Disarmament for sustainable human development,

for a new economy and a new democratic multilateral leadership.

Com-partir (to share), is the only solution to avoid the serious social inequalities and asymmetries of all kinds that has led the globalized neoliberalism.

I insist –because it is a crucial reference in my daily-behavior- that is morally unacceptable that every day die of hunger over 20,000 people while 3 billion dollars are invested in military expenditures and armament. It would be enough with a reasonable reduction of these enormous and disproportionate figures to quickly and substantially increase endogenous, sustainable and human development worldwide; to take care of the environmental intergenerational legacy, ensuring that the irreversible deterioration of the habitability of Earth does not take place; to promote international cooperation in order to put into practice the implementation of the major priorities of the United Nations (food, water, health, ecology, education, peace ...); and, above all, to make it possible the "new beginning" that advocates the Earth Charter.

All human beings equal in dignity. Every unique human being able to create, to design their future in a process of permanent learning, so that all are "free and responsible" as masterly UNESCO defines the "educated", always acting under their own reflections and never to the dictates of others. Zero tolerance should be applied to fanaticism and dogmatism.

Wings for flying high in the times that are coming may not be burdened or present any adherence.

Facing the "deep crisis of ultra-liberalism", the Crans Montana Forum which I just attended in Brussels, aims to "put back the human being at the center of all policy and strategy”.

It is time for action, because they can be reached points of no return. And we have multiple diagnoses. Now it is time for implementing, without delay, appropriate treatment. It is urgent the refounding of the United Nations System after the inefficient and unfortunate plutocratic groups (G7, G8, G20), which were established by neoliberalism in the eighties. How could it be claimed -and being accepted- that 6, 7, 8 ... 20 countries guide the destinies of 193? And above all, the "democratic principles"-that with such accuracy and vision establishes the Constitution of UNESCO- must be re-placed where the Republican Party of the United States, in its hegemonic ambitions placed the commercial laws with the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as obedient acolyte.

Now, in the digital era, it is already possible that "We the peoples ...", silent and obedient from immemorial time, raise the voice and actively participate. Now, with the woman progressively incorporated into the decision-making process, it is possible the impossible dream of emancipation of humanity until a few years ago.

Now we can foresee in the cyberspace great popular outcries for radical changes that are needed urgently. Fortunately, the “star wars” in outer space will not occur. It will be in the "digital" space where the “new peace”, the great transition from force to word, from a culture of imposition, domination and violence to a culture of encounter, dialogue, reconciliation and peace will take place.

How can Europe, the great “emigrant continent”, refuse immigrants now? How can hinder their access rather than strengthen development aid for a decent life in their origin countries? Why not quickly completing their constitutional structure with a political and economic union? How can it be accepted that the expected Europe-lighthouse has been stopped and confined to a monetary union? Why Europe follows the guidelines issued by the Republican Party, when President Obama himself, for the good of his country, put them aside?

Convincing voices (female, by the way) rose in Brussels to demand urgently appropriate solidarity, the substitution by ethical values of the stock-market ones.

In Brussels I warned –once again!- that if there is no evolution there will be revolution, and that the difference between these two words is the "r" of responsibility. Let us stop following the irresponsible and, urgently, facilitate the transition from an economy based on speculation, production delocalization and war to an economy of sustainable and human development. From a culture of war to a culture of peace, led by a democratic and efficient multilateralism. 

The best solution -though we have to overcome the immense inertia of those who cling to perverse adage "If you want peace, prepare for war"- is disarmament (including, of course, nuclear), applying a fair part of the colossal means dedicated to security to the development of all countries so equal dignity and quality of life become a reality in all of them.

Disarmament for development: that simple. In order to do it the United Nations refoundation is needed urgently. The solution exists. There is lack of courage and leadership in order to apply it.

Nuclear Disarmament Now!

We cannot live nor even another day with the "sword of Damocles" of a nuclear explosion. So far the "peoples" have been silent, silenced, frightened, obedient and submissive. Now, suddenly, they can express themselves freely, they may disagree, they can comment without restrictions. There is much urgency to tackle: hunger, social inequalities, environmental degradation ... But one transcends, one is more urgent than others: disarmament, beginning with nuclear.

