robert Wood at the UN First Committee on October 20, 2014 stated “… unrealistic calls for immediate and total disarmament distract from and ignore achievable and sober efforts.”

To the other side of that argument more achievable and sober efforts seem fleeting as Russia-US relationship goes from bad to worse, there seems to be no movement in the disarmament efforts and this is why ICAN needs to exist even if it is somewhat unrealistic (at least in my American perspective).

Speaking with European students, and advocates here makes you realize that their political willpower and mobilization is much more effective here in Europe, with direct response from their politicians rather than in the United States or Russia.

As a newly jaded student of nonproliferation, I realize that these efforts are not possible in the United State or Russia, at least until our own student and civil societies start to congregate and advocate—hopefully in co-effort with the students in non-nuclear weapons countries. However, as an American I realize how little nuclear issues matter to our general public, as our country explodes into a daze of race riots (yes in the 21st century, but that’s another topic for discussion), and Russia advocates battle for free speech (yes in the 21st century, but this too is another discussion). I realize we are so far out of touch with the non-concrete issue of nuclear weapons that seems so hypothetical that it’s not even approachable.

My generation, the millennials of America, do not approach these issues because it is not imminent in our minds. Well, I am here to say that it is imminent, it is the root of many of our issues, spanning from the huge economic cost to the humanitarian impact of testing, use, and as I personally would like to highlight, the cost of stopping proliferation. I commend the United States in deciding to attend the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons this year (they skipped out on the last two conferences of its kind). The United States has taken one small step in moving in the right direction at a time when the waters of change are stagnant and starting to form a murky foam over the top.

The decision of the US to join the group of 151 states present at this conference may be a show of good will towards the efforts toward the continued success of The Nonproliferation Treaty (the next conference is happening, this following year). Currently the step by step efforts towards disarmament of nuclear weapons is often highlighted by the Nuclear Weapons States by its successes with flashy numbers such as “over 9,952 nuclear warheads have been dismantled since 1994” or facts such as 1 in 8 light bulbs in the United States is powered by a dismantled Soviet warhead.

These facts however, distract from the reality that over 16,300 nuclear weapons still exist, that there are enough weapons out there to kill everyone on this earth 100 times over, or what should be one of the most alarming facts that the NEW START treaty and its loose language literally have no provisions for disarmament just the ambiguous date of 2021 to cut arsenals in half. So the question becomes why 2021? Why not today? Why not now? This is why it is important for American and Russian NGO groups and civil advocacy to get involved to put pressure to stand up and take a page out of European advocacy groups and pressure their governments to make real change.

The reality of the situation is that advocacy in Nuclear Weapons States is and will continue to be much more difficult than in countries who never had the weapons in the first place. Our voices of calling for disarmament must be united not across only our own respective countries, but a united voice of the all people in nuclear weapons states that have not had the choice to decide if they want to live under their countries nuclear umbrella. Such advocacy cannot be unrealistic in what it asks for, protesting in the streets demanding full disarmament today, will result in no action tomorrow. Advocacy has to push for a speeding-up of nuclear disarmament, and a call for more transparency with the citizens of their respective countries. A successful campaign also calls for sustained and dedicated public advocacy and demand, from a large portion of the population.

Thus, to achieve this awareness of nuclear weapons, their detriment to society, and to invoke a demand for elimination, there must be a message set into the mind and hearts of American, Russia, Chinese, British, French, Pakistani, Indian, and Israeli youth. Without an internalized realization of this need for a ban on these weapons, there is no way to achieve these sustained and dedicated efforts. New approaches to media such as the movie The Man who Saved the World screening in movie theaters here in Vienna and across the world now are doing just that, mixing documentary and first perspective historical interpretation to inform and inspire audiences. This movie takes the issue of nuclear weapons out of the hypothetical to an actual and grounded issue. Grounded issues that our generation can find attachment and meaning in, and thus object to, leading to that necessary political imperative.

What I have found during my attendance at these meeting, is that pairing civil society forums such as ICAN with governmental conversations such as the Vienna Conference for the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons is like paring a good wine to a well known meal. The wine can breathe new life into a typical and possibly mundane meal, highlighting the strength of undertones in the meal, changing the entire meal experience if paired well. In order to develop those civil society forums, like the production of good wine, there is a requirement of a large well ripened grapes (dedicated and educated individuals), fermented in the right environment (advocacy group development) in order to be distilled to perfection (successful demand) and thus leading to the wines ability to enhance and promote the meal at hand (resulting in successful implementation): disarmament and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.

Beatrice Maneshi is an Iranian-American candidate for Masters in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Her research focus includes issues such as: WWD disarmament, diplomacy, governance and trade, International financial and legal accountability, and Middle Eastern security and economic development. She has lived and studied in Tehran, Iran, Damascus, Syria and Beirut, Lebanon. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of San Francisco in International Studies and Economic Development in the Middle East. She is currently fulfilling an internship at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons under the Government Relations and Political Affairs Department in the Hague.