When nuclear-armed nations face off, the threat of mutually assured destruction is expected to keep the worst from happening. But is this a rational strategy? Or is it one that is doomed to failure? In this eye-opening and powerful talk, Commander Robert Green shares his experience piloting nuclear-armed aircraft — and his shift to becoming a staunch opponent of nuclear deterrence.
Commander Robert Green served for twenty years in the British Royal Navy. As a bombardier-navigator, he flew in Buccaneer nuclear strike aircraft and anti-submarine helicopters equipped with nuclear depth-bombs. His final appointment was as Staff Officer (Intelligence) to the Commander-in-Chief Fleet during the 1982 Falklands War.
He chaired the UK affiliate of the World Court Project, which led to the International Court of Justice judgment in 1996 that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be illegal. Co-Director of the Disarmament & Security Centre in Christchurch since 1998, he is the author of Security Without Nuclear Deterrence. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH6xkjMNdnk
.
The nuclear-armed states and their allies cite nuclear deterrence as the primary justification for maintaining nuclear weapons. Its fallacies must therefore be exposed and alternatives offered if they are to be eliminated. As a former operator of British nuclear weapons, Commander Green chronicles the history, practical difficulties and dangerous contradictions of nuclear deterrence.
He offers instead more credible, effective and responsible alternative strategies to deter aggression and achieve real security. ‘I commend this book to all who wish to gain a deeper understanding of nuclear deterrence, surely one of the most controversial ideas of our time.’ H.E. Sergio Duarte, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs ‘Green’s important book will doubtless cause perturbation amongst his former colleagues and in UK government and defence circles more widely, but they should read it carefully as they approach the decision point for the future of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.’ Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham KCB, RUSI Vice President ‘One of the best informed and most searching critiques of the central strategic doctrine of the nuclear age – nuclear deterrence – that I know of.’ Jonathan Schell, author of The Fate of the Earth, Yale University ‘This is a book that shows courage, intelligence and moral integrity of a high order.’ Professor Achin Vanaik, Delhi University ‘A powerful tour de force of how the concepts and operations of nuclear doctrine and deterrence have shifted during the past six decades of the nuclear age.’ Dr Rebecca Johnson, Director, Acronym Institute ‘It is hard-won wisdom that today’s nuclear armed states and those who would follow in their footsteps would do well to heed.’ Dr Zia Mian, Princeton University ‘The results of a personal odyssey of a British military officer through his experience and painstaking research should be widely supported by all those who share the bold vision of a nuclear weapon free world.’ Jayantha Dhanapala, President of Pugwash.
.
.
….. My analysis
Without any awareness of the human egoic mind, all this is just happy talk.
Humans will keep on waging idiotic war, including nuclear war, because they are literally insane.
And until they stop being insane, they will continue to seek to dominate others.
The aftermath of the Battle of Aquae Sextiae — Germanic women, their men just defeated by Rome, slaughter their childrem and then themselves. (I lived in “Aquae Sextiae”in 2004-05; it is now called Aix-en-Provence, France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aquae_Sextiae)
Question.
1) Why did the Germans invade and attack Rome?
2) Why did Rome run its economy on enslaving people?
The Germanic women had offered to serve in the temples of Rome if only they be spared slavery — sexual, in the bordellos of rome, or slaving in the mines and fields.
Rome heartlessly rejected their offer.
Until the egoic insanity ends, the human race is hopeless.
Including, yes, the whites who live on this planet, misusing magnificent talents for mutual destruction.
And rejecting any truth they dislike about things great and small.
Leave a Reply