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WHAT'S NEW

Sept. 1, 2021: United States Conference of Mayors adopts bold new resolution Calling on the United States to Welcome the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons [TPNW] and to Act Now to Prevent Nuclear War and Eliminate Nuclear Weapons.

Nuclear Weapons & Climate Change: Shine a Light, Stop the Hate, Lower the Heat.
Join us Friday August. 6 and Monday August 9, virtually, at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab. to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tune in, abolish nuclear weapons, connect the dots, and act for change.

On August 6, there was a virtual rally from 9:00 – 10:45 am PDT. The following speakers were filmed live at the gate to the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab: Nobuaki Hanaoka, a Nagasaki hibakusha; Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs; and John Burroughs, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and Western States Legal Foundation. They are followed by pre-recorded presentations by keynote speaker, Daniel Ellsberg, Marcina Langrine and Benetick Kabua Maddison, Marshallese Education Initiative; Tsukuru Fors, Pacific Asian Nuclear-Free Peace Alliance; and Nell Myhand, California Poor People's Campaign. Music was provided by Betsey Rose and Benjamin Mertz. To view a recording of the entire event combining live and prerecorded portions, click here. For more details, download the media advisory here.
Texts of speakers' presentations

Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs

John Burroughs, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and Western States Legal Foundation

Jacqueline Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation (Call to Action)
For Nuclear Disarmament, the Long Run Is Here: Twenty-five years ago, the International Court of Justice stated the obligation to negotiate the abolition of nuclear weapons. It's time for an accounting.
Op-ed by WSLF senior research analyst Andrew Lichterman, Common Dreams, July 6, 2021
Nuclear Weapons Have Always Been Illegal; It's Long Past Time to Abolish Them
Op-ed by WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso, In Depth News, July 5, 2021.
The U.S. vs. China: A Capitalist Globalization Divided but not Transformed?
by Andrew Lichterman, senior research analyst, Western States Legal Foundation. Text of a presentation at the Asia Pacific Working Group webinar, "The U.S.-China competition and its impact on the people caught in the middle," June 9, 2021.
Mayors for Peace Campaign Tool Kit – April 2021 Update
The Enduring Nuclear Threat; A Deeper Look: United for Peace and Justice Webinar, March 30, 2021
This webinar, presented by United for Peace and Justice, featured three Western States Legal Foundation board members. Click here to view a recording of the webinar. See below for text of the presentations from the panelists and for additional resources.

The recent entry into force of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons brought a welcome positive moment to a bleak disarmament landscape. But none of the nuclear armed states have joined the Treaty, and all are expanding or modernizing their nuclear arsenals. This webinar, hosted by UFPJ, provided an update on nuclear weapons policies and programs and an overview of relevant developments in international law. It also suggested the need to rethink familiar approaches to disarmament, and to shift the focus of disarmament advocacy from recognizing the effects of nuclear weapons to analyzing the causes of nuclear arms racing and of the risks of war among nuclear-armed countries – the same root causes driving many of our other most pressing crises.

Webinar presenters:

Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, based in Oakland, California, since 1984. In 1995 she was a "founding mother" of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, and she continues to serve on its Coordinating Committee. Since 2007 she has served as an Executive Advisor to Mayors for Peace. She is a National Co-convener of UFPJ. Jackie was the 2008 recipient of the International Peace Bureau's Sean MacBride Peace Award.  Presentation text part 1 part 2

John Burroughs, Senior Analyst for the New York City-based Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP). He has represented LCNP in Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings and negotiations on the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. His articles and op-eds have appeared in publications including Fordham International Law Journal, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Today, Newsweek, and Newsday. Presentation Text

Andrew Lichterman, policy analyst and lawyer with the Oakland, California-based Western States Legal Foundation. He has represented peace and environmental activists in a variety of settings, and also taught at alternative law schools for many years. He is a member of the United for Peace and Justice Coordinating Committee. Presentation text

Readings and other resources

75 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Quest for Nuclear Disarmament; Where Do Things Stand? Remarks by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation to the Democratic 21st Century Club of Santa Clara County, CA, October 20, 2020.  Read her remarks here. Watch the video recording here.

Nuclear Weapons under the Biden Presidency Remarks by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, Peace & Planet webinar: The International Disarmament Agenda: Civil Society Voices From 7 Key States, February 23, 2021. Read her remarks here. Watch the video recording

Building a Moral Fusion Movement – Resource paper by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, for New York State Bar Association International Law and Nuclear Weapons Conference, November 12, 2020. Read the paper here. Watch the video recording of her remarks here (starting at 1:50:10).

Remarks of John Burroughs, Conference on International Law and Nuclear Weapons 2020, New York State Bar Association, November 12, 2020

Building Blocks for Nuclear Ban Treaty: NPT & Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, John Burroughs, Inter Press Service, November 2, 2020

Human Rights Versus Nuclear Weapons: New Dimensions,Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, January 2021
Contributors: Roger Clark, Ariana Smith, Peter Weiss, Daniel Rietiker, Bonnie Docherty, and Andrew Lichterman
U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Racing: Still Crazy After All These Years, Andrew Lichterman and John Burroughs, Truthdig, March 16, 2018

"Nuclear Disarmament, Civil Society, and Democracy," Andrew Lichterman, Disarmament Forum, 2010 No.4

Rethinking the Military-Industrial Complex, Western States Legal Foundation working paper 2018, by Andrew Lichterman.

Nuclear Weapons: Why Are They Still Here? August 6, 2021 Presentation by Andrew Lichterman.
Reckless Spending to Increase Nuclear Danger? Virtual event March 17, 2021
How, in the midst of an economic and public health crisis, is the U.S. set to spend hundreds of billions on new nuclear weapons which could never be used, add nothing to national security, and actually increase the risk of nuclear war? Funding for these extremely dangerous weapons systems will come up soon in Congress. The NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, with co-sponsors, the Unitarian Universalist Association, UN Office, and Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, presented three leaders to clarify the key issues and discuss possible plans of action.

Bruce Knotts
Director at the Unitarian Universalist Office at the United Nations, where he was directed since 2008. Before that, he served as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State with notable service during the Nairobi Embassy bombing 1998, Embassy Khartoum, Sudan, Regional Refugee Coordinator for West Africa, and Deputy Chief of Mission in The Gambia. His final tour was in the Bureau of International Organization at the Department of State.

Dr. John Burroughs
Senior Analyst for the New York City-based Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy. He has represented LCNP in Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings and negotiations on the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. His articles and op-eds have appeared in publications including Fordham International Law Journal, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Today, Newsweek, and Newsday.

Jackie Cabasso Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, based in Oakland, California, since 1984. In 1995 she was a “founding mother” of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, and she continues to serve on its Coordinating Committee. Since 2007 she has served as an Executive Advisor to Mayors for Peace. In the U.S., she is a National Co-convener of United for Peace and Justice. Jackie was the 2008 recipient of the International Peace Bureau's Sean MacBride Peace Award. Unfortunately, the video recording is not useable, but you can read John Burroughs' remarks here and Jackie Cabasso's remarks here (please read them in this order).
The International Nuclear Disarmament Agenda: Civil Society Perspectives from Seven Key States, February 23, 2021
This webinar, the first in a series planned in the runup to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, now scheduled for August, featured civil society speakers from the United States, Russia, China, the UK, Israel, and Iran, including WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso.
How does the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons stand up legally?, January 16, 2021.
Wide-ranging discussion of nuclear ban treaty with WSLF Board member John Burrough, Senior Analyst with Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, and historian Peter Kuznick of American University.
Other Voices Online: Joe Biden and Nuclear Weapons, January 14, 2021.
A conversation with Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation Hosted by Paul George, Emeritus Director, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center Recorded January 14, 2021.
Humanitarian Law, Human Rights, and Nuclear Weapons: Social Movements and the Path of Legal Development January, 2021.
Commentary by Andrew Lichterman, senior research analyst, Western States Legal Foundation, in Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, Human Rights Versus Nuclear Weapons: New Dimensions, January, 2021.
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nuclear Weapons Policy, and the Right to Life January 4, 2021.
Submission by Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and Western States Legal Foundation to the United Nations Human Rights Committee During its Periodic Review of the DPRK, January 4, 2021
Abolition 2000 Youth Working Group launch of Youth Fusion Campaign, December 10, 2020
On December 10, 2020, United Nations Human Rights Day, the Abolition 2000 Youth working group held two virtual sessions to launch its new international Youth Fusion Campaign. The Youth Fusion Campaign seeks to brings together youth working on nuclear disarmament with those working on peace, climate, disarmament of other weapons, human rights, justice, sustainable development and building back better from the pandemic. It also organizes forums and events for inter-generational dialogue, so that youth and those more experienced can listen and learn from each other and build cooperation for more effective policy action.

Western States Legal Foundation's Jacqueline Cabasso, a "founding mother" of the Abolition 2000 Global Network, welcomed Session 2 of the launch on behalf of the Abolition 2000 Coordinating Committee. Read her remarks here. Watch the recordings of Sessions 1 and 2.
Nuclear Weapons and International Law: Virtual Conference, November 12, 2020
On November 12, 2020, the International Section of the New York State Bar Association hosted an all-day virtual conference on nuclear weapons and international law. Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP) and Global Security Institute (GSI) co-sponsored and co-organized the conference. An exceptional group of experts in law, policy, diplomacy, and advocacy joined high-level officials from the United Nations and the United States to examine the application of international law to nuclear weapons and policy and advocacy strategies for the control and elimination of the weapons and preventing their use.

Conference highlights include:

Hans Kristensen's (Federation of American Scientists) overview of World Nuclear Arsenals, Modernization Programs, and Employment Doctrines and Policies in Panel 1. (Video recording starts here.)

United Nations (UN) High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu's keynote addressing the current status of the global nuclear regime. (Watch video recording starting at 2:10:05)

Remarks by John Burroughs (Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy Senior Analyst and Western States Legal Foundation Board member) on the Role of the United Nations in Panel 2. (Video recording starts here, beginning at 2:29:55)

A special lunchtime dialogue on responding to the greatest threats to humanity featuring Jerry Brown, former California governor and current Executive Chairman, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and Jonathan Granoff, GSI President.

