Former nuclear weapons officer rejects nuclear deterrence
Update: Due to the earthquake in New Zealand, Robert
Green has had to return to his home in Christchurch.
His presentation will be in video format. Alyn Ware, a colleague of Mr. Green, will
be accompanying the Hon. Douglas Roche, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, at the event.
For Alyn’s biography: http://www.msvu.ca/en/home/aboutus/PeaceConference/Keynote_speakers/Alyn_Ware.aspx
Retired Royal Navy Commander Robert Green is coming to Ottawa to speak out against nuclear deterrence. Commander Green served as a naval officer on nuclear-armed aircraft during the Cold War. In his book Security Without Nuclear Deterrence, Commander Green talks about his experiences and what led him to reject nuclear weapons as an element of international security.
Nuclear deterrence has not prevented non-nuclear states from attacking allies of nuclear weapon states. Examples include China entering the Korean War when the US had a nuclear monopoly in 1950; Argentina invading the British Falkland Islands in 1982; and Iraq invading close US ally Kuwait in 1990. In all these cases nuclear deterrence failed. The US in Korea and Vietnam, and the USSR in Afghanistan, preferred withdrawal to the ultimate ignominy of resorting to nuclear weapons to secure victory or revenge against a non-nuclear state.
Commander Green will be in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 1st to promote his new book and give a public lecture on the fallacies of nuclear deterrence. Details on the event’s time, location, and contact information are below.
Location: Ottawa Public Library Auditorium (Main Branch)
120 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5M2
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Contact: Rideau Institute – operations@rideauinstitute.ca, 613-565-9449