The Spokesman 146

Hiroshima, then Nagasaki
The Spokesman 146

Edited by Tony Simpson

Bertrand Russell constantly sought fresh ways to work for peace and nuclear disarmament. ‘The nuclear age,’ he wrote in 1964, ‘imposes new ways of thought and action and a new character in international relations’. It was during the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October ’62 between the Soviet Union and the United States. ‘This was a moment of great importance,’ wrote Russell. ‘It showed that neither considered it desirable to obliterate the human race … The first fruits of the new more friendly relations between East and West was the Test Ban Treaty.’

Now, in less auspicious times, President Trump threatens renewed explosive nuclear testing in the United States. He has prompted a volley of informed opposition, domestic and international, which we report in this issue of The Spokesman. In particular, concerned American scientists with expertise on nuclear weapons emphasise that ‘there is no technical need for a nuclear test’.

Tony Simpson