Western States Legal Foundation Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso describes her long history of working at the intersection of law and anti-nuclear activism in Panel 5, Approaches for Advancing the Rule of Law and Morality as Concerns Nuclear Weapons. (Video recording starts at 1:27:30.) During her presentation, Cabasso urged support for “broad coalitions” addressing the interrelated issues of systemic racism, poverty, militarism, and environmental devastation, calling special attention to the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

A comprehensive conference report with links to video recordings, speakers' biographies and texts of remarks is available here.
Statement of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and Western States Legal Foundation on the Imminent Entry into Force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, October 24, 2020


“75 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Quest for Nuclear Disarmament; Where Do Things Stand?” Remarks by Jacqueline Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation to the Democratic 21st Century Club of Santa Clara County, October 9, 2020
On October 9, 2020 Western States Legal Foundation Executive Direcgtor Jacqueline Cabasso made a virtual luncheon presentation to the Democratic 21st Century Club of Santa Clara County. Watch the video recording here. Read the text of her remarks here.
International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, September 26, 2020
On September 26, 2020, the United Nations International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Western States Legal Foundation joined #WeThePeoples2020, a collaboration of over 100 organizations, in a global civil society virtual event. Western States Legal Foundation Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso was a presenter in a plenary session timed for the Americas/Europe/Africa. Read her remarks here.

A workshop on Nuclear Weapons, the Right to Life and the Right to Democracy, was organized by the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy as part of the online event. Presenters were Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation, and John Burroughs and Danielle Samler, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy. John Burroughs also is a member of the WSLF board.
Workshop report Remarks of John Burroughs, Andrew Lichterman, Danielle Samler
“Tackling Twin Calamities: Policy, Activism, and Art to Combat Climate Change and Nuclear Weapons,” webinar featuring WSLF Board member Phoenix Armenta, August 28, 2020
“Tackling Twin Calamities: Policy, Activism, and Art to Combat Climate Change and Nuclear Weapons,” was hosted by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation with the support of Bombshelltoe, Zero Hour NYC, and the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations.

The speakers were:

Alexandra Bell, Senior Policy Director, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation;

Melaika Andrike and Jasmine Alik, National Nuclear Commission, Marshall Islands;

Dr. Ivana Hughes, Director of the K=1 Project, Nuclear Studies Center at Columbia University;

Phoenix Armenta, Community Air Liaison, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and member of the WSLF Board;

Ashish Birulee, Activist from India;

Runa Ray, Fashion Environmentalist and Founder of Peace-Activism; and

Charlotte McCurdy, Interdisciplinary Designer and Researcher, and Creator of After Ancient Sunlight.

H.E. Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations, delivered the introductory remarks.

Watch the recording here.
"Nagasaki 75 Years Ago", August 9, 2020, Philip Muldari interviews Western States Legal Foundation's Jacqueline Cabasso on the Sunday Show

From Hiroshima to a Healthy Tomorrow: Embracing Our Common Humanity, August 6, 2020 virtual protest and rally at the gates of the Livermore Lab; August 6 and 9 nationally coordinated programming
This year's rally at the Livermore Lab, held virtually, kicked off two days of nationally broadcast programming on the historic 75th anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Speakers included noted historian and author Gar Alperovitz, Pentagon planner and whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Nagasaki A-bomb survivor Rev. Nobuoki Hanaoka, Marylia Kelley of Tri-Valley CAREs, singer Betsey Rose, Western States Legal Foundation's Jackie Cabasso and more. Watch the video recording here. Read Jackie's Call to Action here. The unprecedented August 6 and August 9 virtual event was organized by more than 160 organizations, including Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF), working together through the #stillhere Hiroshima Nagasaki 75 collaboration.

Later in the day on August 6, WSLF Senior Research Analyst Andrew Lichterman made a 15- minute presentation discussing how we might explore the connections among the persistence of nuclear weapons, economic inequality, racism, and the fossil fuel-based economy that drives climate change at the level of common causes. Click here for the text Nuclear Weapons: Why Are They Still Here? Click here for the full August 6 schedule and video (Andrew Lichterman's presentation begins at 6:14:55)

For the full August 9 schedule and video link click here. A message from Congresswoman Barbara Lee kicks of the August 9 programming. Check out both days for an extraordinarily diverse set of inspiring, informational, and artistic presentations.
Mayors for Peace message video: No More Hiroshima! No More Nagasaki! August 2020

Berkeley City Council Adopts Resolution ON THE 75th ANNIVERSARY OF THE U.S. ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI; A CALL TO PREVENT NUCLEAR WAR, July 28, 2020

US Conference of Mayors Calls for Human-Centered Security in a Time of Global Pandemic
At the close of its 88th Annual Meeting, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on June 30, 2020, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) Executive Committee unanimously adopted a sweeping resolution Calling for Human-Centered Security in a Time of Global Pandemic. The new resolution calls on the President and Congress: to support United Nations Secretary-General Guterres’ call for an immediate global ceasefire and international cooperation to address the COVID-19 pandemic; to reconceptualize security in human-centered terms, and to redirect funds currently allocated to nuclear weapons and unwarranted military spending to support safe and resilient cities and meet human needs; and to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war and actively pursue a verifiable agreement among nuclear armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
Russian Nuclear Weapons Policy and the Right to Life, List of Issues Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee During its Periodic Review of the Russian Federation, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and Western States Legal Foundation, June 1, 2020

Absolutely Unacceptable: Resumed Nuclear Explosive Testing

The Abolition 2000 Annual General Meeting on May 23 unanimously adopted a statement condemning recent reports of White House discussions to resume nuclear weapons testing: “Absolutely Unacceptable: Resumed Nuclear Explosive Testing,” drafted by board member John Burroughs, Daniel Ellsberg, and WSLF senior research analyst Andrew Lichterman. Statement Press Release
The Pandemic and after: prospects for peace and disarmament, a view from the United States
Presentation for the Abolition 2000 2020 Annual General Meeting, May 23, 2020, via Zoom. by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation.
Video Text

This was one of nine presentations from an international panel to spark thinking for a strategy session at the Annual General Meeting of the Abolition 2000 Global Network for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Video of all the talks can be found here.
Joint Statement from Civil Society to the States Parties of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, May 11, 2020
The 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference was scheduled to meet April 27 – May 22, 2020, the 50th anniversary of the Treaty's entry-into-force, at United Nations headquarters in New York. Due to public health concerns related to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the Conference was postponed to a later date, as soon as the circumstances permit, tentatively in January 2021.

In light of the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty, its abrogation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran deal) and the deteriorating international situation, this Review Conference is considered critical to the credibility of the NPT regime and to prospects for future nuclear arms control and disarmament measures. As we have done since 1994, Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF) had planned to have a delegation at the NPT conference to observe, to organize and participate in educational events and conferences, and to make a presentation to the assembled governments during the designated civil society session.

All of these plans had to be dramatically altered after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-governmental organizations decided to submit a joint statement from civil society to the States Parties to the NPT and WSLF was invited to join the drafting committee. This statement was drafted by Ray Acheson (WILPF); John Burroughs (Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and WSLF Board member); Jacqueline Cabasso (Western States Legal Foundation); Akira Kawasaki (Peace Boat); Daryl Kimball (Arms Control Association); Allison Pytlak (WILPF); Alicia Sanders-Zakre (ICAN); Susi Snyder (PAX); and Carlos Umana (IPPNW). It was signed by 90 organizations.
Some thoughts on the military budget in light of the pandemic
A short talk to the San Francisco Bay Area Poor People's Campaign Moral Budget reading group, March 28, 2020, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation
US Nuclear Weapons Policy Violates the Right to Life, Submission to the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review by LCNP, Western States Legal Foundation, and Swiss Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament, October 3, 2019

Survival and soil: Why nuclear weapons still matter
Panel presentation at the Soil Not Oil Conference, San Francisco, California, September 9, 2019

Dinning Room Gray Area/Grand Theater 2665 Mission St. San Francisco
, 3:40-5:10pm

Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation in Oakland Marcia Campos is President of the Board of Directors and adjunct Faculty of the Western Institute of Social Research (WISR) Andrew Lichterman is a policy analyst and lawyer at Western States Legal Foundation

Climate change is an existential threat, one that could wipe out much of the human population of this planet. Nuclear weapons long have been known to pose similar dangers, and yet public concern about them has receded. This is so despite the renewed dangers of arms racing among countries that still possess enough nuclear weapons to end human civilization in a day. The connections between these existential threats remain largely unexplored in the movements sparked by accelerating climate change. Both have impacts that have disproportionately affected colonized and indigenous people. This workshop aims to encourage discussion on the relationship among movements working to confront these fundamental challenges facing humanity. It will include a perspective on the Cold War era movements of the global South, whose contributions to nuclear disarmament work during that time largely have been overlooked.
The New Nuclear Arms Race and Movements for a Fair and Democratic Society in Balance with the Planet
Western States Legal Foundation Commentary, Summer 2019

You’re Invited to Livermore Lab on Hiroshima Day, August 6, 2019
Bay Area groups will jointly mark the 74th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Livermore Lab, where the Trump Administration is presently spending billions to create new nuclear warheads.

The Tuesday, August 6, 2019 commemoration is titled Designing Armageddon at Livermore Lab: Rally, March and Nonviolent Direct Action for Nuclear Disarmament. Participants will gather at the northwest corner of the Livermore Lab (Vasco Road and Patterson Pass Road). The rally will begin at 8 AM and will feature music, speakers, poetry, art and more. There is free parking at the event site.

Daniel Ellsberg will deliver the keynote address. Ellsberg is the military analyst and whistleblower who shone a bright light on U.S. policy and helped end the Vietnam War when he released the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg published an award-winning memoir in 2017, “The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.” He remains a brilliant analyst, commentator and sought-after speaker.

Nobuaki Hanaoka, an atomic bomb survivor, will be the rally’s special guest speaker. Hanaoka was an infant when the bomb fell on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. His mother and sister died from illnesses linked to radiation poisoning and his brother died at age 39 from premature aging associated with fallout from the bomb. Hanaoka is a retired minister in the United Methodist Church, who came to the U.S. following seminary training in Japan. He has settled in the Bay Area where he speaks, writes and teaches on topics of peace and human rights.

