#weapons

All nuclear weapon states should now recognize that this is so, and declare - in Treaty form - that they will never be the first to use nuclear weapons. This would open the way to the gradual, mutual reduction of nuclear arsenals, down to zero. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#be the first #declare #down #first #form

As for the assertion that nuclear weapons prevent wars, how many more wars are needed to refute this arguments? Tens of millions have died in the many wars that have taken place since 1945. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#died #how #many #millions #more

If the militarily most powerful - and least threatened - states need nuclear weapons for their security, how can one deny such security to countries that are truly insecure? The present nuclear policy is a recipe for proliferation. It is a policy for disaster. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#deny #disaster #how #insecure #least

Indeed, the very first resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations - adopted unanimously - called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#assembly #called #elimination #first #general

Indeed, the whole human species is endangered, by nuclear weapons or by other means of wholesale destruction which further advances in science are likely to produce. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#destruction #endangered #further #human #human species

So I ask the nuclear powers to abandon the out-of-date thinking of the Cold War period and take a fresh look. Above all, I appeal to them to bear in mind the long-term threat that nuclear weapons pose to humankind and to begin action towards their elimination. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#above #action #appeal #ask #bear

The chief task was to stop the arms race before it brought utter disaster. However, after the collapse of communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, any rationale for having nuclear weapons disappeared. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#any #arms #arms race #before #brought

There is no direct evidence that nuclear weapons prevented a world war. Conversely, it is known that they nearly caused one. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#conversely #direct #evidence #known #nearly

This is the reality of nuclear weapons: they may trigger a world war; a war which, unlike previous ones, destroys all of civilization. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#destroys #may #nuclear #nuclear weapons #ones

We are told that the possession of nuclear weapons - in some cases even the testing of these weapons - is essential for national security. But this argument can be made by other countries as well. ↗

— Joseph Rotblat

#cases #countries #essential #even #made