Presented by Haig Hovaness

Recent US government actions to increase funding for nuclear weaponry and withdraw from arms control treaties threaten a new nuclear arms race. This presentation will explore the serious consequences of such an arms race, detailing the economic impact of the potential expenditures and the security risks resulting from abandonment of arms control treaties and the introduction of new types of weapons.

The presentation will provide background information on the early nuclear arms race that began after WWII and reached a peak during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The subsequent arms control agreements, which dramatically reduced the nuclear arsenals of the US and USSR and reduced the danger of nuclear war for a few decades, will be described. The growing risk of catastrophic war will be explained through plausible conflict scenarios and historic precedents. The presentation concludes with recommendations for averting a renewed arms race and a restatement of the Green Party’s clear opposition to policies that increase the probability of nuclear war.