Rafael Jesus Gonzales, the first poet-laureate of Berkeley, and Marylia Kelley of Tri-Valley CAREs will also be featured. Immediately following the rally program, at approximately 9:15 AM, will be a "call to action," in which participants will be invited to march a short distance to the Livermore Lab West Gate. At the gate, Japanese activists will lead a traditional bon dance. Everyone is invited to participate.

Following the dance will be a commemorative die-in and symbolic chalking of the bodies to mimic the “shadows” left by men, women and children vaporized by the A-bomb blast. Those who choose will then peaceably risk arrest. Others will conduct a legal witness and support.

The media advisory for the event is available here: media advisory

A brochure for the event is available here: front back
US Conference of Mayors Calls on All Presidential Candidates to Make Known Their Positions on Nuclear Weapons and to Pledge U.S. Global Leadership in Preventing Nuclear War, Returning to Diplomacy, and Negotiating the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
On July 1 at its 87th Annual Meeting, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), unanimously adopted a bold new resolution, "Calling on All Presidential Candidates to Make Known Their Positions on Nuclear Weapons and to Pledge U.S. Global Leadership in Preventing Nuclear War, Returning to Diplomacy, and Negotiating the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons". The resolution calls on "all Presidential candidates of all political parties" to make these "priority issues in the 2020 Presidential campaign". Resolution Text Press Release
Social Movements, NGOs, and Disarmament
Presentation by WSLF senior research analyst Andrew Lichterman at an NGO side event on Social Movements and Disarmament Work in a Time of Economic and Ecological Crisis during the 2019 PrepCom for the 2020 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, New York, May 6, 2019
Making connections: finding common cause among movements for peace, justice, democracy, and an ecologically sustainable society
Presentation by WSLF senior research analyst Andrew Lichterman at a conference on Growing Nuclear Risks in a Changing World: New Thinking & Movement Building, New York City, May 4, 2019.
Creating the Conditions for International Peace and Human Security
Statement of the Western States Legal Foundation to the Third session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, May 1, 2019. An abridged version of this statement was presented by Western States Legal Foundation Board President Phyllis Olin.
Humanitarian Law, Human Rights, and Nuclear Weapons: Social Movements and the Path of Legal Development
Presentation by WSLF senior research analyst Andrew Lichterman at an NGO side event on Human Rights, Democracy, and Nuclear Weapons Sponsored by Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy during the 2019 PrepCom for the 2020 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, New York, May 1, 2019.
The resurgence of arms racing and the collapse of nuclear arms control: time once again to protest and survive, Presentation at Green College, University of British Columbia, March 18, 2019 (video)

"It's Not Enough to Declare 'No First Use'" Op ed by WSLF Senior Research Analyst Andrew Lichterman, Truthout, February 19, 2019.

"As Treaties Collapse, Can We Still Prevent a Nuclear Arms Race?" Op ed by WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso Christine Muttonen, Jacqueline Cabasso & Alyn Ware, Interpress News Service, February 4, 2019.

International Webinar to Preserve the INF Treaty

On January 17, 2019, the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear weapons hosted a webinar on the imminent unilateral withdrawal from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty by the United States. The webinar featured speakers from the United States and Europe. WSLF senior research analyst Andrew Lichterman provided the view from the U.S., including some reflections on the 1980's disarmament movements that helped bring the INF treaty about. The webinar was moderated by WSLF executive director Jacqueline Cabasso. Video of the webinar and other materials on the INF Treaty are available online at the links below.

Andrew Lichterman, The INF Treaty and Peace Movements Then and Now, presentation for the Abolition 2000 Webinar “Preserve the INF Treaty,” January 17, 2019. video   text   Full webinar and supporting materials

Related: Op Ed, "Renew Nuclear Arms Control, Don't Destroy It," by Andrew Lichterman and John Burroughs, Inter-Press News Agency, January 2, 2019
Western States Legal Foundation December 2018 Donor Appeal

The Evolving Situation on the Korean Peninsula: Time for a Northeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone?
Address to a Seminar for Citizens in Japan, South Korea and the U.S., Meiji Gakuin University, Shirogane Campus, Tokyo, Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, November 19, 2018
The 6th Nagasaki Global Citizens' Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Statement to the Opening Session Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, November 16, 2018

Workshop talk, "Our Divided World: The Quest for Nuclear Disarmament and the Growing Dangers of Wars Among Nuclear-Armed States," Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, November 18, 2018
The Quest for Nuclear Disarmament: Strengthening and Expanding the International Network of Grassroots Movements address by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, OSAKA Municipal Lifelong Learning Center – UMEDA, 15 November 2018

Creating the Conditions for International Peace and Human Security Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, presentation to the First Committee, United Nations General Assembly October 17, 2018

Rethinking the Military-Industrial Complex Western States Legal Foundation working paper 2018, by Andrew Lichterman.

Join the No Nukes! No Wars! No Warming! contingent in the September 8 Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice March in San Francisco.
For more information click here
Nuclear Weapons and Climate Change in the Age of Corporate Globalization, leaflet for September 2018 Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice March, San Francisco

Western States Legal Foundation's Summer 2018 Appeal

MARCH FOR NUCLEAR ABOLITION AND GLOBAL SURVIVAL: NO NUKES! NO WALLS! NO WARS! NO WARMING!
On Monday, August 6, 2018, people gathered for a rally and nonviolent direct action at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and opposing the maintenance and modernization of nuclear weapons. On this memorable day we will join millions of peace advocates around the country and the world to say “never again” to the use of nuclear weapons – and to call for their global abolition.

The keynote speaker was Daniel Ellsberg, famed whistleblower and author of The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. Other speakers included atomic bomb survivor Rev. Nobuaki Hanaoka, Korea expert Professor Christine Hong, Pennie Opal Plant, co-founder Idle No More SF Bay, and WSLF executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso. For video of the event, click here.
On Eve of Korea Summit, US Conference of Mayors Urges President Trump to "Patiently and Diligently Work with North and South Korea for a Formal Resolution of the Korean War and Normalized Relations with a Denuclearized Korean Peninsula."

Risk Without Representation: Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century
Presentation of the Western States Legal Foundation to the 2018 Preparatory Committee Meeting for the 2020 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, by Andrew Lichterman, Senior Research Analyst, Delivered by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director.
War or Peace in Korea? A Public Forum with Christine Hong, Michael Klare, and Andrew Lichterman
Friday April 6th, 7:30 p.m.
North Berkeley Senior Center
1901 Hearst Avenue at MLK, Berkeley, California

pdf flyer for the event

A forum on the dangers of war in Korea, options for a peacefulsolution, and prospects for a movement leading to that outcome.

Christine Hong is Associate Professor of Literature and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz and is the author of the forthcoming book, The Price of Inclusion: Race, Militarism, and the Pax Americana in Cold War Asia and the Pacific.

Michael T. Klare is the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies and the defense correspondent of The Nation. He is the author of The Race for What's Left (2012), Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet (2008), Blood and Oil (2004), and Resource Wars (2001).

Andrew Lichterman is a policy analyst and lawyer with the Oakland, California, based Western States Legal Foundation. He has represented peace and environmental activists and engaged in environmental litigation relating to nuclear weapons. His current work focuses on US nuclear weapons programs, global disarmament efforts, and the global economy.

Moderator: Jackie Cabasso, the Western States Legal Foundation.

Andrew Lichterman, WSLF senior research analyst, panel talk at "War or Peace in Korea? A forum on the dangers of war in Korea, options for a peaceful solution, and prospects for a movement leading to that outcome," Berkeley, California, April 6, 2018.
US-Russia Nuclear Arms Racing: Still Crazy After All These Years
by Andrew Lichterman, Senior Research Analyst, Western States Legal Foundation, and John Burroughs, Executive Director, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, Truthdig, March 16, 2018. Putin’s speech, US Nuclear Posture Review, origins of current situation, arms control treaties and international law, and more.
Video: Bonkers! Trump’s New Nuke Policy
A conversation with Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, recorded March 6, 2018. Produced by the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Palo Alto, CA.
Special Event: 51st anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco - A road towards peace
Consulate of Mexico
532 Folsom Street San Francisco, CA 94105
Tuesday March 20, 2018, 5pm-7pm.

Click Here to RSVP for the event.

Mexico has consistently provided pioneering leadership in nuclear disarmament diplomacy, from the 1967 Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco), to the adoption by the United Nations, on July 7, 2017, of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty of Tlatelolco, established the world’s first nuclear weapon free zone in a populated region, inspired subsequent nuclear weapon free zones now encompassing 116 countries. The historic Ban treaty, adopted by a vote of 122 – 1, represents the total rejection of nuclear weapons by most of the states that don’t possess or rely on them. At the same time, nuclear-armed states boycotted the negotiations, and the dangers of nuclear war have grown to levels not seen since the Cold War.

This tertulia offers a timely opportunity to discuss and celebrate Mexico and Latin America’s contributions to nuclear disarmament and to empower participants to add their voices to the nuclear weapons debate.

Presenters: Marcia Campos, Program Director, North of Tlatelolco Project, and Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation.
Olympic Closing Ceremony Watch Party
Peace Groups Call for Extension of the Olympic Truce, Postponement of Joint US-South Korea War Games, Dialogue and Diplomacy

Sunday, February 25: 5:00 – 8:00 pm
Café Valparaiso
1403 Solano Avenue, Albany, CA

Albany, CA – Representatives of Bay area peace groups will gather Sunday, February 25, from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm to watch the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and call for dialogue and diplomacy with North Korea. The watch party will take place at the Café Valparaiso, 1403 Solano Avenue, Albany, California.

Speakers at the Olympic Closing Ceremony watch party will include Paul Liem, Chair of the Korea Policy Institute, and Ann Wright, US Army Colonel, (ret), former US Diplomat, now with Women Cross DMZ and Veterans For Peace. Rafael Jesus Gonzales, Poet Laureate of Berkeley will read a new poem written specifically for this occasion. Claire Greensfelder, representing NoWarWithNorthKorea.org, a campaign of INOCHI / A World Without Armies, will unveil their new billboard and bumper sticker campaign that will be officially launched next week.

