Lawrence Wittner | The PeaceWorker

The Trillion Dollar Question

April 3, 2016

LAWRENCWE WITTNER - Isn’t it rather odd that America’s largest single public expenditure scheduled for the coming decades has received no attention in the 2015-2016 presidential debates? The expenditure is for a thirty-year program to “modernize” the U.S. nuclear arsenal and production facilities. Although President Obama began his administration with a dramatic public commitment...

Tags: 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Lawrence Wittner, Marco Rubio, SANE Act, Ted Cruz
Posted in Analysis, April 2016 | 1 Comment »

Recent Civil Resistance Against Shell Oil Shows Important Role Nonviolence Plays

August 21, 2015

PATRICK T. HILLER - I don’t know any of the 13 activists who lowered themselves from the St. John ’s Bridge in Portland, Oregon, nor any of the dozens of kayakers paddling in the Willamette River below them, but they succeeded in a temporary blockade of the Shell-leased Arctic-bound icebreaker MSV Fennica. I know...

Tags: Greenpeace, Keystone XL pipeline, Lawrence Wittner, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nature Magazine, Patrick T. Hiller, Royal Dutch Shell Oil, Senator Jeff Merkley, Tom Hastings
Posted in Analysis, August 2015 | No Comments »

Corporate Welfare Fails to Deliver the Jobs

June 19, 2015

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER - For several decades, state and local governments have been showering private businesses with tax breaks and direct subsidies based on the theory that this practice fosters economic development and, therefore, job growth. But does it? New York State’s experience indicates that, when it comes to producing jobs, corporate welfare programs...

Tags: Andrew Cuomo, Lawrence Wittner, little accountability, Nancy Zimpher, Start-Up NY, Tax-Free NY, Thomas DiNapoli
Posted in Analysis, June 2015 | No Comments »

Historian Poses Ten Questions for Conservatives

January 14, 2015

LAWRENCE WITTNER - Now that the Republican Party―the conservative voice in mainstream U.S. electoral politics―has attained the most thoroughgoing control of Congress that it has enjoyed since 1928, it’s an appropriate time to take a good look at modern conservatism.

Tags: Lawrence Wittner
Posted in Analysis, January 2015 | No Comments »

The United States is No. 1 — But in What?

October 28, 2014

LAWRENCE WITTNER - American politicians are fond of telling their audiences that the United States is the greatest country in the world. Is there any evidence for this claim?

Tags: Lawrence Wittner, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Posted in Analysis, October 2014 | No Comments »

Global Problems Call for Global Solutions

October 4, 2014

LAWRENCE WITTNER - Sometimes, amid the heated political debate about what should done by the U.S. government in world affairs, a proposal cuts through the TV babble of the supposed experts with a clear, useful suggestion.

Tags: ISIS, Lawrence Wittner, League of Nations, Pope Francis, United Nations
Posted in Analysis, October 2014 | No Comments »

It’s Time to Give Up Our Nationalist Illusions

September 24, 2014

LAWRENCE WITTNER - After thousands of years of bloody wars among contending tribes, regions, and nations, is it finally possible to dispense with the chauvinist ideas of the past? To judge by President Barack Obama’s televised address on the evening of September 10, it is not. Discussing his plan to “take out” ISIS,...

Tags: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Lawrence Wittner
Posted in Analysis, September 2014 | No Comments »

Why Are Campus Administrators Making So Much Money?

August 27, 2014

LAWRENCE WITTNER - Americans committed to better living for bosses can take heart at the fact that college and university administrators—unlike their faculty (increasingly reduced to rootless and benefitless adjuncts) and students (saddled with ever more debt)―are thriving.

Tags: Lawrence Wittner
Posted in Analysis, August 2014 | No Comments »

Does War Have a Future?

June 20, 2014

LAWRENCE WITTNER - Countries are not only preparing for wars, but are fighting them―sometimes overtly (as in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan) and sometimes covertly (as in portions of Africa and the Middle East). Nevertheless, there are some reasons why war might actually be on the way out.

