CHICAGO -- With a United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons now in effect, Illinois advocates for peace are renewing conversations about U.S. disarmament policy, through a panel discussion with experts last week and a car caravan for peace over the weekend.

Not a single nation with nuclear weapons ratified the international agreement, although more than 50 non-nuclear states did.

Laura Grego, senior scientist in the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said non-governmental organizations and non-nuclear states have been frustrated with the lack of progress toward disarmament.

She argued many U.S. nuclear policies are artifacts of the Cold War, and could be changed to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorized launches.

"The U.S. might not be ready to sign the ban treaty," Grego acknowledged. "It's really an effort to be creative about moving toward disarmament goals."

Grego pointed to a bill that would require a declaration of war by Congress before the president can order a nuclear-weapons launch, and added the U.S. should consider taking missiles off high-alert status and reserving their use exclusively for deterrence or response to a nuclear attack, in consultation with allies.

Tara Drozdenko, acting executive director of the Outrider Foundation, said there are many ways nuclear weapons and the military intersect with injustice.

She asserted weapons programs disproportionately impact marginalized communities, for example, uranium mining on the Navajo reservation has contaminated land and groundwater there, which has affected health outcomes.

"I think it's important for us to start reckoning with that, and re-articulating what it means to be secure," Drozdenko contended. "And also thinking about whose security we prioritize, and how we spend our money to make all Americans secure, not just some of us secure."

One of the first foreign-policy actions of the Biden administration is seeking to extend the New START treaty for five years, the last remaining nuclear-weapons treaty between the U.S. and Russia.


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Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s holiday, and tomorrow is the seventh annual National Day of Racial Healing.

It's a call to action for racial healing for all people, and originated as part of national efforts by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

In Arkansas, the week includes 19 free community events, says Kwami Abdul-Bey - co-convener of the Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement - all focused on aspects of social justice.

Kwami Abdul-Bey said for one event, they're partnering with two universities in Arkansas to examine a historic event that took place in the state.

"Where we actually will have a dialogue about an actual lynching event, a series of lynching events that occurred here in Arkansas," said Kwami Abdul-Bey, "and talk about that past, what's going on now, and what we can do moving forward."

He adds the events will be hybrid - meaning people can attend either virtually or in-person - and they'll kick off Tuesday morning.

The website 'apjmm.org' includes information on each of the events and how Arkansans can be part of authentic conversations about racial healing.

Clarice Abdul-Bey - who's married to Kwami and is a co-convener of the group - said the Natural State is seeing growing diversity, with residents of BIPOC, Latino, Asian and Marshallese communities.

She added that it's important for all people in the state - not only African Americans - to be part of the healing events. She noted the spirit of Monday's Day of Service carries on into the National Day of Racial Healing as well.

She said the connection is critical, to address the systemic issues that affect children, families and communities.

"I feel like because Arkansas has such a difficult and challenging history, there are more things that need to happen after that day," said Clarice Abdul-Bey. "I think we need to continue on. If we can make it a monthlong event, I really would like it to be something to where we are exercising our ability for truth, healing and transformation."

The Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement has also partnered with the U.S. State Department to host 12 dignitaries from African nations and Haiti.

They'll be part of a "lunch and learn" event on Wednesday, January 18 - called "Human and Civil Rights for Marginalized Communities."

Anti-war activists say one of the world's greatest humanitarian disasters has connections to one of the Commonwealth's largest employers, Raytheon Technologies, which supplies military weapons to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its ongoing war in Yemen.

Investigators with the United Nations say evidence shows Saudi Arabia has committed numerous war crimes against Yemeni civilians in the past several years.

Brian Garvey - assistant director of Massachusetts Peace Action - said Raytheon's weapons sales are also supporting the Kingdom's continued blockade of Yemen's supply routes, which has led to widespread famine and malnutrition.

"And frankly, many connections to international terrorism," said Garvey. "This is a regime that cannot be trusted and really should not be provided with these weapons."

Garvey said 5% of Raytheon's sales come from Saudi Arabia, which the Biden Administration calls a longtime strategic ally.

Raytheon has previously stated the company does not make U.S. policy but simply complies with it.

Garvey noted that activists are not opposed to Raytheon's workers in the Commonwealth but rather, the policies that executives promote to increase their own weapons business.

Washington, D.C. is known to have a revolving door between private and government employees. Current Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III is a former Raytheon board member.

Garvey said growing concern over the potential use of nuclear weapons technology in Ukraine has only added urgency to his group's campaign.

"When you have a company like Raytheon Technologies, who has a real interest in getting these contracts and producing these weapons for their own bottom line," said Garvey, "that's directly at odds to the interest of people everywhere."

President Joe Biden recently signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law, giving more than $800 billion to the Defense Department. Garvey said he thinks much of that could be better spent preparing for climate change, or even the next pandemic.

Organizations across the country will be celebrating the anniversary of a nuclear weapons treaty in the new year, including in Idaho.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons bans their use, possession, testing and transfer under international law.

While written in January, 2021, no nuclear-armed nation has signed it.

Ralph Hutchison, coordinator with the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, said the United States has expressed its opposition to the treaty.

"It's a complete and total ban on nuclear weapons," said Hutchison. "You can't make them, you can't sell them, you can't deploy them. And the measure of the power of the treaty, to me, is how scared the United States government is of this treaty."

The U.S. says the treaty is "incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence."

When Australia abstained from a United Nations vote in October urging countries to join the treaty, it received a rebuke from the U.S, which said it could hurt the country's defense efforts around the world.

On January 20, the Snake River Alliance will show its support for the treaty on the steps of the Idaho Capitol Building.

To date, 68 states are party to the treaty. Hutchison noted that there's no legal power in states that haven't signed it.

"But it does have a moral power," said Hutchison. "And that power doesn't recognize the boundaries that surround the United States or any of the other countries, and that's the power that we are relying on to see this treaty enter into force."

With the threat of nuclear weapons at the forefront because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Hutchison said media outlets have ample opportunity to mention the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as an alternative to the use of these weapons.

"It's real, it exists, it's entered into force, it's an international treaty," said Hutchison. "I think breaking silence is the next big, important step in this country."

Along with its action in Boise on January 20, the Snake River Alliance also will be meeting in Pocatello and then traveling to the Idaho National Laboratory outside Idaho Falls on January 21.