Peace culture - a novel concept introduced today at the IPPNW Student Congress. Not a culture of peace, a culture defined by peace. Inspiring words today from keynote speaker Steve Leeper, the chairman of the Hiroshima Peace foundation. His message was not that this is something we need to aspire to; rather it’s something we can no longer afford not to attain. We need to graduate from the war culture, the dominance hierarchy that we live in, to peace culture. We need to evolve as a global society. Read more »
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As I sat reading John Hersey’s recounting of individual experiences in his book Hiroshima on the transpacific flight, I was struck by how much the event sounded like a natural disaster. It was a horrible event that devastated an innocent civilian population. But unlike tsunamis, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, this wasn’t unfortunate chance- this was preventable. Read more »
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ICAN meeting began this morning. Extra-ordinarily exciting presentation of the progress ICAN has made to date. In just 5 years since its inception, the campaign has succeeded in making a Nuclear Weapons Convention a mainstream issue throughout the world (if not yet here in the US…). Read more »

Walking from the Hiroshima bus station to the Conference Center, the path goes directly past the A-Bomb Dome and the hypocenter, the point directly beneath the where the bomb went off. Ground Zero. It is a little after 8 AM on a hot August morning, so like that other August morning 67 years ago. I keep looking up at the sky as so many thousands of people did that other morning, and I imagine the sudden bright flash that was the last thing they ever saw. Read more »
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It seems a little strange returning to Japan after 23 years. I attended the Ninth World Congress of IPPNW which was held in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1989. I was a medical student at the time. I had been Medical Student Liaison for IPPNW in 1985 when we won the Nobel Peace Prize, but it had been several years since I left the central office and was nearing the end of my medical school training. IPPNW still meant a lot to me and I endeavored to make the protection of the planet one of my primary goals in life. Read more »
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More than four decades ago, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entered into force. Its implementation is still faced with legitimate critics from non-nuclear weapons states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the basis that nuclear weapons states are not doing enough to advance the debate on disarmament. Read more »

A hundred and fifty of us gathered on Sunday night, Aug. 5, at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos, New Mexico, at the exact spot where long ago the Hiroshima Bomb was built. Right at 5:15 p.m -- 8:15 a.m. Monday morning, Aug. 6 in Japan -- we heard live, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, the ringing of the Peace Bell in Hiroshima. Read more »

Long-time PSR member Dr. Wendy Ring has embarked on a cross-country bike tour across the northern states to raise awareness about the need for action on climate change. Read more »
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In the wake of another thoughtless, unspeakably violent crime with tragic, unnecessary fatalities, it is once again time for the people of the United States to address the issue of gun violence in our country. Read more »

The Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program (1703) is a part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and was established to provide loan guarantees for ‘innovative energy technologies’. Read more »
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The Affordable Care Act is a hopeful step towards a more equitable and accessible health care system for ALL Americans. Read more »

On June 8, 2012, the US District Court of Appeals threw out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) so-called ‘waste confidence’ decision. The lawsuit, brought by the state of New York and four environmental groups (Natural Resources Defense Council, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Riverkeeper, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy) will fundamentally impact NRC licensing proceedings and environmental analysis as well as any future decisions on nuclear waste management. Read more »
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On Tuesday (June 12th), the Obama Administration alleged that Russia is sending attack helicopters to President Bashar Assad's regime and warned that the Arab country's 15-month conflict could become even deadlier. Read more »
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In the past few days, we have seen promising signs that the P5 + 1 and Iran are close to an agreement on Iran’s dual-use nuclear program. Read more »
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It has been a pleasure getting to know the many chapters of PSR. Recently I have been to New York City, home of the United Nations and our current president (of PSR that is), Andy Kanter, MD. Read more »
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In recent weeks, we have all been reminded why the conclusions of PSR's Nuclear Famine Report are a real and present danger. Read more »

A new IPPNW study released today at the annual Nobel Peace Laureates Summit in Chicago offers compelling scientific evidence that most of the nuclear arsenals in the world —whether large or small—threaten everyone on Earth. The consequences for global agriculture of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, for example, would be so severe and long lasting that we must now fundamentally change our thinking about nuclear weapons and redouble our efforts to eliminate them, according to the study’s author, Ira Helfand. Read more »
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On February 8, 2012, Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to introduce the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act (H.R. 3974). This SANE Act would cut $100 billion from the U.S. nuclear weapons budget over the next ten years by reducing the current fleet of U.S. nuclear submarines, delaying the purchase of new nuclear submarines, reducing the number of ICBMs, delaying a new bomber program, and ending the nuclear mission of air bombers. Read more »
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The reality is that one nuclear weapon can destroy the core of a city from blast, heat and radiation and kill hundreds of thousands of individuals. Such a detonation would create a dead zone of radiation making the area uninhabitable for decades or longer. Many more people would die in panic fleeing or from lack of any medical support. Read more »

As a Nigerian doctor active with IPPNW, I am pleased to participate for a second time in twelve months in the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Preparatory Committee talks at the United Nations in New York. Read more »