Full press release here: MSword pdf
2018 Nuclear Posture Review
The Department of Defense has removed the full text of the unclassified Nuclear Posture Review from its web site, providing only summary materials and fact sheets. The full text of the NPR is available at the link above.
From Nobel to Nobel: December 10th - Celebrate the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize and Western States Legal Foundation's 35th anniversary!
6—8:30 pm
Western Institute for Social Research
2930 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA (near Berkeley Bowl)

On December 10, the Nobel Committee will present the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Nuclear disarmament advocates around the world will be celebrating. Please join Western States Legal Foundation to celebrate the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize and our 35th anniversary! Learn about the direct line from the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco to the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty! For a flyer with more information, click here.
Commentary: Donald Trump, Destroyer of Worlds, by WSLF Senior Research Analyst Andrew Lichterman, November 26, 2017.
This commentary also appeared on the web site of Tikkun Magazine, with an introduction by Michael Lerner.
Video: WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso's presentation at the Divest From the War Machine Summit, Oct. 21, 2017 in Washington, DC
WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso was a presenter at the Divest From the War Machine Summit organized by Code Pink on Oct. 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Watch her presentation here.

Read a summary of the day here.

Other notable presenters included Ajamu Baraka, Andrew Feinstein, Jarrett Smith, Susi Snyder, Vijay Prashad and Larry Wilkerson. Watch all of presentations here.
UN First Committee side event on General and Complete Disarmament, sponsored by Chile, Oct. 18, 2017, featuring UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Ms Izumi Nakamitsu and WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso
Read a summary of the event and texts of the presentations at http://www.scrapweapons.com/event/un-first-committee-side-event-on-general-and-complete-disarmament-sponsored-by-chile/
Radio Interview with WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso, October 16, 2017
WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso serves as national co-convener of United for Peace and Justice. Hear an interview with Jackie about UFPJ's work and the current state of the peace movement on Counterpoint Radio, at http://counterpointradio.org/2017/mp3/171016c-ctpt-cabasso.mp3
Western States Legal Foundation Congratulates ICAN on Nobel Peace Prize


Threats of Total Destruction Are Unlawful and Extremely Dangerous; Direct Diplomacy between the United States and North Korea Is Essential to Avert Disaster
Information Brief by Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and Western States Legal Foundation, September 22, 2017

“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.” – President Donald Trump, speech at United Nations, September 19, 2017

President Trump's threat of total destruction of North Korea is utterly unacceptable. Also unacceptable are similarly threatening statements made in pieces carried by North Korea's state-owned news agency. Instead of making apocalyptic threats, the two governments should agree on a non-aggression pact as a step toward finally concluding a peace treaty formally ending the 1950s Korean War and permanently denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. and North Korean threats are wrong as a matter of morality and common sense. They are also completely contrary to bedrock requirements of international law – law which is part of the law of the land under the U.S. Constitution. Both countries, by engaging in a cycle of threats and military posturing, violate prohibitions on the threat of force to resolve disputes and on threats to use force outside the bounds of the law of armed conflict. Trump's threats carry more weight because the armed forces of the United States, capped by its immense nuclear arsenal, could accomplish the destruction of North Korea in short order.

Read the full text of the information brief at either of the links below:
Html: Html: http://wslfweb.org/docs/ThreatsofTotalDestructionAreUnlawfulandDangerous.htm

PDF: PDF: http://wslfweb.org/docs/ThreatsofTotalDestructionAreUnlawfulandDangerous.pdf
Video, WSLF Senior Research Analyst Andrew Lichterman and Helen Jaccard of the Golden Rule project speak at the Veterans for Peace Convention, Chicago, August 2017, Plenary on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

As the US Threatened North Korea, 122 Countries Voted to Ban Nuclear Weapons
Truthout Op-Ed, Sunday, July 16, 2017 By WSLF Senior Research Analyst Andrew Lichterman
U.S. Conference of Mayors Unanimously Adopts Mayors for Peace Resolution "Calling on President Trump to Lower Nuclear Tensions, Prioritize Diplomacy, and Redirect Nuclear Weapons Spending to meet Human Needs and Address Environmental Challenges"
Press release

Text of Resolution
Peace and Planet Conference in NYC: No Nukes, No Wars, No Walls, No Warming


Brooklyn, New York, June 18, 2017
WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso and Senior Research Analyst Andrew Lichterman appeared at this conference, which explored the links between nuclear abolition, social and economic justice and moving the global economy to a path in balance with the planet’s ecosystems. Click here for video of the conference presentations.

The process that initiated negotiations for a ban on nuclear weapons has raised awareness of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons. But despite growing mobilizations for social and economic justice and moving the global economy to a path in balance with the planet’s ecosystems, in the nuclear-armed states there still are no significant movements for the elimination of nuclear weapons. To build a global movement to abolish nuclear weapons, we must also better understand and raise public awareness of the renewed danger that nuclear weapons could be used in warfare. And if this movement is to garner enough power to be successful, it must make common cause with those working for a world that is more fair, more democratic, and more ecologically sustainable.

This conference highlighted the impact of nuclear arms on the diverse communities most directly affected by their development, testing and use.
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Women's March to Ban the Bomb
New York City, June 17, 2017
In one of its final acts of 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with overwhelming support a landmark resolution to begin negotiations on a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. This historic decision heralds an end to two decades of paralysis in multilateral nuclear disarmament efforts.

Throughout June and July of 2017, governments will negotiate a ban on nuclear weapons at the United Nations. WILPF and our coalition are hitting the streets to celebrate and also demand a good treaty that prohibits these weapons of mass destruction once and for all!

The Women’s March to Ban the Bomb is a women-led initiative building on the momentum of movements at the forefront of the resistance, including the Women’s March on Washington. It will bring together people of all genders, sexual orientations, ages, races, abilities, nationalities, cultures, faiths, political affiliations and backgrounds to march and rally at 12 PM – 4PM Saturday, June 17th 2017 in New York City! Click here for more information.



Video, address by WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso on Remembering Past Wars, at the San Francisco Public Library, May 25, 2017
This event also included talks by Daniel Ellsberg, Adam Hochschild, and David Hartsough.
The Nuclear Dilemma Today: Avoiding Catastrophe in a World of Eroding Norms
Presentation of the Western States Legal Foundation to the 2017 Preparatory Committee Meeting for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, by Andrew Lichterman, Vienna, May 3, 2017.
Defend the Unequivocal Undertaking to Eliminate Nuclear Arsenals, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms
Presentation of the International Association Of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms to the 2017 Preparatory Committee Meeting for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, delivered by Jacqueline Cabasso, Vienna, May 3, 2017.
Nuclear Double Standards: All Nuclear Weapon Tests Send the Same Message Buzzflash.com, April 26, 2017, by Andrew Lichterman, WSLF senior research analyst.

Growing Nuclear Dangers: What Would Dr. King Say? By Jacqueline Cabasso, Truthout,April 20, 2017

IALANA Discussion Paper: Selected Elements of a Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons
On Monday, March 27 2017, negotiations will commence on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons at the United Nations in New York. The International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) has prepared a discussion paper discussing elements that should be included in such a treaty. The principal author of the discussion paper is John Burroughs, Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, and a member of the Western States Legal Foundation board. WSLF senior research analyst Andrew Lichterman also contributed to the paper.
Message Delivered to Foreign Ministers of the Latin American and Caribbean States assembled February 14, 2017 in Mexico City
On Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2017, Foreign Ministers and high representatives of the 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean met in Mexico City to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. This historic treaty, signed in Mexico City, established the first nuclear weapon free zone in a populated region. Mexico City is also the seat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin American and the Caribbean (OPANAL), which oversees implementation of the treaty. OPANAL is the only regional body in the world devoted entirely to the achievement of nuclear disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Jackie Cabasso, executive direction of the Western States Legal Foundation and national co-convener of United for Peace and Justice, hand-delivered a message to the participants in the conference, "Congratulations on 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, Nuclear Free Zone. May it spread to the whole earth," on behalf of 7,440 signers of an online petition. Click the link above for photos and more.
Publication: The Fierce Urgency of Nuclear Zero, released on Inauguration Day, and subsequently published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, reflects the discussions at a symposium sponsored by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Western States Legal Foundation executive director Jackie Cabasso, a participant in the symposium with Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg and others, chaired the drafting committee.

Video: Trump and the Bomb
A conversation with Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, February 8, 2017.
Remarks by Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie of Des Moines, Iowa to the International Affairs Standing Committee at the 85th Winter Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors Washington, DC, January 18, 2017
Mayor Frank Cownie of Des Moines, Iowa, lead US city for Mayors for Peace, delivered these remarks to the International Affairs Committee of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) at their winter meeting in Washington, DC. The USCM is the non-partisan association of U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 or more. WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso, North American Coordinator of Mayors for Peace, worked with Mayor Cownie to draft these remarks.
"A circle that can't be squared: Broad-spectrum arms racing and nuclear disarmament," Jacqueline Cabasso Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation Andrew Lichterman Senior Research Analyst, Western States Legal Foundation.
Chapter in Rethinking General and Complete Disarmament in the Twenty-First Century, United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs, 20l6.
“"Disarm Now: We Stand with Nuclear Survivors for Global Justice" Rally and Nonviolent Direct Action at Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab on Tuesday, August 9, the 71st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF) is proud to be a co-sponsor of this year's annual Hiroshima-Nagasaki action at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab on Tuesday, August 9, 2016, the 71st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The theme for this year's commemoration is “Disarm Now: We Stand with Nuclear Survivors for Global Justice.” We will gather at 8 am at the corner of Vasco & Patterson Pass Roads in Livermore for a rally, followed by a march to the Lab gate and nonviolent direct action.

We are sorry to report that our very special guest, Tony de Brum, former Foreign Minister and current Ambassador for Climate for the Marshall Islands, had to cancel his plans to come to the Bay area due to illness. Instead, John Burroughs, Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy in New York, and WSLF Board member, will speak on the Nuclear Zero lawsuits brought by the Republic of the Marshall Islands against the world's nuclear-armed states for their failure to disarm as required by international law. Dr. Burroughs is part of the legal team arguing the cases before the International Court of Justice. The rally will also feature Nagasaki A-bomb survivor Nobuaki Hanaoka, WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso, and others.

For more information and additional details:

Click here for August 9 Livermore Lab flier.

Click here for an updated Media Advisory.

Click here for an op-ed co-authored by WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso, “Must demand that the nuclear-armed states disarm,” published in the East Bay Times on August 5, 2016.