Tags: Lawrence Wittner, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Posted in Analysis, June 2014 | No Comments »

Your Doctors Are Worried About Nukes

May 28, 2014

LAWRENCE WITTNER - Your doctors are worried about your health―in fact, about your very survival. No, they’re not necessarily your own personal physicians, but, rather, medical doctors around the world, represented by groups like International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). As you might recall, that organization, composed of many thousands...

Tags: International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Lawrence Wittner, Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970, World Health Organization
Posted in Analysis, May 2014 | No Comments »

America’s Peace Ship – Powerful Advocate for Nuclear Sanity

April 18, 2014

LAWRENCE WITTNER - Is there an emotional connection between the oceans and the pursuit of peace? For whatever reason, peace ships have been increasing in number over the past century.

Tags: American Friends Service Committee, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Greenpeace, Lawrence Wittner, National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, Veterans for Peace
Posted in Analysis, April 2014 | No Comments »

Let’s Learn from the History of the American People’s Support for War

January 12, 2014

LAWRENCE WITTNER - There would certainly be less disillusionment, as well as a great savings in lives and resources, if more Americans recognized the terrible costs of war before they rushed to embrace it. But a clearer understanding of war and its consequences will probably be necessary to convince Americans to break out...

Tags: Fellowship of Reconciliation, Lawrence Wittner, military industrial complex, Peace Action, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Posted in Analysis, January 2014 | No Comments »

Portrait of a Corporate Criminal: General Electric

December 11, 2013

LAWRENCE WITTNER - Can the world’s biggest corporations act with impunity? When it comes to General Electric (GE) -- the eighth-largest U.S. corporation, with $146.9 billion in sales and $13.6 billion in profits in 2012 -- the answer appears to be “yes.”

Tags: Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, EPA, federal reserve, Fukushima, Jack Welch, Jeffrey Immelt, Lawrence Wittner, Superfund cleanup sites, Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program
Posted in Analysis, December 2013 | No Comments »

Raise the Minimum Wage

December 7, 2013

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER - Some 47 million Americans live in poverty, and a key reason is the decline of the minimum wage. First established under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the nationwide minimum wage was designed to lift millions of American workers out of poverty and to stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, however,...

Tags: Fair Labor Standards Act, Fair Minimum Wage Act, Lawrence Wittner
Posted in Analysis, December 2013 | No Comments »

How Disarmament Activists Saved the World from Nuclear War

November 11, 2013

LAWRENCE WITTNER - The conventional explanation for nuclear restraint by the relatively small number of nations possessing nuclear weapons is that the danger posed by these weapons has “deterred” nations from waging nuclear war and, overall, has created a situation of nuclear safety. But something is missing from the conventional explanation. The missing ingredient...

Tags: "Ban-the-Bomb" movements, Albert Einstein, Hiroshima Day, Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, Lawrence Wittner, Mikhail Gorbachev, NATO, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pugwash movement, SANE, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), Zero Option
Posted in Analysis, November 2013 | No Comments »

U.S. Still Preparing for Nuclear War

October 18, 2013

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER - Nearly a quarter century after the disappearance of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the U.S. government is still getting ready for nuclear war.

Tags: "nuclear triad", Cold War, counterforce strategy, Federation of American Scientists, Lawrence Wittner, nuclear employment strategy, Nuclear Posture Review, President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, Soviet Union, START Treaty, U.S. Conference of Mayors, U.S. National Council of Churches
Posted in Analysis, October 2013 | No Comments »

Fighting for Peace at the Local Level

October 25, 2012

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER - On October 9, 2012, the legislature of Albany County, New York approved a proclamation calling upon Congress to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, cut the U.S. military budget, and use the savings to fund vital public programs at home.

Tags: Albany County, Conference of Mayors, cut military budget, Doug Bullock, Lawrence Wittner, moving the money, Peace Action
Posted in October 2012, SMART Stuff | No Comments »

Unlike Mitt Romney, Most Americans Want to Cut U.S. Military Spending

August 2, 2012

LAWRENCE WITTNER - On some issues, there is a serious disconnect between candidates for public office and the public they are hoping to represent. Take the case of Mitt Romney and military spending.

Tags: Afghan War, American century, Lawrence Wittner, military budget, military buildup, Mitt Romney, Stimson Center
Posted in Analysis, August 2012 | 1 Comment »

Do Nuclear Weapons Really Deter Aggression?

