New Nukes and New Risks

The Peril of Nuclear Weapons in an Unstable World

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed the threat of nuclear destruction back onto the front pages and into our collective consciousness. In reality, that threat had never gone away but had been superseded in the public mind by crises such as global warming and political turmoil.

This discussion among leading experts on nuclear weapons gauged the risks the world faces today and in particular what Catholic peacemaking efforts—led by Pope Francis—can do. The event followed the recent United Nations review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the annual General Assembly of the UN, which spotlighted the nuclear threat. The panel included a former high-ranking NATO official, a diplomat from Mexico who specializes in international law, a Catholic University of America ethicist, and the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations, who outlined the contributions Pope Francis is making to the push for a non-nuclear future.

This event was dedicated to the work and memory of our colleague Rev. Drew Christiansen, S.J., who passed away in April 2022 after a long career devoted to Catholic peacebuilding.

This event was organized by Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture together with the Catholic Peacebuilding Network and the Project on Revitalizing Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament, and co-sponsored by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and Reverse The Trend.

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