For additional information: (510) 839-5877
U.S. Conference of Mayors Unanimously Adopts Resolution "Calling on the Next U.S. President to Pursue Diplomacy with Other Nuclear-Armed States; Participate in Negotiations for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons; Cut Nuclear Weapons Spending and Redirect Funds to Meet the Needs of Cities"
Press Release, June 28, 2016 Resolution with list of sponsors official version (scroll down to third resolution)
Martin Luther King Memorial Community Reading: Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence
Tuesday, April 5--The day after the anniversary of this prophetic speech (1967) and his assassination (1968)
Public, Shared Readings at noon, 2 pm and 4:30 pm.
Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza, in the amphitheater in front of Oakland City Hall, near 12th Street City Center BART.

April 5 – 18, 2016 have been designated as Global Days of Action on Military Spending by the International Peace Bureau, to challenge military spending and call for redirection of funds to meet human needs. Military spending continues to increase, with the Administration's 2017 budget request for the Pentagon, nuclear weapons and aid to foreign militaries rising to nearly $623 billion. Endless U.S. wars and occupations have cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars, while the needs of growing numbers of Americans go unmet. Dr. King's “Beyond Vietnam” speech laid bare the relationship between U.S. wars abroad and the racism and poverty being challenged by the civil rights movement at home. “I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today--my own government.” King's words are as relevant today as nearly half a century ago. Organizers of the readings honor the full legacy of his work opposing militarism, racism and poverty.

Sponsoring Organizations: Asian-Americans for Peace & Justice; BAY-Peace: Better Alternatives for Youth; Bay Area Black Worker Center; Bay Area Women in Black; Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI); East Bay Peace Action; East Point Peace Academy; Environmentalists Against War; Haiti Action Committee; Jewish Voice for Peace-Bay Area; Labor Committee for Peace & Justice; Nafsi Ya Jamii; Peace & Solidarity Committee of SEIU 1021; Priority Africa Network; United for Peace & Justice-Bay Area; Western States Legal Foundation; Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (SF & East Bay) Media Advisory Event Flyer
Letter to the President calling for a moratorium on hypersonic weapons testing
On January 13, WSLF and several other organizations sent a letter to President Obama, initiated by the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, calling for a moratorium on the testing of hypersonic precision weapons. Letter (pdf)
Northern California Climate Mobilization
This weekend, just one week before the biggest climate talks of the decade kick off in Paris, a huge coalition is coming together for a very special mobilization. Western States Legal Foundation is a co-sponsor. Please join us!

The Northern California Climate Mobilization will bring together grassroots groups, local nonprofits, and activists from all walks of life -- to challenge climate catastrophe and call for a just transition to 100% renewable energy! “No wars. No nuclear weapons or power.” Read the Principles of Unity at http://tinyurl.com/ovjcnyb Event Flyer

We'll gather this Saturday in Oakland -- here are the details:

WHAT: Northern California Climate Mobilization
WHEN: This Saturday, November 21st, 10:30 AM
WHERE: Lake Merritt Amphitheater, Oakland, CA

WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso will speak at 3:35 pm at the rally in Frank Ogawa Plaza. Click here for all the details.

UPDATE: Text of rally talk by WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso, "Climate change and nuclear weapons are twin existential threats."
Disarmament, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Power
Address by Andrew Lichterman, Senior Research Advisor, Western States Legal Foundation, at a United Nations 70th Anniversary Event, Featuring the Sustainable Development Goals, Unitarian Universalist Church and Center, San Francisco, California, Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist-United Nations Office and the United Nations Association of San Francisco – Council of Organizations October 25, 2015.
The Challenge of Disarmament: Still Nonviolence or Nonexistence
Presentation of the Western States Legal Foundation to the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, October 16, 2015, by Andrew Lichterman, delivered by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director.
WSLF’s Andrew Lichterman to receive Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center Peace Advocate of the Year Award
The Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center will honor Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation’s Senior Research Advisor, with its Peace Advocate of the Year Award at its Annual Gala, Saturday, October 24, 2015, 6 – 9 pm at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church, 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek. The Community Organization of the Year Award will be given to the Richmond Progressive Alliance, with keynote speaker Gayle McLaughlin, former Mayor of Richmond. The evening will feature a full-course dinner, music, a raffle, student art and a silent auction. Tickets $65/person; $50/person for Peace Center members. Order tickets at www.ourpeacecenter.org. More information: (925) 933-7850 or margli@ourpeacecenter.org. Click here for event flyer.
The Golden Rule Meets SF Fleet Week: Sailing for a Nuclear Free World!
PUBLIC EVENT, Wednesday, October 7, 7 pm at the VETERANS BUILDING at San Francisco Civic Center, 401 Van Ness Avenue at McAllister (southwest corner). Hear from the Crew of the historic Golden Rule peace boat, and antinuclear activist Jackie Cabasso of the Western States Legal Foundation. Members of Veterans For Peace Chapter 69 will discuss plans for Fleet Week. For more information, go to www.vfpgoldenruleproject.org and www.vfpsf.wordpress.com

Click here for pdf flyer for the event.
Apology to a Whale: Words to Mend a World, Book Launch Benefit
Apology to a Whale: Words to Mend a World, by Cecile Pineda, is now available from WingsPress.com. Western States Legal Foundation is sponsoring a benefit book launch, reading and signing on Saturday, October 10 at the Berkeley Town House, 2550 Dana Street at the corner of Parker Street, with a wine and cheese reception at 3:30 pm and author presentation at 4 pm. Cecile Pineda will talk about how the work developed, and answer questions from the public. Admission is free. Book sales will benefit Western States Legal Foundation, which has been working for the abolition of nuclear weapons throughout the world for more than three decades. pdf flyer for the event
70 Years of Nuclear Weapons—At What Cost?
On the morning of August 6, 1945, the “Enola Gay,” a U.S. B-29 bomber, dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima.Three days later, a second American nuclear bomb incinerated Nagasaki.

On August 6, 2015, at 8 AM, Come to Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, Vasco Road at Patterson Pass Road.

Program featuring Daniel Ellsberg, Country Joe McDonald, Taiko drummers and more; followed by a short march to the Lab gate, a traditional Japanese Bon Dance, nonviolent direct action and witness. Sponsored by dozens of Bay Area peace and justice groups.

More info: Western States Legal Foundation, 510-839-5877.

pdf flyer for the event: front back
Who Has the Bomb?
Philip MuIdari interviews WSLF Executive Director about the Iran nuclear agreement. KPFA Sunday Show, July 19 (segment starts at 01:06:21)
Nuclear Affairs: What in the World is Happening? Thursday July 23, 2015
Cafe Valparaiso, 1403 Solano Avenue, Albany, CA

Buy your own dinner, starting at 6 pm; Program at 7 pm
Donations to Western States Legal Foundation gratefully accepted!!
RSVP requested: wslf@earthlink.net; (510) 839-5877

Report by Western States Legal Foundation Executive Director Jackie Cabasso on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference held at the United Nations in New York from April 27 – May 22, and the Peace & Planet Mobilization for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World: an international conference, rally, march, festival and petition presentation to UN officials April 24 - 26.

Enjoy reasonably priced, delicious Chilean and Latin American cuisine, find out about plans for the 70th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab August 6, hear what's new with Mayors for Peace, and more! pdf event flyer
U.S. Conference of Mayors Unanimously Adopts Resolution "Calling for Effective Implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Disarmament Obligation and Redirection of Nuclear Weapons Spending to Meet the Needs of Cities"
On June 22, 2015, at the close of its 83rd Annual Meeting in San Francisco, the United States Conference of Mayors, for the 10th consecutive year, adopted a strong resolution in support of Mayors for Peace, noting that August 6 and 9, 2015 will mark the 70th anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Article Text of resolution
Automated warfare, weapons modernization, and nuclear war risk
Text of a presentation by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation, delivered at an NGO side event on autonomous weapons and nuclear weapons organized by the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility, the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, and the International Peace Bureau during the 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, New York, April 28, 2015.
The Nuclear Danger Today: Existing Nuclear Arsenals are the Greatest Nuclear Threat
Statement of the Western States Legal Foundation to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, by Andrew Lichterman, New York, May 1, 2015. The statement was endorsed by over 100 organizations, from local groups to national and international organizations.

English Spanish
video List of endorsing organizations
Statement to the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference on behalf of the Peace and Planet Mobilization for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World
Presenter: Jackie Cabasso, National Co-Convener, United for Peace and Justice and Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation
Peace and Planet Mobilization, New York City, April 24-26, 2015
Momentum is building for the April 24 – 26 Peace & Planet Mobilization for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World in New York City and around the world! Western States Legal Foundation is centrally involved in the planning and organizing. Nearly 300 organizations have already endorsed Peace & Planet. Read the Call to Action and click here to add your group's name.

The Peace & Planet Mobilization will open with an International Conference April 24-25 at the Cooper Union and culminate in the streets of New York for a mass Rally, March, and Festival on April 26, the eve of the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. While the largest numbers of people will be turning out in NYC, you can join and support Peace & Planet by signing the Petition and organizing a local event to "wave goodbye to nuclear weapons" as part of the Global Wave. Help us to demonstrate broad and deep international support as we use this occasion to call for:
  • The abolition of nuclear weapons
  • The just and peaceful resolution of global wars and confrontations
  • Economic justice, including moving the money from the Pentagon to meet human needs
  • Racial equity and the demilitarization of policing
  • Environmental justice and urgent responses to climate crises
Our goals are two-fold: to demand immediate negotiations for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, and to use this Mobilization to strengthen and connect our movements. Click here to learn more.

Read a Truthout op ed about the Peace and Planet mobilization and its broader context by WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso, Peace Action's Kevin Martin, and Jospeh Gerson of the American Friends Service Committee: MLK's Call to Honor Peace, Justice and Our Planet Still Challenges Us.
Ukraine: Time to Step Back from the Brink, Western States Legal Foundation Commentary, Andrew Lichterman, February 2015.