June 13, 2012

LAWRENCE WITTNER - It’s often said that nuclear weapons have protected nations from military attack. But is there any solid evidence to bolster this contention? Without such evidence, the argument that nuclear weapons prevented something that never occurred is simply a counter-factual abstraction that cannot be proved.

Tags: deterrence, Keneth Adelman, Lawrence Wittner, nuclear weapons, Ronald Reagan
Posted in June 2012, SMART Stuff | 1 Comment »

Why Even Failed Activism Succeeds

June 5, 2012

DAVID SWANSON - Almost every account includes belated discoveries of the extent to which a government was been spying on and infiltrating activist groups. And almost every such account includes belated discoveries of the extent to which government officials were influenced by activist groups even while pretending to ignore popular pressure.

Tags: activism, David Swanson, Government spying, justice, Lawrence Wittner, nonviolent activism, peace, President Kennedy, Robert McFarlane
Posted in Analysis, June 2012 | 1 Comment »

The Shame of Nations: New Record Set for Spending on War

April 29, 2012

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER -"World military spending reached a record $1,738 billion in 2011 -- an increase of $138 billion over the previous year. The United States accounted for 41 percent of that, or $711 billion."

Tags: budget, economy, Lawrence Wittner, military spending, peace, war
Posted in Analysis, April 2012, Big Picture | 1 Comment »

Try a Little Nuclear Sanity

March 28, 2012

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER - 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).

Tags: Edward Markey, Lawrence Wittner, missile-defense, North Korea, Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, nuclear weapons, SANE Act
Posted in Analysis, March 2012, SMART Stuff | 1 Comment »

It’s Still the Same Old Story — from Guns to Nukes

January 27, 2011

LAWRENCE A. WITTNER - The discussion of the Tucson tragedy should be familiar, as we witness similar massacres in U.S. schools, shopping centers, and other public places played out periodically. Each time, the NRA and other gun apologists tell us that the easy accessibility of firearms, including assault weapons, had nothing to do...

Tags: assault weapons, guns, Lawrence Wittner, NRA, nuclear weapons, START Treaty, the bomb
Posted in January 2011, SMART Stuff | No Comments »

After New START: Where Does Nuclear Disarmament Go From Here?

January 11, 2011

LAWRENCE WITTNER - With U.S. Senate ratification of the New START treaty on December 22, supporters of nuclear disarmament won an important victory. Signed by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last April, the treaty commits the two nations to cut the number of their deployed strategic (i.e. long-range) nuclear warheads...

Tags: Dmitry Medvedev, Jon Kyl, Lawrence Wittner, modernization, New START, nuclear weapons, Obama, Russia
Posted in January 2011, SMART Stuff | 6 Comments »

Looking Back on the Nuclear Freeze and Its Impact

December 20, 2010

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER - In Oregon, the Nuclear Freeze movement was led by Citizen Action for Lasting Security, one of the organizations that later merged into Oregon PeaceWorks. As we end one year and begin a new one, it is encouraging to look back at historian Lawrence Wittner’s chronicle of that exciting movement. -...

Tags: George H. W. Bush, Lawrence Wittner, Mikhail Gorbachev, nuclear Freeze, Peace Action, Randall Forsberg, Randy Kehler, Ronald Reagan
Posted in Dec. 2010, SMART Stuff | 5 Comments »

Public Mobilization Needed for a Nuclear-Free World

October 11, 2010

LAWRENCE WITTNER -- One of the ironies of the current international situation is that, although some government leaders now talk of building a nuclear weapons-free world, there has been limited public mobilization around that goal — at least compared to the action-packed 1980s.

Tags: antinuclear mobilization, Lawrence Wittner, nuclear proliferation, nuclear weapons
Posted in Oct 2010, SMART Stuff | 2 Comments »

BP’s Other Gifts to America — and the World

June 27, 2010

LAWRENCE WITTNER -- The offshore oil drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico brought to us by BP has overshadowed its central role over the past century in fostering some other disastrous events.

Tags: Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP, Iraq, John Foster Dulles, Lawrence Wittner, Mohammed Mossadeq, President Eisenhower, President Truman, Saddam Hussein, Shah of Iran
Posted in Analysis, Big Picture, June 2010 | No Comments »

Can We Live With the Bomb?

