WOMENCALL4PEACE – We are women from the United States and Russia who are deeply concerned about the risk of possible war between our two countries, who together possess over 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons. We are mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and we are sisters, one to another. We stand together and we call for peace. Stand with us.
Category: February 2022
US and Russian Doctors Warn of Possible Global Catastrophe from Escalating Conflict in Ukraine
INTERNATIONAL PHYSICIANS FOR THE PREVENTION OF WAR – American and Russian physicians representing IPPNW are warning that the war in Ukraine could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe as a result of conventional fighting and the attendant risks to that country’s nuclear power facilities and of escalation to nuclear war.
Bob Dylan and the Ukraine Crisis
NORMAN SOLOMON – Desperately needed is a new European security framework, to demilitarize and defuse conflicts between Russia and U.S. allies. But the same approach that for three decades pushed to expand NATO to Russia’s borders is now gung-ho to keep upping the ante, no matter how much doing so increases the chances of a direct clash between the world’s two nuclear-weapons superpowers.
Biden Promised Nuclear-Policy Reform. He’s Not Delivering.
JOSEPH CIRINCIONE – On the campaign trail and in strategy documents, President Biden committed to a new focus on arms control — and to a reconsideration of dangerous policies. News reports suggest his review of the U.S. nuclear posture will be disappointing. So, what can be done to alter this outcome, and who is working toward changing decision makers’ minds ?
The West Must Accept that Russia is a Key Player in Europe
ROBERT E. HUNTER – Vladimir Putin has been sending warning signals for over a decade; once the Ukraine crisis is over, nothing will be the same. As the United States tries to cope with this crisis, missing so far is a clear sense of “what next?†— that is, once the current imbroglio is over, as inevitably it must be.
Theranos Verdict: In the U.S., It Is Fine to Lie to Consumers but Not to Investors
PRABIR PURKAYASTHA – Hyper-capitalism has systematically weakened regulations to help capital at the cost of consumers. The verdict on the Elizabeth Holmes case simply illustrates the growing post-’90s disregard for consumers.
US Freezing of Afghan Assets Is Causing Starvation in Afghanistan
KATHY KELLY – People in the United States must recognize the suffering their country continues inflicting in Afghanistan.
Memo to Congress: Diplomacy for Ukraine Is Spelled — M-I-N-S-K
MEDEA BENJAMIN and NICHOLAS J. S. DAVIES – Ukrainians of all ethnicities deserve genuine support to resolve their differences and find a way to live together in one country—or to separate peacefully.
What the Cuban Missile Crisis Can Teach Us About Today’s Ukraine Crisis
LAWRENCE WITTNER – As the Cuban missile crisis ultimately convinced Kennedy and Khrushchev, in the nuclear era there’s little to be gained―and a great deal to be lost―when great powers continue their centuries-old practices of carving out exclusive spheres of influence and engaging in high-stakes military confrontations. Surely, we, too, can learn from the Cuban crisis―and must learn from it―if we are to survive.
No War with Russia! No Expansion of NATO!
MASSACHUSETTS PEACE ACTION – The US has just managed to extract itself from a 20-year war in Afghanistan. Does our government seriously want to embark on another war? Since 2001, our long, bloody, fruitless interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan have cost thousands of US lives, hundreds of thousands of civilian lives in those countries, and $6.4 trillion.
The Continuation of Thich Nhat Hanh
MEL DUNCAN – Just as he believed in no beginning and no end, Thich Nhat Hanh continues to live in the initiatives and hearts he inspired.
In the Line of Eternal Fire: Ukraine’s Nuclear Reactors – CounterPunch.org
LINDA PENTZ GUNTER – As Craig Hooper so chillingly warned us in his December 28, 2021 article for Forbes, a Russian invasion of Ukraine, “could put nuclear reactors on the front line of military conflict.†The result, he said, depending on the tactics deployed by the Russians, could be equivalent to “nuclear warfare without bombs.†It’s yet one more reminder of just how much an already perilous situation can become orders of magnitude worse, once you introduce the risk of major radioactive releases into the equation.
China Gives Oomph to Russia’s ‘Nyet’ on NATO
RAY MCGOVERN – Fourteen years ago today, when then-ambassador to Russia William Burns, in an IMMEDIATE cable titled “Nyet Means Nyet: Russia’s NATO Enlargement Redlines,” reported Moscow’s warning that NATO membership for Ukraine would cross a red line, the Russians could do little more than grouse. Enter from left stage Chinese President Xi Jinping last year with the shot of adrenalin Putin needed to make “Nyet” stick. Under-Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and her protégé Antony Blinken seem to be in the dark about the close ties between Russia and China represented by such give and take between the two countries.
Who is Willing to Participate in Non-Violent Civil Disobedience for the Climate?
CONTRIBUTORS – In September 2021, we asked Americans about their willingness to support an organization engaging in non-violent civil disobedience against corporate or government activities that make global warming worse and about their willingness to personally engage in such non-violent civil disobedience themselves. Here we examine how this willingness varies across different groups including Global Warming’s Six Americas, generations, and the three largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States.