Special Issue: The IPNN World Congress Experience

Friday, 12 September 2008 16:56

"Nuclear war is not something you hear about often. In a country with no apparent nuclear threat, it is easy to ignore the dangers associated with nuclear war."

"A nuclear disaster will not hit at the speed of a glacier melting. It will hit with a blast. It will not hit with the speed of the atmosphere warming but of a city burning. Clearly, the attention focused on nuclear weapons should be as prominent as that of global climate change."
- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in prepared remarks to the Hoover Institution's "Reykjavik II" conference, 26 Oct 2007.

"...IPPNW, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, held their 18th World Congress in Delhi, India in March this year. It was attended by over 600 doctors and students, the largest delegation yet. "

"...IPPNW has three areas of interest – nuclear arms, small arms prevention and medical student development. This world congress had special meaning being held in India given that India and Pakistan have about 50 nuclear weapons each and have recently undergone nuclear tests."

"...Living in the bottom end of the world, it is too easy to ignore the problems associated with nuclear weapons and war, even if we are the biggest exporters of uranium. It’s so easy to get locked up in your own little world with Boron and Robbins. This all goes away once you meet other students using the exact same books as you, but reading them in a country of political unrest and war. The fact is globalisation has happened and what happens in one country, or one region of the world, no longer only affects that country or region."

The full article is a must read, and can be accessed here.