June 9, 2010

LAWRENCE WITTNER -- For some time now, it has been clear that nuclear weapons threaten the existence not only of humanity, but of all life on Earth. Thus, Barack Obama's pledge to work for a nuclear weapons-free world—made during his 2008 presidential campaign and subsequently in public statements—has resonated nicely with supporters of nuclear...

Tags: Lawrence Wittner, nuclear abolition, Nuclear Posture Review, nuclear proliferation, nuclear weapons
Posted in Analysis, June 2010, SMART Stuff | No Comments »

Answering Rand Paul on Civil Rights

May 28, 2010

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER -- Rand Paul's criticism of the federal civil rights legislation of the 1960s can be better evaluated by looking at the workings of similar legislation that appeared on the state level two decades before.

Tags: civil rights, Commission on Human Rights, discrimination, Lawrence Wittner, Rand Paul
Posted in Analysis, May 2010 | No Comments »

Lying About Nuclear Weapons

April 26, 2010

One of the most popular muckraking American journalists of the late twentieth century, I.F. Stone, once remarked: "All governments lie." Even a prominent government official -- Andrei Gromyko, the veteran Soviet diplomat -- once admitted, in a weak moment: "Governments are never sincere." This gloomy assessment appears all too true when it comes to...

Tags: Democratic Party of Japan, duplicity, Japan, Lawrence Wittner, Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, Mordechai Vanunu, nuclear non-proliferation treaty, nuclear weapons
Posted in Apr 2010, SMART Stuff | No Comments »

Is START Really a Beginning?

April 20, 2010

LAWRENCE WITTNER: Does the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Prague on April 8, really provide a beginning toward a nuclear-free world? That's what Obama implied in a statement two weeks earlier. Speaking to reporters at the White House, he...

Tags: disarmament, Dmitry Medvedev, Lawrence Wittner, nuclear nonproliferation, Nuclear Posture Review, nuclear weapons, Obama, ratification, START Treaty
Posted in Apr 2010, SMART Stuff | No Comments »

Preserving the Golden Rule as a Piece of Anti-Nuclear History

March 31, 2010

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER: The Golden Rule is in danger. No, not the famed ethical code -- though proponents of selfishness certainly have ignored it -- but a thirty-foot sailing ship of the same name that rose to prominence about half a century ago.

Tags: Albert Bigelow, Atomic Energy Commission, Earle Reynolds, Golden Rule, Lawrence Wittner, nuclear testing, nuclear weapons, Phoenix, SANE
Posted in Analysis, March 2010, Opinion | No Comments »

In War, Winners Can Be Losers

January 22, 2010

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER: Thus far, most of the supporters and opponents of escalating the U.S. war in Afghanistan have focused on whether or not it is possible to secure a military victory in that conflict. But they neglect to consider that, in war, even a winner can be a loser.

Tags: Afghanistan, death toll, Lawrence Wittner, military victory, the greatest nation in the world
Posted in Analysis, Feb 2010, Opinion | 1 Comment »

Another Nobel Controversy

November 1, 2009

LAWRENCE S WITTNER: The swirling controversy over President Barack Obama’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize brings to mind another controversy that began in October 1985, when the Norwegian committee announced that that year’s prize would go to International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

Tags: Bernard Lown, Chazov, IPPNW, Lawrence Wittner, Nobel, Obama
Posted in Archive, Nov 2009 | No Comments »

What Has Prevented Nuclear War?

September 1, 2009

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER: One of the great questions of the modern world is: Why has nuclear war not occurred since 1945?

Tags: Confronting the Bomb, Lawrence Wittner, nuclear war, public opposition
Posted in Archive, Sept 2009 | No Comments »

Confronting the Bomb Now Available

July 1, 2009

A new book, Confronting the Bomb -- A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement by frequent PeaceWorker contributor Dr. Lawrence S. Wittner is now available from Stanford University Press as part of its Stanford Nuclear Age series.

Tags: disarmament, Lawrence Wittner, nuclear, peace
Posted in Archive, July 2009 | No Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘ Lawrence Wittner ’