PUBLIC AWARENESS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND POLICIES

The WMD Awareness Programme was launched on 23 September 2004 with former President Mikhail Gorbachev and Sir Joseph Roblat.

Joseph Rotblat and Mikhail Gorbachev

The UK WMD Awareness programme

Hitherto Pugwash has focused on influencing Governments, and its effectiveness has depended on its reputation for absolute scientific integrity. With the end of the Cold War Pugwash can consider an enhanced emphasis on achieving its aims by a second method which was mentioned both in Bertrand Russell’s letter that led to the founding of Pugwash (5 April 1955) and in the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, namely influencing public opinion.

Since 2002 Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat has publicly and repeatedly voiced great concern about the British public’s lack of knowledge of the dangers of the continued existence of nuclear weapons . In response, several (currently 14) concerned organisations have been working together with the aims of (a) raising public awareness of present nuclear weapons policies, and (b) shifting public perception towards the feasibility of a secure world free from the threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear war.

Accordingly we initiated a collaborative awareness project by involving other groups already in the business of influencing public opinion. In pursuing this course we hope to influence public opinion by disseminating established facts while at the same time maintaining Pugwash’s reputation for impeccable scientific integrity. The result is the WMD Awareness Programme.

The group realised early on that new approaches were needed if we were to be effective in informing and ultimately involving the public, a view that was strongly endorsed by early public opinion research that the group undertook. A further period of ‘constructor group’ research was conducted in early 2004 on security issues that were of present concern to the public. The results provided a ‘map’ that we did not have before of attitudes to nuclear weapons, WMD and other security issues. In particular, it showed that the issue was not a simple bipolar one (‘you are either for us or against us’), but that attitudes fell into three categories. The first of these - the ‘abolitionists’ - were very aware of the problems and were likely to have supported organisations such as CND in the past. A second group - termed the ‘resigned’ in the research - believes that there is nothing they can do about security issues. Nor do they need to do anything because it is not their place to do so: more expert people are in charge. A third group - the ‘sceptics’ - have a high level of concern about global insecurity, which they see as driven by a breakdown in trustworthiness of politicians, coupled with a policy of belligerence on the part of the US and UK.

It is on this latter group that the programme has decided to focus. Following the guidelines that emerged from this research, we have developed a new and comprehensive communications strategy that underpins the continuing work of the programme.

Programme Outline

The programme aims to raise public awareness of present nuclear weapons policies, and through increased involvement to shift public perception towards the feasibility of a secure world free from the threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear war. As the research has shown quite sharply, raising awareness is not a straightforward thing to do. However, further discussions with the consultants we employed have shown us a way forward.

One strong message that came from the research was that nuclear weapons issues per se were not only of limited interest to the population generally, but raising directly such issues activated a ‘frame’ which enabled people - and also the media - to dismiss the issue as being no longer relevant. After all, nuclear weapons were an issue of the Cold War, and the Cold War is over, isn't it? Such ‘framing’ responses are sociologically well-established reactions that must be avoided if we are to make progress - a point which many concerned organisations have failed to grasp in their own work. In contrast, the issue that was uppermost in people’s minds was the so-called ‘War on Terror’. There was also a significant worry about the possible use of WMD in terrorist attacks.

In order to find a way of getting nuclear weapons related issues across in this apparently infertile environment, the research identified ‘cross-over’ issues that fall between the ‘War on Terror’ and nuclear weapons issues. Examples of such issues include the threat from WMD, no first use of nuclear weapons, the destabilising development of ‘mininukes’, ‘dirty’ bombs, and not using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states. Taking into account also cross-over issues specific to our target group of ‘sceptics’, we have formulated a comprehensive communications strategy under the title ‘Come Clean about WMD’. This is now being implemented.

Strategy implementation

Being realistic about the likely funding available, any public information programme has to be designed to be extremely cost-effective: we cannot hope for large sums to finance major advertising campaigns. Professional advice has convinced us that success can be achieved through well-designed low cost methods, taking advantage of electronic (‘web based’) resources to make the information available, coupled with periodic high profile events that attract the media and stimulate the free (or relatively inexpensive) publicity that can periodically raise awareness of critical issues involved. We aim to get the whole project to ‘go viral’ - to the extent that we can raise interest in the target group so that the issues become matters of discussion in pubs, homes, and wherever people talk together.

