February 2, 1998
Statement by Alan Cranston
Former U.S. Senator, Chair of the State of the World Forum
February 2, 1998, Washington, D.C. National Press Club
First, I’ll read the statement by heads of state and civilian leaders worldwide, advocating that specific steps be taken now to reduce ongoing nuclear weapon dangers still facing us all after the end of the Cold War.
These leaders, many of whom led their nations during the Cold War, urge that the nuclear states declare unambiguously that their goal is ultimate abolition of nuclear weapons.
The statement is as follows:
Statement on Nuclear Weapons by International Civilian Leaders
The end of the Cold War has wrought a profound transformation of the international political and security arena. Ideological confrontation has been supplanted by burgeoning global relations across every field of human endeavor. There is intense alienation but also civilized discourse. There is acute hostility but also significant effort for peaceful resolution in place of violence and bloodshed.
Most importantly, the long sought prospect of a world free of the apocalyptic threat of nuclear weapons is suddenly within reach. This is an extraordinary moment in the course of human affairs, a near miraculous opportunity to realize that noble goal. But, it is also perishable: the specter of nuclear proliferation cannot be indefinitely contained. The urgent attention and best efforts of scholars and statesmen must be brought to bear.
Leaders of the nuclear weapons states, and of the de facto nuclear nations, must keep the promise of nuclear disarmament enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970 and clarified and reaffirmed in 1995 in the language codifying its indefinite extension. They must do so by commencing the systematic and progressive reduction and marginalization of nuclear weapons, and by declaring unambiguously that their goal is ultimate abolition.
Many military leaders of many nations have warned that all nations would be more secure in a world free of nuclear weapons. Immediate and practical steps toward this objective have been arrayed in a host of compelling studies, most notably in the Report of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Among these proposals, we, the undersigned, fully subscribe to the following measures:
1. Remove nuclear weapons from alert status, separate them from their delivery vehicles, and place them in secure national storage.
2. Halt production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.
3. End nuclear testing, pending entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
4. Launch immediate U.S./Russian negotiations toward further, deep reductions of their nuclear arsenals, irrespective of START II ratification.
5. Unequivocal commitment by the other declared and undeclared nuclear weapon states to join the reduction process on a proportional basis as the U.S. and Russia approach their arsenal levels, within an international system of inspection, verification, and safeguards.
6. Develop a plan for eventual implementation, achievement and enforcement of the distant but final goal of elimination.
The foregoing six steps should be undertaken immediately.
The following additional steps should be carefully considered, to determine whether they are presently appropriate and feasible:
Repatriate nuclear weapons deployed outside of sovereign territory.
Commit to No First Use of nuclear weapons.
Ban production and possession of large, long-range ballistic missiles.
Account for all materials needed to produce nuclear weapons, and place them under
international safeguards.
The world is not condemned to live forever with threats of nuclear conflict, or the anxious, fragile peace imposed by nuclear deterrence. Such threats are intolerable and such a peace unworthy. The sheer destructiveness of nuclear weapons invokes a moral imperative for their elimination. That is our mandate. Let us begin.
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Argentina
Raul Alfonsin Former President
Australia
Malcom Fraser, Former Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam, Former Prime Minister, Former Foreign Minister
Kim C. Beazley, Leader of the Opposition ,Former Deputy Prime Minister
Richard Butler, Ambassador to U.N. , Chair, U.N. Special Commission on Iraq, Chair, Canberra Commission
Gareth Evans, Former Foreign Minister Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Member, Parliament
Bangladesh
A.D.M.S. Chuwdhury, Deputy Opposition Leader, Parliament, Former Deputy Prime Minister
Muhammad Yunus
Managing Director, Grameen Bank
Brazil
Jose Sarney, Former Prime Minister, Senator
Calso L.N. Amorim, Former Foreign Minister
Bulgaria
Nicolai Dobrev , Chair, National Security Committee, Parliament; Former Minister of Interior
Nicolai Kamov , Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament
Dimitra Pavlov, Minister of Defense
Canada
Pierre Trudeau, Former Prime Minister
Douglas Roche
Former Ambassador for Disarmament
Chile
Juan Somavia, Ambassador to U.N.; Past President, UN Security Council
China
Qian Jiadong, Former Chinese Ambassador to U.N.
Chen Jifeng, Secretary General, Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament
Colombia
Misael Pastrana Borrero , Former President
(Deceased Aug. 1997)
Costa Rica
Jose Figueres, President
Oscar Arias, Former President
Rodrigo Carazo , Former President
Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis
Second Vice President
Rodrigo Oreamuno B.