Press conference: No New AUMF-- End Endless War!
On February 17, 2015, Code Pink organized a press conference at the Oakland, California Federal Building, calling for opposition to a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force and the end to endless war in the Middle East and beyond. Speakers included WSLF executive director Jackie Cabasso, who also spoke on behalf of United for Peace and Justice, Emily Yates, Iraq War veteran, Cat Brooks of ONYX/Black Power Network, Paul Cox of Veterans for Peace, Stephen McNeil of American Friends Services Committee, Janet Weil, CODEPINK staffer and military family member, and a member of Congress member Barbara Lee's staff, who read a statement from Congress member Lee.
Video of the press conference

Statement of Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, and National Co-Convener, United for Peace and Justice.

Disarmament: Missing in Action, Western States Legal Foundation Commentary, Andrew Lichterman and Jacqueline Cabasso, Spring 2015
A commentary on the need to be clear about disarmament goals in advocacy on nuclear weapons issues.
Meeting in San Luis Obispo considers strategies to shut down the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, January 23-25, 2015
WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso and Senior Research Analyst Andrew Lichterman participated in this state-wiNo New AUMF. de gathering to consider strategies for closing California's last operating nuclear power reactor. Cabasso co-facilitated the meeting, and Lichterman gave a talk on the connections between nuclear weapons and nuclear power.

An excerpt from host organization Mother's for Peace press release:

"Meetings of a coalition of organizations under the banner of Nuclear Free California were held on Saturday and Sunday, facilitated by long-time activist Harvey Wasserman of Solartopia, Jaqueline Cabasso of the Western States Legal Foundation and Mary Beth Brangan of Ecological Options Network. Speakers from Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, World Business Academy, San Onofre Safety, RADCAST, SLO Clean Energy, Code Pink, No Nukes Northwest, No Nukes Action, PSR-Oregon and many others joined organizers Mothers for Peace and Nuclear Free California in giving presentations that covered a diverse range of issues and perspectives. There were also reports from Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer of Fairewinds, Paul Frey of Frey Organic Winery, energy analyst Paul Gipe of Wind Works, lawyer Mike Aguirre, labor issues specialist Steve Zeltzer and Fukushima resident/activist Chieko Shiina who came from Japan for these meetings." For the full text of the press release and more about the meeting, click here.
Fall/Winter 2014 Western States Legal Foundation Newsletter
By launching this newsletter, we hope to keep our friends and supporters a bit better informed about what we have been doing. Each issue will have a sampling of our recent activities, together with information about upcoming events. Late summer and fall have been busy, with events ranging from the annual Hiroshima Day commemoration at the Livermore Lab to organizing conference sessions at the Climate Convergence Conference in New York City. A focus of our work throughout has been exploring ways to build the broader movements we will need to have an effect on the immense institutions and power structures that sustain nuclear weapons, nuclear power, and an ecologically unsustainable economy driven by forms of competition that also generate militarization and conflict both at home and abroad.
Climate Convergence workshop, "Deadly Connections: Challenging Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power, and Climate Change:" Video and other materials now available
On September 20, 2014, Western States Legal Foundation and partner groups presented a two part workshop at the Climate Convergence Conference in New York City, "Deadly Connections: Challenging Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power, and Climate Change," the day before over 300,000 people marched in the City demanding action to stop global warming. Part one of this workshop addressed the ways that climate change will intensify conflicts and war risks generated by a system based on competition among immense organizations and endless growth. It also explored the role in the global economy of state-dependent high-tech enclaves, including the nuclear energy sector and the military-industrial complex. Part two provided perspectives from people working on a variety of initiatives from the local to the global aimed at finding ways to make progress when the politics in national capitals is locked up. Presenters included organizers working in grassroots networks, a U.S. mayor who works on climate change and disarmament, the foreign minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, a nation directly affected by both climate change and nuclear colonialism, and a lawyer representing the Marshall Islands in their historic World Court case holding the nuclear-armed states to account for non-compliance with their disarmament obligations.

This page has video of both workshop sessions, presentation texts where available, and some additional related videos. Check back for additional presentation texts, which will be added as they are received. Click on the title link above for the "Deadly Connections" workshop page.
Video of workshop on The Nuclear University and U.S. Power in the Pacific now available
On October 23, 2014, California affiliates of the Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific presented a workshop at the University of California at Berkeley titled "The Nuclear University and U.S. Power in the Pacific: Time for a New Free Speech Movement?" Video of presentations by Dr. Gray Brechin, author, Imperial San Francisco; Arnie Sakai, Moana Nui Network; Christine Hong, Assistant Professor, UC Santa Cruz; Stephen McNeil, American Friends Service Committee and Andrew Lichterman and Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation, are now on-line. Texts of the presentations of some presentations also will be posted as they become available. For the workshop videos and materials, click on the title link above.

Nongovernmental Organization Statement to the First Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations: Nuclear Weapons and the International Security Context, October 28, 2014.
This statement was coordinated by Western States Legal Foundation and drafted by Andrew Lichterman, Jacqueline Cabasso, and John Burroughs. For a copy of the full statement and list of endorsing organizations, click here.
Call for Spring 2015 Mobilization at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review
Spring 2015 mobilization for a for a nuclear-free, fair, democratic, ecologically sustainable and peaceful future.

2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the United States atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also marks 45 years since the first five nuclear powers agreed in Article VI of the NPT to undertake good faith negotiations for the elimination of their nuclear arsenals. It is long past time for the world’s people to call to account all those who exercise power by threatening nuclear annihilation.

We call upon the parties to the NPT to use the 2015 Review Conference to immediately, without delay, develop a time-bound framework for negotiating the total ban and elimination of all nuclear arsenals.

We call on the four states outside the Treaty that have nuclear arms, India, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan, to join in any such negotiations, immediately and without delay.

We urge all people who hope to build a fair, democratic, ecologically sustainable and peaceful future to join us in New York City and around the world for international days of action, including:

  • An international peace, justice and environmental conference – April 24 & 25;
  • A major international rally, march to the United Nations and peace festival – April 26;
  • Nonviolent demonstrations, protest actions and numerous side events to press our demands for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, and for economic justice and environmental sustainability;
  • The presentation to the NPT Review Conference of millions of signatures on petitions calling for nuclear weapons abolition;
  • Youth and student organizing; and
  • An Interfaith Service for Nuclear Weapons Abolition
Let our numbers be so large that our voices are certain to be heard inside the UN and around the world!

For the full text, of the call, click here.
The Nuclear University and U.S. Power in the Pacific: Time for a New Free Speech Movement?
University of California, Berkeley
Room/Building: 60 Evans
Thursday, October 23, 2014
6:00 PM -- 9:30 PM

Program:
The U.S. Pacific Pivot: overview
The Marshall Islands: Ground Zero for nuclear colonialism
California, US power in the Pacific, and the University
Universities: intellectual arsenals for U.S. power

Presenters: Corrina Gould, Ohlone elder; Dr. Gray Brechin, author, Imperial San Francisco; Paul Otoko, Marshall Islands elder; Arnie Sakai, Moana Nui Network; Christine Hong, Assistant Professor, UC Santa Cruz; Stephen McNeil, American Friends Service Committee; Andrew Lichterman and Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation

Sponsors: American Friends Service Committee; Western States Legal Foundation; Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific; San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility; Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California at Berkeley

More information: Jackie Cabasso (510) 839-5877; wslf@earthlink.net for a pdf flyer for the event, click here.
The Nuclear Threat, Yesterday and Today: A Workshop on Nuclear Weapons
Friday, September 26, 2014, 6:00-8:30pm
September 26, 2014 has been declared by the United Nations as the first International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Join the Western States Legal Foundation and the Western Institute for Social Research (WISR) in an evening of analysis and discussion, reviewing the state of the world's nuclear arsenals, their role in the global economy and in growing great power confrontations, and new approaches to disarmament.  The workshop will be held at The Western Institute for Social Research, 2930 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 300, Berkeley. Click here for a flier and program for the event.
Climate Convergence Workshop
Deadly Connections: Challenging Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power, and Climate Change
Saturday, September 20, 2014, 9:00 a.m.
St. John's University 51 Astor Place Room 107, New York City
Conference Registration: http://convergeforclimate.org/
Nuclear weapons and climate change are the two existential threats that face humanity, and the military is one of the largest contributors to climate change. Part one of this workshop will consider the ways that climate change will intensify conflicts and war risks generated by a system based on competition among immense organizations and endless growth. It also will explore the role in the global economy of state-dependent high-tech enclaves, including the nuclear energy sector and the military-industrial complex. The second part of the workshop will provide perspectives from people working on a variety of initiatives from the local to the global aimed at finding ways to make progress when the politics in national capitals is locked up. Presenters include organizers working in grassroots networks, a U.S. mayor who works on climate change and disarmament, the foreign minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, a nation directly affected by both climate change and nuclear colonialism, and a lawyer representing the Marshall Islands in their historic World Court case holding the nuclear-armed states to account for non-compliance with their disarmament obligations. For the full program of this two part workshop, click here. For a pdf flyer for this workshop, click here.

Sponsored by the Western States Legal Foundation, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, and the American Friends Service Committee, with support from the Jane Addams Peace Association
Nuclear Connections: Nuclear Weapons and Climate Change in the Age of Corporate Globalization, WSLF Information Brief, Fall 2014.

Media Advisory: "Failure to Disarm: Holding Our Government Accountable" August 6 Hiroshima Commemoration, Protest & Nonviolent Direct Action at Livermore Lab Highlights Courageous "Nuclear Zero" Lawsuits Brought by the Marshall Islands pdf msword

Hiroshima Action August 6 at Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab  
Bay Area peace and justice advocates will mark the 69th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan at the Livermore Lab, where the U.S. is spending billions of dollars to create “new and modified” nuclear bombs. 

The Wednesday, August 6, 2014 event is titled, “Failure to Disarm: Holding Our Government Accountable.” Participants will gather at the northwest corner of the Livermore Lab (at Vasco & Patterson Pass Roads). The event begins at 7:30 AM.

The one-hour program will feature music, art and speakers, including Western States Legal Foundation Executive Director Jackie Cabasso. Rick Wayman of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation will offer the keynote address on the recent lawsuits brought by the Republic of the Marshall Islands against the U.S. and 8 other nuclear powers for their “Failure to Disarm.”

At 8:30 AM, there will be a “call to action,” immediately followed by a procession to the Livermore Lab West Gate, where a Japanese folk dance will be performed. Those who choose will peaceably risk arrest. Others will witness and support.

