Nuclear Abolition A Scenario

Nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to humanity. They can and must be abolished. This book sets out a scenario for doing exactly that, starting with the fact that half the world has already committed to nuclear abolition through the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). As more and more countries join this new treaty, the pressure will build on the nine countries that currently possess nuclear weapons.

This pressure will especially be felt by a relatively small number of private US companies that are contracted to develop, build and maintain these weapons for the United States. These companies do not just make nuclear weapons for the United States. They make other products that are sold all over the world. They have contracts, suppliers, investors, offices and other facilities in other countries, including those that are already party to the TPNW or soon will be.

As those countries strengthen their own laws and norms against nuclear weapons, companies involved in the nuclear weapons business will increasingly find themselves facing reputational and legislative risk - including potential prison sentences for having anything to do with nuclear weapons in those countries. A growing movement within the United States that is committed to divesting from, boycotting and stigmatizing these companies adds to the pressure these companies are under.

Even without the added pressures coming from whole countries, divestment and boycott campaigns in the US were hugely successful in the 1980s at getting many household names like General Electric, Ford, Dupont, Motorola and others out of the nuclear weapons business. These tactics helped push President Reagan to the negotiating table with Gorbachev, and they can be effective again today.

There are many other steps and possible pathways to finally ridding the world of nuclear weapons, but the one described here shows nuclear abolition is possible and the pieces are already in place to make it happen.