A humanity that realizes that only 20% of its members live in the "prosperous neighborhood" of the global village, while 4 out of 5 people on Earth live or survive in progressive gradients of poverty, living terrified because around 4,000 million dollars were invested in daily military expenditure and weapons while about 50,000 people die every day starving and helpless, more of them children from one to five years of age, and sees with great concern how the habitability of the planet, the common house deteriorates and cannot, should not, continue tolerating another day the atomic threat.

Today, without delay, let’s type our rejection on our computers and mobile phones. Let’s get a global outcry against nuclear weapons and all unnecessary weapons and guns. We plead for the refoundation of an effective United Nations so that, at last, peace prevails on security, and the word finally prevails over force.

(To Jean Jacques Lafaye, for his tenacity
and courage in the fight against nuclear danger)

Disarmament and modernization of Defense strategies

Bravo! At last the Spanish Ministry of Defense has reacted and has risen to the demands of democratic governance: "We shouldn’t have acquired systems that we are not going to use, with money that we didn’t have", declared the Secretary of State for Defense in August, 2011. To honor commitments and alliances –especially NATO, which should for once and for all be channeled into a European security system, allied with but not dependent on the U.S— particularly under the previous administration, Spain acquired large stocks of weapons that we neither needed nor could pay for. They are weapons “for conflict situations that no longer exist".

Giving the pertinent orders to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, over a year ago President Obama announced the design and implementation of a new security strategy to address more quickly and efficiently new types of conflicts, which since the Viet Nam War have proven to require new modes of combat and materiel.

But the power of the huge war machine industry is not so easily dissuaded.

A year ago (September 13, 2010) the International Herald Tribune warned of the negative effect that global recession would have on the arms trade. In 2009 there was a 8.5% decline and “only” 57,500 million dollars worth were sold. The U.S. represents 40% of the world’s market. The best clients are the countries of the Middle East and Asia. (Where do the Gulf States put so many aircraft?) Because almost simultaneously, the largest contract for airplanes ever signed was announced with Saudi Arabia: 60 billion dollars.

After the U.S., the biggest arms merchants are Germany, Italy, China and the United Kingdom.

Right now the Pentagon is calculating whether it will finally be possible to produce the F-35, the most expensive military aircraft in history, to be manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The Pentagon still intends to purchase 2,443 F-35 within the next 25 years, for a total of 382 billion dollars. The Secretary of Defense has warned that there must still be further cuts in materiel and logistics, and that the U.S. cannot continue to assume 75% of NATO’s costs. The European allies invest a maximum of 2% of their GDP in military spending, while in the U.S. it is 5%.

Weapons arsenals have historically been perceived as an indication of a nation’s security. Security that is indeed important, but which is normally considered as the opposite of peace. “If you want peace, prepare for war...".

The time has come to prepare for peace. To “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war", in the words of the Preamble to the United Nations Charter.

New strategies... ceasing to sell or to oblige others to buy expensive weapons for out-dated wars.

Arms! Arms! Can nothing mitigate the shameful hunger, the collective embarrassment of extreme poverty, neglect and indifference? And on a worldwide scale, as if it were unquestionable, security receives thousands and thousands of millions, while peace and human dignity are tossed a few scraps, and more from charity and the kindness of citizens than from justice, as the duty of the State.

Lately the use of unmanned combat planes, the "drones" is being considered. Drones and hunger! Death by hunger, death by drones. By hunger, every day. By drones, once in a while.