 For more information, contact Western States Legal Foundation at 510-839-5877 or Tri-Valley CAREs at 925-443-7148. For a pdf flyer for the event, click here.
U.S. Conference of Mayors Adopts Bold New Resolution Calling for Constructive Good Faith U.S. Participation in International Nuclear Disarmament Forums; Commends Marshall Islands for bringing lawsuits against U.S. and 8 other Nuclear-Armed States

Article by Jackie Cabasso, WSLF Executive Director and Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator. For a pdf of the article click here.
Dinner—Music–Information at Café Valparaiso
A benefit for Western Siates Legal Foundation.

Join us for an update on Western States Legal Foundation's recent and upcoming activities — with dinner and music.
Thursday, June 26, 2014. Dinner: 6 pm. Program: 7 pm.

Enjoy delicious Chilean and Latin American cuisine accompanied by the music of Duamuxa, followed by updates from WSLF Executive Director, Jackie Cabasso, Senior Research Analyst, Andy Lichterman, and WSLF Board members. Find out what's happening in nuclear disarmament land and how WSLF is engaged in current challenges and opportunities. Café Valparaiso, 1403 Solano Ave, Albany. No-host dinner (pay your own way).

RSVP REQUESTED: (510) 839-5877 or wslf(at)earthlink.net For more about the event, click here for a flyer.
Facing the Dangers of 21st Century Great Power War: A Conference on the Centenary of World War I
This conference, held May 3, 2014, in New York City, provided an opportunity for reflection and discussion on the world wars of the last century, and about the risks of great power war today. The conference will be held alongside the 2014 preparatory committee meetings for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review conference. It brought together activists and academics with knowledge and experience relevant to emerging dangers in key regions, from wars, resource conflicts and profound ongoing political realignments in the Middle East, to growing tensions in the Western Pacific over territory and resources as well as the U.S. strategic “pivot” to Asia. Speakers addressed the risks of great power war, the implication of those dangers for peace and disarmament efforts, and the kinds of movements we will need to build to forge a path to a more peaceful world.

The Conference conveners and sponsors were the American Friends Service Committee, Peace and Economic Security Program, International Peace Bureau, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office, and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms and its U.S. affiliates, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and the Western States Legal Foundation.

Material from the conference, including texts of addresses, the conference program and call, and audio or video of the panels, can be found at http://afsc.org/resource/facing-dangers-21st-century-great-power-war-conference-centenary-world-war-i

Andrew Lichterman, senior policy analyst for WSLF, spoke on the first panel, his address is linked here: Looking forward, looking backward: World War I, today's risk of great power war, and nuclear disarmament.
Open letter calling on President Obama to move from talk to action on nuclear disarmament by engaging constructively and in good faith in all international disarmament forums.
This is the third letter in a series initiated by the Western States Legal Foundation, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, Peace Action, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, American Friends Service Committee and Peace Action New York . It is timed to coincide with the upcoming 2014 Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting for the 2015 Review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which will take place at UN headquarters in NY, April 28 – May 9. The letter, with the 61 initial signatures, was sent this week to President Obama and the other officials cc’d. The final letter, now with 107 organizational signers, will be hand delivered the U.S. delegation and the NPT Prepcom. We will also are publishing and distributing it as an "Open Letter to President Obama" as widely as possible.

Here’s how the letter opens:

Dear President Obama,

During the closing session of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on March 25, 2014, you cited a number of concrete measures to secure highly-enriched uranium and plutonium and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime that have been implemented as a result of the three Nuclear Security Summits, concluding: "So what’s been valuable about this summit is that it has not just been talk, it’s been action."

Would that you would apply the same standard to nuclear disarmament! On April 5, 2009 in Prague, you gave millions of people around the world new hope when you declared: “So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” Bolstered by that hope, over the past three years, there has been a new round of nuclear disarmament initiatives by governments not possessing nuclear weapons, both within and outside the United Nations. Yet the United States has been notably “missing in action” at best, and dismissive or obstructive at worst. This conflict may come to a head at the 2015 Review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

We write now, on the eve of the third Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting for the 2015 Review Conference of the NPT, which will take place at UN headquarters in New York April 28--May 9, 2014, to underscore our plea that your administration shed its negative attitude and participate constructively in deliberations and negotiations regarding the creation of a multilateral process to achieve a nuclear weapons free world. This will require reversal of the dismal U.S. record.

The full text of the letter is at wslfweb.org/docs/Obamaletter416.doc (ms word) or wslfweb.org/docs/Obamaletter4.28.pdf (pdf)
Vandenberg Air Force Base: Local and Global Connections, text of a talk by Andrew Lichterman at the Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space annual meeting, Santa Barbara, California, March 15, 2014.

Ukraine Resources page
Readings on the crisis in the Ukraine, providing background missing from the mainstream media, from a variety of perspectives.
Global Day of Action Against Military Spending, April 14, 2014
April 14, 2014 has been declared as the fourth Global Day of Action Against Military Spending (GDAMS), coinciding with the release by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) of its annual statistics on global military spending. GDAMS was initiated by the International Peace Bureau, recipient of the 1910 Nobel Peace Prize, and is coordinated by an international coalition of organizations including the American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action, and United for Peace & Justice. You can find out more about GDAMS at www.demilitarize.org

Ask your Mayor to issue a Proclamation Declaring April 14 and 15, 2014 as Global Days of Action Against Military Spending (GDAMS). Click here for the GDAMS Mayoral Proclamation and Mayors for Peace Tool Kit.
Report from the 5th Nagasaki Global Citizen's Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Nov. 2--4, 2013, by Jacqueline Cabasso.

Urban Shield and the Militarization of the Civilian State, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Information Brief, October 2013.

The Rush to Bomb Syria: Undermining International Law and Risking Wider War, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Briefing Paper, September 2013.

EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Film screening of the Ultimate Wish: Ending The Nuclear Age and panel discussion
Join us on September 26, 7 to 9 PM, All Souls Church, 80th and Lexington, for this wonderful evening of film and talk, with Kathleen Sullivan of Hibakusha Stories, Jacqueline Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation, Abolition 2000 and Mayors for Peace, and Akira Kawasaki, Peaceboat, ICAN, and Abolition 2000. Unitarian Church of All Souls, 1157 Lexington Ave. New York, NY. For more information, click here for a pdf flyer for the event.
WSLF 30th Anniversary Summer Newsletter and Appeal
If you missed our Summer 2013 mailing, click here for the online version..
WSLF supporters now have the opportunity to order pictures from our 30th Anniversary celebration!
These photos were taken for us by James Lerager, a peace activist, professional photographer, and long-time friend of WSLF. If you were at the event, you might find great photos of yourself with friends, family members, or even with one of our celebrity guests! Click here to view and order photos.

Mayors for Peace 2013 Action Kit
On June 24, the US Conference of Mayors unanimously adopted the Mayors for Peace resolution Calling for US Leadership in Global Abolition of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs. Click here for a list of ideas on how to use the resolution and for links to resources, including a model city council resolution that can be adapted for use in your town or city. Mayors are well placed to understand the impacts of bloated military spending on human needs and on the public services we all depend on. This powerful statement calling for new priorities provides us with a wonderful opportunity to get that message heard! Let’s run with it!!
WSLF Executive Director Jacuqeline Cabasso is North America coordinator for Mayors for Peace.
Hiroshima Action August 6 to Protest Nuclear Weapons at Livermore Lab: Daniel Ellsberg to Speak at Rally; March and Nonviolent Direct Action to Follow 
Bay Area peace and justice advocates will mark the 68th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Livermore Lab, where the U.S. is spending billions of dollars to create “new and modified” nuclear bombs. 

  The Tuesday, August 6, 2013 event is titled, “Unfinished Business and Our Most Urgent Responsibility; Banning the Bomb at the Livermore Lab and Globally.” At 7 AM, participants will gather at the northwest corner of the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory, Vasco Road and Patterson Pass Road in Livermore.

The program will feature Okinawan music by Genyu Kai, Taiko drummers, speakers and more. Daniel Ellsberg will deliver the keynote address. Also featured will be Rev. Nobuaki Hanaoka, a survivor of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Attorney Loulena Miles will discuss current nuclear weapons activities at Livermore Lab and author Cecile Pineda (Devil's Tango; How I Learned the Fukushima Step by Step) will illuminate the bomb's connections to nuclear power. Pete Yamamoto, the “Mayor of J-Town,” will read a poem.

Immediately following the program, at approximately 8:15 AM, will be a “call to action,” in which participants will be invited to march a short distance to the Livermore Lab West Gate. Those who choose will nonviolently risk arrest. Others will witness and support. 

This event is organized collaboratively and is cosponsored by the Livermore Conversion Project, Western States Legal Foundation and many other groups. For more information, contact Western States Legal Foundation at 510-839-5877 or Tri-Valley CAREs at 925-443-7148.

Click here for a downloadable flier with event details, nonviolence guidelines, sponsoring organizations, and information about the August 5 Peace Camp Out on the back. (The flier can be printed in color or grey scale.)
News Flash: U.S. Conference of Mayors passes Mayors for Peace resolution CALLING FOR U.S. LEADERSHIP IN GLOBAL ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND REDIRECTION OF MILITARY SPENDING TO DOMESTIC NEEDS
The U.S. Conference of Mayors, meeting in Las Vegas June 21-24, unanimously passed a resolution CALLING FOR U.S. LEADERSHIP IN GLOBAL ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND REDIRECTION OF MILITARY SPENDING TO DOMESTIC NEEDS”! For a press release summarizing the process and the resolution, click here. For the full text of the resolution and the list of co-sponsors, click here.
Half Life: Celebrating 30 Years of Peace and Nuclear Disarmament with Special Guests Dennis Kucinich, Daniel Ellsberg, Rose Aguilar, and and Representative Barbara Lee



Daniel Ellsberg, WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso, Rose Aguilar, Dennis Kucinich. Photo by James Lerager



Representative Barbara Lee introduces
Dennis Kucinich. Photo by Myles Boisen.


"You know you've accomplished something," wrote Gar Smith for the Berkeley Daily Planet, "when a birthday rolls around and Barbara Lee, Dennis Kucinich and Daniel Ellsberg all show up for the party. That was the case on February 10, when the Western States Legal Foundation marked its 30th year as a nuclear watchdog." "An Anti-nuclear Half-Life Celebration Rocks an East Bay Night," Berkeley Daily Planet, , February 14, 2013.


