Ahead of a special conference next weekend, CND chair Kate Hudson explains why Europe may have turned the corner on missile defence
ALL eyes are on Barack Obama at the moment. Not only are there huge expectations, but there are also serious attempts going on to influence his agenda and help shape the world in the years to come. The peace movement – in the United States and internationally – is no exception to that. There are many issues on the wish list, but one where we think we stand a chance of success is US missile defence. There are a number of reasons why this is a cause for reasonable optimism.
First, President Obama is seeking to take a number of foreign and defence policy initiatives, all of which depend on a good working relationship with Russia. Ending the obsession of George W Bush’s administration with missile defence, and ending plans for bases in the Czech Republic and Poland, would enormously improve the situation. It would open the way to a renewal of the START treaty, to the removal of nuclear weapons from high alert status, to big bilateral reductions in US-Russian nuclear arsenals and, ultimately, to nuclear abolition – all of which Obama has stated that he wants.
Second, the new President has already expressed hesitation about pressing ahead with the system since he was elected. Although he hasn’t explicitly opposed it, the conditions he places on it seem to be almost prohibitive, not least that it has to be “proven to work” which has not yet happened; and that it must not be expensive. I don’t think either of those is happening any time soon.
It is also notable that after Obama spoke with Polish President Lech Kaczynski – following his election success – Kaczynski claimed that Obama said that missile defence would continue. An Obama spokesperson subsequently announced that the President-elect had not made such a commitment to it.
But opposition to US missile defence is not just something that the peace movement opposes. There is substantial mainstream political opposition in Europe, not least from social democratic parties in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and elsewhere. And it is also a cross party issue, too.
One of the most interesting recent statements of opposition has come from four major German political figures: former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (a Social Democrat); former President Richard von Weizsacker (Christian Democrat); former Minister for Special Affairs Egon Bahr (Social Democrat); and former Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher (Free Democrat). In a statement specifically timed to send a message to the incoming Obama administration, they not only called for global nuclear disarmament, they also called for the restoration of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. This was the treaty which banned missile defence systems and from which the US withdrew in 2002 in order to build one.
European stability which, they argue, was strong enough to survive German reunification and the collapse of the east, “would be jeopardised for the first time by the American desire to station missiles and a radar system on extra-territorial bases in Poland and the Czech Republic on Nato’s eastern border.” The restoration of the ABM treaty is key, in their view, to preventing a return to the era of confrontation.
All these issues will be discussed by politicians and activists from across Europe at CND’s conference Europe Against US Missile Defence to be held at SOAS, University of London, on Saturday January 31. Speakers will include: Michael Connarty MP; Jeremy Corbyn MP; Jean Lambert MEP; Walter Kolbow MP (SPD, Germany); Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz MP (SLD, Poland); Monika Knoche MP (Die Linke, Germany); Jana Glivicka (Ne Zakladnam, Czech Republic); Filip Ilkowski (Inicjatywz Stop Wojnie, Poland) and many other activists from across Europe.
