IPPNW Co-President Carlos Umaña Explores Making Nuclear Weapons Taboo
“When the Cold War ended in 1991 and the Doomsday Clock was at its furthest from midnight, the world sighed in relief… . It was a moment of hope where many believed this low tension between the military and economic powers of the world would lead to peace talks and nuclear disarmament.. . . So, why didn’t nuclear disarmament happen when the iron curtain fell?. . .” 
This question is at the center of “Making Nuclear Weapons Taboo,” an August 2024 address by Dr. Carlos Umaña, Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).
Dr. Umaña answers the question by saying, “Simply put, nuclear weapons had become a status symbol. . . . Nukes had become the currency of power, and this did not change when the so-called superpowers lost their main reason to threaten each other.” Dr. Umaña proposes that possession of nuclear weapons has a social value that society can alter. He uses the example of a bag of gold coins found in a forest to show that society bestows arbitrary value or “currency” on things. He says,
“. . .we hold on to them [the coins] because we have learned that they have value, and once we find our way to civilization, they will allow us to do a great deal of things. . .Their inherent value, what they can do for us by themselves, isn’t great, but their given value, what we have decided they can do for us, is very high.”
Dr. Umaña goes on to say that the belief that nuclear weapons are advantageous is international. The way to abolish weapons is to stigmatize them, make them taboo. This method has changed other human behavior, like slavery, and also some weapons of mass destruction such as chemical and biological weapons. He says, “[W]e will be able to get rid of nuclear weapons when they are universally condemned, when the nuclear status is not a subject of praise, but of scorn.”
To discuss how values can be changed in practice, Dr. Umaña adopts the image of concentric circles that he attributes to Professor Treasa Duckworth, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Auckland, in conversation with Tim Wright of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN): progress against nuclear weapons being held in esteem can occur first in the outer ring of weapon-free countries, then in countries under the “nuclear umbrella,” and finally in the center ring, the U.S. and Russia.
Dr. Umaña concludes, “The international community will be able to get rid of nuclear weapons when the world finally agrees to see nuclear weapon states not as nuclear powers, but as nuclear liabilities.”
IPPNW Co-President Carlos Umaña is a general practitioner, former local health director, and epidemiological surveillance officer with the Costa Rican Ministry of Health. Dr. Umaña is on the ICAN International Steering Group and is president of IPPNW Costa Rica.
To read Dr. Umaña’s full speech, go to: https://peaceandhealthblog.com/2024/08/26/making-nuclear-weapons-taboo/
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Did You Know about these events?
- Friday, August 30th at noon
at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners.!
- Saturday, August 10th through Saturday, August 31st –
2024 Oppenheimer Festival at SALA, 2551 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM. Schedules and tickets: https://sala.losalamos.com/
- Friday, August 30 through September –
58 years: a retrospective of works by Cathie Sullivan at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 555 Camino de La Familia, Santa Fe. Opening on August 30 from 5 to 7 pm. The exhibit includes 57 oil paintings, drawings and limited edition silkscreen prints, three bronzes, 20 animal carvings and hand and digitally printed note cards. 80% of sale proceeds will be donated to Amigos Del Parque, Nuclear Watch NM and El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe. https://www.elmuseocultural.org/exhibit/csretro-24
- Wednesday, September 4th from 6 to 7 pm MT –
Planet in Peril! A National Actioner – Warheads to Windmills – by Massachusetts Peace Action with speakers Kathy Kelly and Dr. Ira Helfand. Register at: https://secure.everyaction.com/iGJAyy3mtkOuHnrWcH0b9g2
Join the actioner to learn about the two weeks in September 2024 to Pressure the Corporations putting Profit ahead of People and Planet. Participate in the September 2024 Days of Action for a nuclear weapons and fossil fuel free world.
September 16 -22 – Nuclear Weapons
September 23 – 29 – Fossil Fuels
https://masspeaceaction.org/event/planet-in-peril-a-national-actionar/
- Saturday, September 7th from 1:45 to 5 pm at the University of New Mexico –
Forum on Nuclear Strategy: Disarmament and Deterrence in a Dangerous World. Registration at: https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/nuclearevent/ A project from the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC, the Endowed Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at the University of New Mexico, and UNM’s Religious Studies Program. For more information and a list of participants, go to: https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/nuclearproject/
- Tuesday, September 10, 2024 –
Comment Period Extended about the Second Five-Year Report about the DOE/Sandia Mixed Waste Landfill. For information about the hazards, leaks and threats of not removing the waste from the unlined Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL), visit the Citizen Action New Mexico website at: https://www.radfreenm.org/index.php
To review the public notice and administrative information about the MWL, go to the New Mexico Environment Department: https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/snl-mwl-2/
In your comments, provide your name and address and reference: SNL – MWL Second Five-Year Report, December 2023. A sample public comment letter developed by Demand Nuclear Abolition is available here: MWL letter Rev. 1 August 2024
Submit them through: https://nmed.commentinput.com/comment/search under 60-Day Comment Period: Sandia National Labs Mixed Waste Landfill Second Five-Year Report, or email them to:
Neelam Dhawan, Acting Program Manager
NMED – Hazardous Waste Bureau
2905 Rodeo Park Drive East, Bldg. 1
Santa Fe, NM 87505-6303
Email: neelam.dhawan@env.nm.gov
Phone: 505-476-6000
- September 16th to 22nd Week of Action: Nuclear Weapons – Pressure the Corporate Profiteers – Boycotts, Divestment and Shaming. For more information: https://warheadstowindmills.org/events/. Local NM events are being planned now.
- September 23rd to 29th Week of Action: Fossil Fuels – Pressure the Corporate Profiteers –
Boycotts, Divestment and Shaming. For more information: https://warheadstowindmills.org/events/. Local NM events are being planned now.
Tags: Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Auckland, Carlos Umaña, ICAN, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, IPPNW, IPPNW Costa Rica, nuclear liabilities, Professor Treasa Duckworth, Tim Wright of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, “Making Nuclear Weapons Taboo, ” nuclear weapons as a status symbol
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