The famine in the Horn of Africa had been foreseen. Warnings from institutions of the United Nations System and NGOs have been falling on deaf ears for quite some time... But nothing. Nothing can stop the immense war machine, one of the fundamental pillars of the “great domain".
The use of unmanned aerial systems has resulted in a situation in present conflicts in which rather than soldiers, the victims are principally civilians. And according to The Economist (July 30, 2011) in the last few years the Pentagon has increased its production of drones by 13 times (a minimum of an additional 5 billion dollars annually). They say that armies will progressively use machines instead of people. Predator and Reaper drones, equipped with the latest technology and controlled from thousands of miles away can undoubtedly be useful in many conflicts, and especially against terrorism... provided that the lives of the civilians in the countries in which they are deployed are considered to have the same value as the lives of soldiers of the countries that use them.

I believe it is appropriate to include here a paragraph from Paul Kennedy’s book “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers”: "…wealth is usually needed to support the military power and the military power to acquire and protect wealth. If, however, too large a portion of the state's resources is diverted from wealth creation and allocated instead to military purposes, then that is likely to lead to a weakening of national power over the longer term. In the same way, if a State overextends itself strategically --by, say, the conquest of extensive territories or the waging of costly wars-- it runs the risk that the potential benefits from external expansion may be outweighed by the great expense of it all, a dilemma which becomes acute if the nation concerned has entered a period of relative economic decline"...

So, bravo for the clarity with which the Spanish Defense Minister has begun making “cuts” that may, in addition to having beneficial internal effects, contribute to putting the “great military domain” in its place... With renewable energies we will soon tame the “great energy domain"... And later the media domain, and the economic domain...

Yes: with the help of virtual mobilization, we may very well be on the verge of the “era of the people".

DISARMAMENT AT LAST

At the end of the 1980s, the Reykjavik agreements, the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin wall suggested that nuclear threats and the arms race might progressively give way to a rethinking of war strategies and therefore of the armament necessary to address news types of conflicts. This would likewise leave a broad margin for the “dividends of peace”.

But that was not the case. To the contrary, “globalization” replaced democratic values with the laws of the marketplace, and the world’s most prosperous countries (G-7, G-8…) ostracized the United Nations to the point of placing the World Trade Organization beyond its scope.

The result has been resounding economic failure and the world as a whole has been thrust into a multidimensional crisis (social, economic, environmental, nutritional, democratic, ethical), with military spending that surpasses 3 billion dollars daily, while at the same time approximately 70,000 people die of hunger and abandonment, half of them under five years of age.

The latter period of the Bush administration –invasion of Iraq, missile shield proposal, etc.- resulted in ever-increasing expenditures in armament, while the number of persons who live in hunger and poverty likewise rose.

For all of the above,

Having observed with surprise and indignation the “rescue” of financial institutions with hundreds of billions of dollars, while funds for the Millennium Objectives have practically dried up,

We want to express our support for President Obama:

1. For having taken the lead in nuclear disarmament, as he unexpectedly indicated in Prague and later ratified when presiding at the Security Council session on September 24, 2009. At this meeting, a reduction in nuclear arsenals was unanimously passed.

2. For having decided to cancel the antimissile shield program, which the US administration had planned to install in Europe.

3. For having initiated a new defense policy, which at least partially replaces conventional weapons (airplanes, submarines, tanks, etc.) for those that not only can address threats today, but also avoid them, by detecting them on time.

We therefore underscore the urgent necessity:

1. To provide international security through the United Nations, with all of the measures they require for the rapid and efficient deployment of Blue Helmets.

2. To urgently review the contractual obligations in existing military alliances, to reduce acquisition of weapons for “traditional” conflicts, which have recently reactivated the “arms market” both in Latin America and the Eastern countries.

3. With the funds no longer required for these huge investments in military spending, we must reactivate international cooperation, so that it can replace the largely war-based economy with sustainable global development (renewable energies, food production, production and distribution of water, health, transportation, housing…)

4. We make this appeal to strengthen existing disarmament initiatives at the global level, and especially in the preparation of the Conference on the Nuclear Non Proliferation treaty, which is set to take place in the spring of 2010.

5. Likewise, to establish adequate conflict resolution mechanisms, with the necessary criteria for follow-up, control and accountability, and with the participation of all parties concerned, which would enable the United Nations to establish international objectives and priorities, and develop programs with which they may be achieved.