Emceed by KALW radio host Rose Aguilar and featuring keynote addresses by Dennis Kucinich and Daniel Ellsberg, the event drew hundreds of WSF supporters and friends. Representative Barbara Lee introduced Dennis Kucinich, and WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso reminisced a bit about WSLF, and also gave an overview of current struggles against nuclear weapons and nuclear power. (Video of these talks are linked below). The plenary was preceded by a reception featuring a variety of food offerings from local businesses.


The WSLF staff and board extend their thanks to all those who have supported us for the last three decades, and also to the many volunteers who helped to make this anniversary event a success.


Videos of addresses at the event, by the Ecological Options Network.

WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso, introduced by Rose Aguilar



Representative Barbara Lee's address introducing Dennis Kucinich



Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich's keynote address



Daniel Ellsberg's keynote address



WSLF PUBLICATIONS, WRITINGS, AND ADDRESSES
The Rush to Bomb Syria: Undermining International Law and Risking Wider War, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Briefing Paper, September 2013.
The role of science and technology in driving nuclear weapons modernization: a reappraisal, By Andrew Lichterman, talk delivered at an NGO side event organized by the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility on the role of science and technology factors driving nuclear weapons modernization, during the 2013 Preparatory Committee meetings for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, April 23, 2013.
Issue Update: Subcritical Tests, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation, Fall 2012.
Nonviolence or nonexistence, democracy or nonexistence, Andrew Lichterman, address to Hiroshima remembrance gathering, August 5, across the street from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California.
Atoms for Peace,Then and Now, by Jacqueline Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation Commentary, Summer 2012.
The Bechtel Corporation: San Francisco's Engineers of Empire, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Nuclear Connections series, Summer 2012.
Nuclear Connections is a series of brief analyses that explores the relationship between nuclear institutions and the global economy and its power structures, with an emphasis on organizations and institutions with a physical presence in the San Francisco Bay Area and the American southwest.
Rhetoric vs. Reality: Nuclear Dangers in a Time of Growing Global Economic and Environmental Crisis, by Jacqueline Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation Information Bulletin, Spring 2012.
New report on nuclear weapons modernization world wide

The Reaching Critical Will project of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom has released a new report on nuclear weapons modernization. The report, titled Assuring Destruction Forever: Nuclear Weapon Modernization Around the World, can be downloaded for free and hard copies are available for $8 from the Reaching Critical Will website (click here).

The report explores in-depth the nuclear weapon modernization programs in China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and analyzes the costs of nuclear weapons in the context of the economic crisis, austerity measures, and rising challenges in meeting human and environmental needs. It features three pieces by WSLF authors. Andrew Lichterman, senior research analyst for Western States Legal Foundation, wrote the chapter on the United States and a chapter on the role of civil society and social movements in creating the requisite political will for disarmament, and John Burroughs, Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy and a WSLF Board member, wrote a chapter on international law and nuclear weapons.

The chapters also are available separately as pdf files. Below are the links to chapters written by WSLF staff and board members.
Chapter on U.S. nuclear weapons modernization, by Andrew Lichterman

Chapter on international law and nuclear weapons modernization, by John Burroughs

Civil Society, Social Movements, and Disarmament in the 21st Century, by Andrew Lichterman
There will be a launch event for the report in Vienna, Austria on Thursday May 3, one of a number of NGO events scheduled alongside the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty preparatory committee meeting the first two weeks of May. The launch event will be in Room M2 of the Vienna International Center, May 3, 1:15–2:45p.m.
Vandenberg Air Force Base: Where the Present and Future of U.S. Warmaking Come Together, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Information Brief, Spring 2012
Nuclear Connections: Weapons and Power in the Age of Corporate Globalization, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Information Brief, Fall 2011
Nuclear Weapons at What Cost?, by Jacqueline Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation Information Brief, Spring 2011
START: One Small Step for Arms Control, One Giant Leap Backward for Disarmament? by Jacqueline Cabasso, WSLF Commentary, Winter 2011
"Nuclear Disarmament, Civil Society, and Democracy," by Andrew Lichterman, Disarmament Forum, 2010 No.4
The START Treaty and Disarmament: a Dilemma in Search of a Debate, by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Commentary, December 2010.

NPT 2010: Rhetoric vs. Reality, by Jacqueline Cabasso Western States Legal Foundation Information Bulletin, May 2010

Workshop presentation, Superficial politics, fundamental causes: some reflections on the relationship between the movements to abolish nuclear weapons and to stop global warming, by Andrew Lichterman, International Conference For a Nuclear Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World, Riverside Church, New York, May 1 2010.

Civil Society, Disarmament and the Need for New Beginnings
By Andrew Lichterman, Disarmament Times, Spring 2010
Western States Legal Foundation Reprint version

Beyond arms control: challenges and choices for nuclear disarmament (Paperback - May 2010)
A collaborative work of non-governmental researchers and activists who critically examine the mainstream discourse of nuclear weapons. With contributions by Western States Legal Foundation executive director, Jacqueline Cabasso, Board members Andrew Lichterman and John Burroughs, and Counsel Michael Veiluva, the book explores some of the most important challenges that governments and civil society face at the 2010 NPT Review Conference and beyond, highlighting the prospects and pitfalls for nuclear disarmament in the current world order. Throughout, the authors demonstrate that nuclear disarmament must be pursued in the context of a broader movement for social and economic justice and equality. Edited by Ray Acheson Published by Reaching Critical Will, a project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Read on line or order paperback: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/resources/books/beyondarmscontrol.html
NPT 2010: Rhetoric vs. Reality
Address by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western Stats Legal Foundation Public Hearing, Challenges to Peace and National Sovereignty--The NPT Review, Brasilia, Brazil, April 7, 2010

NPT 2010: Putting President Obama's Disarmament Rhetoric to the Test
Nagasaki Global Citizens' Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons February 6--8 , 2010 Address by Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation
Nagasaki Appeal 2010

NPT 2010: Putting President Obama's Disarmament Rhetoric to the Test
By Jacqueline Cabasso, Expert Advisor to the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation Peace Culture Newsletter No. 64 (English), April 2010 (contributed January 2010)

Burdens of Proof: Iran, the United States, and Nuclear Weapons A Global View
by Michael Veiluva, Western States Legal Foundation Counsel (Paperback - July, 2009)
Burdens of Proof, by Michael Veiluva, offers a rare and unique set of insights into the ongoing and complex political and legal implications surrounding the United States and Iranian political negotiations over Iran's growing nuclear program. Grabbed right from today's political headlines, author Veiluva adds valuable information that will inform and enlighten anyone concerned with today's international political situation. Veiluva's Burdens of Proof examines several fundamental themes critical to understanding the current state of U.S./Iranian relations: the "cold war" that has existed between the two countries since 1979, Iran's nuclear program, the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency, American nuclear weapons developments, and the international legal implications of the U.S.'s doctrine of preventative war. Written as a one-stop guide for anyone interested in the current crisis with Iran, Burdens of Proof brings a new voice to the complex debate over Iran's perceived ambitions and the rule of international law. Order from Amazon: click here
WSLF IN THE NEWS: WSLF staff and board members appearing or quoted in print and electronic media
What's Next for the Nuclear Disarmament Movement?
By Lawrence Wittner Yes! Magazine (Blog) June 14, 2010

Other Voices TV No Nukes?
Jackie Cabasso discusses her experiences as an NGO representative at the recent UN conference on nuclear weapons. (58 mins) Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, June 1, 2010

U.N. Nuke Meet Ends with Good Intentions and Empty Promises By Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service, May 29, 2010

International News Net World Report New START pact between Russia and the USA Round Table discussion with Jacqueline Cabasso and William Hartung May 26, 2010

Some Activists Losing Faith in Obama Nuclear Weapons Agenda Friday, May 7, 2010 By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire

If You Love This Planet: A Weekly Radio Program with Dr. Helen Caldicott Jacqueline Cabasso with the latest on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation efforts Blog post and audio download Recorded May 6, 2010; posted May 24, 2010

U.S. plans major increase in nuclear budget By Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer Chugoku Shimbun, Hiroshima March 8, 2010 (posted online March 12, 2010) WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso, quoted here, provided the background for this story during an interview conducted at the 4th Global Citizens Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in February, in Nagasaki, Japan.

WSLF board member Andrew Lichterman on KPFA Radio's Against the Grain, February 3, noon.

A segment on the KPFA show Against the Grain featured WSLF's Andrew Lichterman talking about nuclear weapons issues in the context of the global economic crisis. The show is archived on the KPFA web site and can be accessed there. The segment was a portion of a a longer talk delivered at the Alameda Public Affairs Forum, the full talk can be accessed as an mp3 file. Links to both are below.

Against the Grain, February 3, 2010

Andrew Lichterman, talk at the Alameda Public Affairs Forum, September 12, 2009

OFF-SITE COMMENTARY BY WSLF STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS
See Disarmamentactivist.org
PRESS RELEASES
U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously adopts resolution “Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs”
WSLF Executive Director Jackie Cabasso serves as North American Coordinator of Mayors for Peace.
NEW TOPIC PAGES
Military Spending: Researching Impacts on your Campus or Community
This page provides links to information and research tools useful for researching the campus and community impacts of military research and of weapons production, with an emphasis on pages which provide links to further resources.
United for Peace and Justice Nuclear Disarmament and Redefining Security Working Group page
Western States Legal Foundation participates in the Nuclear Abolition/Redefining Security working group of United for Peace and Justice. This page provides information, documents, and links relevant to the working group.
Civil Liberties and Government Secrecy Page
Links to a variety of information and opportunities to take action to contest the rapid erosion of civil liberties resulting from the U.S. government's approach to its open-ended "war on terror." This page also has links to resources on government secrecy and freedom of information, including several sites providing good information on how to pursue Freedom of Information Act requests from the initial request through litigation.
Iraq Resources
Links to a variety of resources, ranging from special Iraq sites of major media organizations to analyses of the human and economic impacts of the Iraq war and occupation.
War and Law
Analysis by WSLF and others of legal issues relevant to the Iraq war and occupation.
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