First Vice President
Cyprus
George Vassiliou
Former President
President, United Democrats
Egypt
Esmat Abdul Meguid
Secretary General, League of Arab States
Former Foreign Minister
Finland
Kalevi Sorsa
Former President
France
Michel Rocard
Former Prime Minister
Chair, Committee on Development and Cooperation, European Parliament
Jacques Attali
Former Special Advisor to
President Mitterand
Georgia
Eduard A. Shevardnadze
President
Germany
Helmut Schmidt
Former Chancellor
Honorary Chair, International Council
Hans Modrow
Former Prime Minister, East Germany
Egon Bahr Former Minister for Special Affairs
Angelika Beer
Spokesperson for Defense,
Alliance 90/Green Party
Member, Bundestag
Alfred Dregger
Hon. Chair, Christian Democratic Party
Member, Bundestag
Hans Koschnik, Former Administrator, European Union, Mostar
Markus Meckel, Former Foreign Minister, East Germany; Member, Bundestag
Dr. Walter Romberg, Former Minister of Finances, East Germany
Lothar Spth, Former Minister-President, Baden-Wurttemberg
Hans-Jochen Vogel, Former Mayor, Berlin; Former Minister of Justice; Former Chair, Social Democratic Party
Hungary
Ervin Laszlo, Founder and President, Club of Budapest
Israel
Yael Dayan
Member, Kneset
Japan
Tsutomu Hata, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet
Morihiro Hosokawa, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet
Kiichi Miyazawa, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet
Tomiichi Murayama, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet
Noboru Takeshita, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet
Takako Doi, Former Speaker, House of Representatives; Member, Diet
Masaharu Gotoda, Former Vice Prime Minister
Takashi Hiraoka, Mayor, Hiroshima
Iccho Ito, Mayor, Nagasaki
Yohei Kono, Former Vice Prime Minister
Hyosuke Kujiraoka Former Vice Speaker, House of Representatives; Member, Diet
Kenzaburo Oe, Nobel Laureate
Kyrgyz Republic
Askar Akaev, President
Muratbek S. Imanaliev,
Foreign Minister
Rosa Otunbaeva
Former Foreign Minister
Ambassador to U.K.
Lebanon
Sadim El.Hoss
Former Prime Minister
Malaysia
Ismail Razali
President, UN General Assembly
Mexico
Miguel de la Madrid
Former President
Mongolia
Punsalmaa Ochirbat
Former President
Jalbuu Choinhor
Ambassador to U.S.
Namibia
Sam Junoma
President
Nauru
Lagumont Harris
Former President
Ruben Kun
Member, Parliament
Former President
David Peter
Former Speaker, Parliament
Netherlands
Ruud Lubbers Former Prime Minister
Minister of State
Andries van Agt
Former Prime Minister
Chair, Interaction Council
E. Korthals Altes
Former Ambassador to Madrid
J. van Houwelingen
Former Deputy Minister of Defence
J.G. Kraaijeveld-Wouters
Former Minister of Defence
Dr. D.J.H. Kruisinga
Former Minister of Defence
Mr. J. de Ruiter
Former Minister of Defence
Prof. Dr. J.C. Terlouw
Former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Economic Affairs
New Zealand
David Lange
Former Prime Minister
Sir Geoffrey Palmer
Former Prime Minister
North Ireland
Mairead Maguire
Honorary President, Peace People
Nobel Peace Laureate
Pakistan
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan
Former UN High Commissioner for Refugees
President, Bellerive Foundation
Mahbub ul Haq
President, Human Development Centre
Former Minister of Finance
Principal Architect of UN’s Annual Human Development Report
Panama
Ricardo de la Espriella
Former President
Philippines
Corazon Aquino
Former President
Portugal
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
Former Prime Minister
Republic of Korea
Shin Hyon-Hwak
Former Prime Minister
Russia
Egor Gaidar
Former Prime Minister
Director, Research Institute for the Economy in Transition
Mikhail Gorbachev
Former President, S.U.
Georgi Arbatov
President, Governing Board, Institute of USA and Canada
Alexander Bessmertnykh
Former Soviet Foreign Minister
Former Soviet Ambassador to US
President, Foreign Policy Association
Vitaly Goldansky
President, Russian Pugwash Committee
Academician
Roland Timerbaev
Former Permanent Representative of the USSR and Russia in IAEA
President, Center for Political Studies of Russia
Euvgeny Velikhov
Member, National Security Council
Academician
Alexander N. Yakovlev
Chair, President’s Commission on Rehabilitation of Repression Victims
Chair, Russian Public Television;
Former Member, Politburo
Principal Domestic Advisor to President Gorbachev
South Africa
F.W. De Klerk
Former President
Member, Parliament
National Leader, National Party
Bishop Desmond Tutu
Spain
Enrique Baron Crespo
Member, European Parliament
Former President, European Parliament
Former Minister
Fernando Moran Lopez
Chair, Committee on InstitutionalAffairs, European Parliament
Former Foreign Minister
Sri Lanka
A.T. Ariyaratne
Leader, Sarvodaya Movement
Gandhi Peace Prize, 1996
Anura Bandaranaike
Member, Parliament
Former Minister of Education
Former Leader of Opposition
Jayantha Dhanapala
President, NPT Review and Extension Conference, 1995
Former Ambassador to U.S.
Suriname
I.M. Djwalapersad
Speaker, Assembly
Sweden
Goran Persson
Prime Minister
Ingvar Carlsson
Former Prime Minister
Maj Britt Theorin
Former Chair, UN Commission of Experts on Nuclear Weapons
Member, European Parliament
Tanzania
Al Hassan Mwinyi
Former President
Julius K. Nyerere
Former President
Chair, South Commission
Salim Ahmed Salim
Former Prime Minister
Secretary General, Organization of African Unity
President, U.N. General Assembly, 34th Session
Joseph Warioba
Former Prime Minister
Judge, International Tribunal on Law of the Seas
Thailand
Anand Panyarachun
Former Prime Minister
Uganda
Milton Obote
Former President
Dr. Paul Kaeanga Ssemogerere
Former Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister
Dr. Naphali Akena Adoko
Former Chief of State Security
Justice Emmanuel Oteng
Former Acting Chief Justice
United Kingdom
Lord James Callaghan
Former Prime Minister
Member, House of Lords
Lord Denis Healey
Former Secretary of Defense
Former Chancellor of Exchequer
John Edmunds
Former Chief Negotiator, CTBT
Former Head, Arms Control & Disarmament, Foreign Office
Betty Williams
Nobel Peace Laureate
United States
Jimmy Carter
Former President
Zimbabwe
Dr. Robert Mugabe
President