Accordingly, the programme is moving forward in three main directions:

1. Public and media events

These will be held periodically to continue to raise awareness in the public arena of the issues involved. Where possible, they will be linked to significant international events.
The first of these events launched the programme in London on September 23rd 2004. We were delighted that President Gorbachev agreed to be the focus of this, which included a number of associated school and media events. At a public meeting, he addressed problems of ‘Global Security in the 21st Century’. The media coverage we obtained was extremely good and extensive, not only on UK radio and television, but also in the foreign press world-wide.

High-profile events such as this will be our means of reaching out to the public periodically, informing them on the truth about WMD, particularly nuclear weapons, and showing them how WMD can be abolished and a more sensible way of resolving conflict reached. Others are being planned for the future involving cultural, political, and religious figures who can reach out to specific sections of the UK population. Mohammed El Baradei will lead our second event (focussed on the NPT) in March 2005, and Bishop Desmond Tutu, Robert McNamara and Arundati Roy have already offered their services for future events.

Attendance at these events by school pupils will be encouraged; the response from schools with respect to the Gorbachev event has been very good indeed.

2. Interactive website

The research demonstrated very clearly a general lack of awareness of nuclear weapons issues, as well as of other so-called WMD - chemical and biological weapons. It also demonstrated a public need for good quality ‘unspun’ information from reliable sources. The website, www.comeclean.org.uk, which went live at midnight on 22 September - just prior to the launch event - is providing this reliable peer-reviewed information. It contains maps showing the location of WMD world wide and is interactive, enabling visitors to add their own information. It also encourages people to get involved through one of the collaborating groups. There is also wide-ranging information on WMD and special materials to back up the teaching modules (see below).

The frequency of visits to the site exceeded not only our expectations, but also those of the commercial web design company that helped us put it together. We have also had many positive comments on the site from colleagues from all over the world.

3. Curriculum development

The programme is providing teaching materials to fit with the UK school Citizenship Curriculum. We have aimed the material at 14 - 16 year olds. The modules cover aspects of global security and WMD, particularly nuclear weapons. Through this aspect of the programme, we have an opportunity to implement the recommendations of the UN Study on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. The material is designed to encourage pupils to find out about WMD, who has them, the effects of the different kinds of WMD, the treaties surrounding them, and to promote discussion and debate on the moral and social questions around these issues.

Six modules have been written by a professional consultant and these are being trialled in the coming academic year. Taking on board the feedback from teachers on these trials, the package will be re-evaluated and modified as appropriate, and distributed in good time to be used widely in the following academic year. We will also hold workshops for teachers of the Citizenship Curriculum to guide our approach.

Programme funding

Funding for the programme has come from a number of sources: The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Greenpeace UK, British and International Pugwash, Network for Social Change, the Institute of Law and Peace, and two very generous anonymous donations. A recent further grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust has assured the project for the next twelve months.

Summary

This collaborative programme between 14 concerned NGOs aims to raise public awareness of nuclear weapons issues and of alternative ways of achieving real security in the 21st century.

From small beginnings, we have made major strides over the past twelve months. Central has been the mapping of the psychological and social landscape of the nuclear weapons issue. This has informed our formulation of a public communications strategy that we are now implementing. Our professionally-designed website, a central element of our strategy, went live at midnight on 22nd September 2004. The programme itself was launched on 23rd September 2004 by a public meeting in London at which President Gorbachev initiated a new debate on how we can achieve global security in the 21st century.

This event will be followed by other high profile media events to periodically raise public consciousness on WMD (specifically nuclear weapons) issues, events which will be backed up by reliable information on the continually developing web site. In the periods between these events, we will be working also through contacts in the media and parliament to continue to bring the issues to the fore in ways that will impinge on the public’s awareness. Finally, we are producing six teaching modules on aspects of WMD and international security which are about to be trialled in a number of schools.

In addition to the specific programme itself, this work has, through trying to develop and use new thinking and approaches to the nuclear weapons issue, been instrumental in reinvigorating parts of the concerned NGO community. With core funding assured for the next twelve months, we are in an excellent position to maintain the momentum that the programme has created and to begin to implement the main phase of the programme at this critical time.

John Finney
Robert Hinde