Some presentations,
papers and meeting reports are available in the section Meetings.
Coming
Soon:
"Report of
the Working Group on the Management of Separated Plutonium in the UK,"
British Pugwash Group, by General Sir Hugh Beach, Dr Ian Crossland,
Prof Roger Cowley, Dr Jack Harris (died 3 Febrary 2009), Dr Christopher
Watson (forthcoming)
The forthcoming
report recognises the need for a carefully-planned strategy for the
management of the UK’s stockpile of separated plutonium and explores
plutonium management options.
The Role of Independent
Scientists in WMD Threat Assessment, by Prof. John Finney and Prof.
Ivo Slaus (eds). NATO Science for Peace Series (forthcoming).
This book
includes contributions from some of the world's leading experts on independent
scientific advising on WMD issues. It is the outcome of a joint British
Pugwash-Croatian Pugwash workshop in Zagreb, November 2008.
Now
available:
Annual Report of
the Executive Committee 2008 - 2009, British Pugwash.
This report
highlights the recent achievements of British Pugwash. Please click
here.
Ending War: A Recipe
by Robert Hinde.
'Not this year, not in my
lifetime, perhaps in yours, and with a strong probability in my grandchildren's
lifetimes, war will be seen as an unacceptable way of settling disputes
between states. The aim of this book is to hasten the day.' Robert Hinde.
Click
here for the full text.
Note: In addition to
being available here as an HTML version, a printed copy of this book
is available from the British Pugwash Office for £5.00 (including
postage). Please send cheque to British Pugwash, Bell Pugwash 13, 63A
Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3BJ.
"Trident: White
Elephant or Black Hole?" by Gen. Sir Hugh Beach
"Britain
has possessed its own nuclear weapons for just over fifty years and
is laying plans to keep them going for the next half-century. Hugh Beach
argues that there are better things to spend government money on and
the Trident replacement programme should be cancelled." RUSI
Journal, February 2009, Vol. 154 No. 1 pp. 36–43. Click here
for a PDF of
this article. Please click here for more information about RUSI.
"UK does not need
a nuclear deterrent: Nuclear weapons must not be seen to be vital to the
secure defence of self-respecting nations", by Field Marshal Lord
Bramall, General Lord Ramsbotham, General Sir Hugh Beach (member
BPG Executive Committee)
UK senior
retired military leaders say "Nuclear
weapons have shown themselves to be completely useless as a deterrent
to the threats and scale of violence we currently, or are likely to,
face.."
Letter, The
Times (London) 16 January 2009, (click
here)
Related articles:
"Trident nuclear
deterrent: Former generals call for scrapping of British weapons,"
16 January, Daily Telegraph (click
here)
"Generals in 'scrap
Trident' call," BBC, 16 January 2009 (click
here)
"Trident nuclear
missiles are £20bn waste of money, say generals," Guardian,
16 January 2009 (click
here)
Letter to the Times,
British Pugwash Chair John Finney & Deputy Chair Robert Hinde,
20 January 2009 (click
here). Finney & Hinde write:
"...Were we to
postpone a decision on renewal, we would not only save money, but
also create a space in which to assess fundamentally how the UK
can best respond to the threats of today’s world rather than of
yesterday’s."
"Trident
is ‘no bloody use’ says General", by Rob Edwards, Sunday Herald
(Glasgow), 26 April 2009. BPG Council Member Sir Hugh Beach calls for
nuclear decommissioning: "It's no bloody use. Let's not waste money
on it." (click here).
"The validity
of the rationale for UK’s possession of nuclear weapons,"
by Robert
Hinde
In this
analysis, Robert Hinde argues that 'the basic reasons that have been
given for retaining or improving our nuclear weaponry have remained
surprisingly similar across the years. By collecting Cabinet minutes
and other documents from 1945 to 1976, and adding his own comments,
Professor Peter Hennessy has provided an opportunity to show how the
arguments used now are still largely similar to those used then, and
to reflect on their continuing utility." Hinde then takes the main
categories of arguments typically provided over the years (secrecy,
deterrence, cost, prestige, intra-European issues, interdependence,
AWE, inertia, and morality/legality) and asks "Are they any more
relevant now?". January 2009 (click
here)
Professor Pugwash:
The Man Who Fought Nukes
by Kit Hill.
Written to
be read by people of all ages and with the science accessibly explained,
this biographical sketch is a delightful introduction to one of the
major figures of our times. Available from British Pugwash Office for
£10.00 (including postage). Please send cheque to British Pugwash,
Bell Pugwash 13, 63A Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3BJ. Click here
for brochure.
 Bending
the Rules: Morality in the Modern World - From Relationships to Politics
and War by Robert
A. Hinde
In this
book, which he originally began as a joint project with Joseph Rotblat,
Robert Hinde explores a deeper understanding of morality based on
the behavioural sciences, and uses this perspective to explore ways
to move toward the abolition of war. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Click here
to purchase from OUP.
 Joseph
Rotblat: Visionary for Peace, by Reiner Braun, Robert Hinde, David Krieger,
Harold Kroto and Sally Milne (editors)
This book
contains biographical articles on Jo Rotblat's work for science and
peace, and a number of commentaries by Pugwashites and other scientists,
Nobel laureates, friends and colleagues. It includes many hitherto unpublished
photographs. Wiley VCH, 2007. Click here
to purchase from Wiley.
Joseph Rotblat's Would-Be Advice to the New President, by
Sandra Ionno Butcher
On the centenary
of Joseph Rotblat's birth, director of the Pugwash History Project,
Sandra Ionno Butcher, uses quotes from Rotblat to demonstrate
the need for leadership on nuclear weapons issues from the next US president.
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (web edition, 4 November
2008). Click here.
"The
five retired military commanders suggest that a Nato policy involving
readiness to make pre-emptive strikes is necessary to counter political
fanatics and international terrorism….But a nuclear strike is unlikely
to deter a political fanatic and would be ineffective against terrorists….We
must choose between a world ruled by threat, or one ruled by law and
mutual understanding. Most of us would prefer the latter. The first
step towards it must be to take all nuclear weapons off alert and a
commitment to no first use." Robert Hinde, Chair
British Pugwash Group, The Guardian, 23 January 2008.
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