Month: May 2016

Almost exactly twenty years ago Peter Nicholls became president of Science for Peace. Unlike most of his predecessors, he was not based at the University of Toronto, but was a professor of biology at Brock University in St. Catharines, near Niagara Falls. Nevertheless, so committed was he to nuclear disarmament that he was always among … Read more Peter Nicholls (1935–2014)

In his famous satire, Voltaire portrays Dr. Pangloss as the naïve mentor of Candide. Voltaire wrote Candide as a response to Enlightenment optimism even in the face of disasters like the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 30,000 people. Voltaire saw that nature was unpredictable and at times powerfully destructive, and he … Read more Panglossing the Climate Emergency Connecting the Crises of Climate Change, Militarization, Extreme Poverty

What is Science for Peace? A club? A social change action group? A scholarly association? Your answer may reveal your hopes for Science for Peace—especially how much conflict to expect and how to handle disputes. The different models entail different, even incompatible, standards of conduct, which we must somehow balance, since we actually combine all … Read more President's Corner: Controversy and Conversation

There are several sides to scientific freedom: freedom to conduct research, access to the physical tools and contact with other researchers, and freedom to publish and otherwise communicate with the scientific and general public. All of these have been threatened in recent years. Prior to the recent federal election, many policies of the federal government … Read more Report of the Working Group on Freedom of Research

Debating armed drones Drones have become ubiquitous and low-cost. They can be as small as birds, carry high resolution cameras, and be remotely piloted with great accuracy. Drones are mostly used for surveillance, but the Canadian Royal Air Force is now requesting that the Trudeau government authorizes the purchase and the development of armed drones. … Read more Report of the Working Group on Drones

Starting in June 2015 with the task of defining what each of the fifteen of us thought “sustainability” meant, our very diverse group of activists and scholars has amassed a wealth of understanding and determination to meet these global issues at the local level. With Lloyd Helferty’s indefatigable leadership, this working group has been very … Read more Report of the Working Group on Community Sustainability

It makes sense to regulate international affairs by the rule of global law instead of military might. Most people agree with this statement. It is safer, more economic, and more ecological than the chaotic violence that we observe in traditional global politics. However, many say proposing such a good world order is unrealistic, it will … Read more Report of the Working Group on Good Global Governance

Introduction The Ocean, our global commons has long been divided by territorial conflicts and competitive claims over marine and seabed resources. Zealously guarded and patrolled by naval vessels and surveillance aircraft, nationalized seas and transnational waterways of the Arctic, Indian, Atlantic, and the Pacific are not just utilized as natural resources of food, transport and … Read more Report of the Working Group on Oceans Ocean Frontiers: the pragmatic search for peace

Despite the well documented and well publicized catastrophic consequences from any use of nuclear weapons, over fifteen thousand remain as an existential threat to both human civilization and the entire ecosystem of our planet. They are the only weapons of mass destruction not yet prohibited under international law; and there are currently no negotiations underway … Read more Report of the Working Group on Nuclear Weapons

It was an obvious question for a civil resistance workshop, but still unnerving. “What would happen if Donald Trump took the White House and tried to invade Canada?” It came up near the end of the February 27 and 28 seminar organized by Science for Peace’s Working Group on Nonviolent Resistance and Civil Society. The … Read more Report of the Working Group on Nonviolence