The Helsinki Accords that helped define the European security order for nearly half-a-century emerged not from the victory or the collapse of one state or bloc, but from compromise amid heightened Cold War tensions. On the 50th anniversary of the Accords, as part of our series ‘Stories of People- and Planet-centred Cooperation’, Sean Howard explores … Continue reading “Other, more benevolent things”: Revisiting Helsinki to prevent the final act of nuclear war
Nuclear Secrecy: The UK’s common agenda with Russia and North Korea
The UK is in denial about the legacy of its Cold War nuclear weapons testing programmes as well as about the potential impact of a future nuclear war. Sean Howard sees bad faith in the new UK government’s voting record at the UN’s disarmament committee and some unsavoury partners in its campaign to maintain nuclear secrecy.
Pre-War, Post-War, Anti-War? Defence, Disarmament and Deliberative Democracy
While defence is one of the dominant issues in the 2024 general election campaign, discussion of the appalling implications of a next world war is absent. With politicians unable to grasp the possibility and necessity for change, Sean Howard argues that genuinely deliberative democracy such as citizens’ assemblies is essential to let the people decide on the UK’s future defence posture.
Hypnotized by ‘Deterrence’, or Just Spellbound by the Bomb?
2024 has begun with top-level calls to prepare our society and stock our arsenals for coming war. Sean Howard sees such hyperbole as paranoid and paradoxical if nuclear deterrence really does work. But what if it doesn’t?
Ukraine and Costa Rica: A tale of two futures?
As Europe divided into armed camps in the late 1940s, Costa Rica decisively rejected the military that had long undermined its democracy, becoming the most peaceful, prosperous and healthy state in Central America. Sean Howard believes that Europe must learn from it to achieve the unrealised dream of a “Europe whole and free”. Responding to … Continue reading Ukraine and Costa Rica: A tale of two futures?