National security is one of the foremost priorities facing governments today. Currently nuclear weapons play a large role in security. Are nuclear weapons, which arbitrarily take lives of soldiers and civilians while also affecting the environment, morally justified? Are there alternatives and non-nuclear security measures available? Is ‘just war’ theory actually just? This section also encompasses matters of nuclear energy and waste and their effects on the environment and human life. Explore this section to find the perspectives of political, military, religious, and scientific thinkers from all different times.

Political Perspectives

• The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence Today: International Law as Anchoring Ground, by Professor Francis Boyle, September 4, 2010
• Human Security and the Rights of Refugees: Transcending Territorial and Disciplinary Borders, by Alice Edwards, June 6, 2009
• Norway Backs Its Ethics With Cash, by Mark Landler, May 4, 2007
• Peace and Security, by Jonathan Granoff, July 2004
• Pugwash and the Nuclear Issue, Joseph Rotblat, March 25-27, 2001
• Nuclear Weapons, Ethics, Morals, and Law, by Jonathan Granoff, December 9, 2000
• The Nuclear Crucible: The Moral and International Law Implications of Weapons of Mass Destruction, by Terrence Edward Paupp
• Toward a Nuclear Weapon Free World: The Need for a New Agenda, by numerous Foreign Ministers, June 9, 1998
• Letter of Protest, by Takashi Hiraoka, March 6, 1998
• Statement by Senator Mark O. Hatfield, August 2, 1989

Military Perspectives

• Ethics by Chaplain, Captain Shin Soh
• The Indoctrination of Missile Launch Officers by David Krieger, August 1, 2011
• The Risks of Nuclear Deterrence: From Superpowers to Rogue Leaders by General Lee Butler National Press Club, February 2, 1998
• Joint Statement on Reduction of Nuclear Weapons Arsenals: Declining Utility, Continuing Risks, Generals Lee Butler & Andrew J. Goodpaster
• National Press Club Newsmakers Luncheon Question and Answer Session, General Lee Butler USAF, (ret.) February 2, 1998
• Economic Aspects of Conversion
• Military Leaders on Nuclear Weapons Abolition
• Prepared Remarks to the Olof Palme International Center for Vice Admiral John J. Shanahan, USN (Ret.) Director, Center for Defense Information Stockholm Sweden, 6 March 1997
• Statement on Nuclear Weapons by International Generals and Admirals, December 5, 1996
• Remarks to the State of the World Forum General Lee Butler, USAF (Ret.), October 3, 1996

Religious Perspectives

• The Nuclear Question: The Church's Teachings and the Current State of Affairs by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt
• The Nuclear Ethics Gap, by Gerard Powers, May 17, 2010
• Moral Reflections on US Nuclear Weapons Policy, by Reverend Edwin O'Brien
• The Ethics of Disarmament, by Gerard Powers, December 1, 2009
• Should We Get Rid of Our Nukes?, by Nick Spencer, April 2, 2009
• Energy Ethics Reaches the Church's Agenda, by Bruce Birch
• Moral/Ethical Considerations: Nuclear Weapons- At What Price?
• A Crime Against God and Humanity, by Douglas Roche, March 2008
• 75 US Catholic Bishops Condemn Policy of Nuclear Deterrence June 1998
• William P. Clark to Archbishop Joseph L. Bernadin November 16, 1982
• US Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter on War and Peace May 3, 1983
• Public Acceptance of Nuclear Power- Some Ethical Issues, The Energy Advisory Group of the Working Committee on Church and Society, World Council of Churches, May 1977

Scientific Perspectives

• Green Energy Should Not Include Nuclear, by Richard Clapp, June 28, 2010
• Ethics of Research on Health Impacts of Nuclear Weapons Activities in the United States by Dianne Quigley, Amy Lowman and Steve Wing, October 27, 2007
• Going Nuclear, Patrick Moore, April 16, 2006
• Open Letter to the UC Community by Armin Tenner, June 18, 2002
• A Model of Thermonuclear Extinction on Planet Mars by Dr. W. Sumner Davis
• Why I quit my job at LLNL: the truth about the Stockpile Stewardship Program by Issac Trotts, March 14, 2001
• Only A Question of Time: Science, Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction by Jennifer Allen Simons
• Nuclear Waste and Nuclear Ethics by Herman Damveld and Robert Jan van den Berg, January 2000
• Broken Moratorium, Editorial in The Hindu, July 5, 1997
• The Ethical Dimensions of Deterrence by Sir Joseph Rotblat
• Nuclear Guinea Pigs, Editorial in The New York Times, January 5, 1995
• The Russell-Einstein Manifesto July 9, 1955
• The Franck Report June 11, 1945
• Petition to the President of the United States by Scientists at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory July 17, 1945
• Human Nuclear Experiments, Compiled by Carah Ong