Reducing the Threat of Nuclear War 2024

We are in a period of unusual danger and difficulty: The Russia/Ukraine conflict has sharply increased the danger of nuclear war; The tragic Israel/Gaza Conflict threatens to expand; The Pentagon budget is higher than ever and still going up; Cold Warriors in high places are beating the drums of war toward Russia and China; Within the US right wing forces are working to weaken voting rights and representative democracy. This annual Conference is an effort to find social, economic and political paths away from the war economy and toward peace and nuclear disarmament. The Breakouts provide small focused working groups to plan steps forward.

Agenda

2:00: Welcome: MLK Jr and our tasks- Jonathan King (MIT and Mass Peace Action)

2:05 Dangers: Chair Susan Mirsky (Mass Peace Action)

1. Nuclear Winter – Alan Robock (Rutgers University)
2. Folly of Replacing ICBMs- David Borris (Chicago Area Peace Action)
3. Dangers from Ukraine/Russia Conflict – Medea Benjamin (CODEPINK)
4. Dangers from Israel/Gaza Conflict – Trita Parsi (Quincy Institute)

3:00 Unsustainable Costs: Chair Dave Pack – (PeaceWorks Kansas City)

1. Nuclear Weapons Budgets – Lindsay Koshgarian (Institute for Policy Studies)
2. Human Costs of the War Economy – Shailly Gupta Barnes (Kairos Center & Poor Peoples Campaign)

3:30 Congressional Battlegrounds:

1. Supporting the Congressional Progressive Caucus – Larry Cohen (Our Revolution national Chair)
2. Prospects for Change in the House – Rep. Ro Khanna

4:00 Breakouts: [List Below]

5:00 Major Grassroots Campaigns: Chair Cole Harrison (Mass Peace Action)

1. Poor Peoples Campaign 40 Weeks of Moral/Political Action – Rev. Savina Martin (Mass Poor Peoples Campaign)
2. Back from the Brink – Dr. Ira Helfand (Physicians for Social Responsibility)
3. Fund HealthCare Not Warfare – Jonathan King (Mass Peace Action)
4. Ceasefire Now! – Marcy Winograd (CODEPINK).

Breakouts

A). Building Local Back from the Brink Campaigns – Dave Pack (Kansas City Peaceworks); Jeremy Love (Back from the Brink); Jackie Cabasso (Mayors for Peace).

B). Building Progressive State Political Coalitions – Martha Karchere (Our Revolution MA); Russell Freedman (Progressive Dems of America); State Rep. Mike Connolly (Massachusetts); Roger Quindell (Milwaukee Veterans for Peace); Cynthia Silva Parker (M-APoor Peoples Campaign).

C). Campus Organizing and Nuclear Disarmament Curricula  – Prof. Steve Slaner (Northern Essex Community College); Prof. Gary Goldstein (Tufts Univ); Prof. Stewart Prager (Physicists Coalition); Prof. ?Ceasar McDowell (MIT Urban Studies); Lynne Hall (Mass Peace Action).

D). Defending the Squad and Building the Progressive Caucus – Amanda Nichols (Our Revolution); Larry Cohen (Our Revolution); Andrew King (Citizens for Public Schools).

E). Opposing Militarism At Home – Nancy Goldner (Racial Justice Actin Group, Mass Peace Action); Keith Harvey (AFSC); Gerry Gorman (Chicago Area Peace Action).

F). Direct Actions including Divestment –Susan Mirsky, Peter Bergel (Salem, Oregon); David Swanson (World Beyond War).

G). Following up on the TPNW Conference – Joe Gerson (CPPDCS); Cherrill Spencer (WILPF); Kevin Martin (National Peace Action); State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (Mass).

H). Joining the Ceasefire Now Movement – Raytheon, Gaza, and Nuclear Weapons – Paul Shannon (AFSC); Jasmine Owens (Win Without War); Hayat Imam (MAPA); Glen Cote (Mass Peace Action); Aaron Shakow (Harvard Medical School)

I). New Dangers from Tactical Nuclear Weapons – Richard Krushnic (Mass Peace Action), Dan Shaw (Newton Dialogues on Peace and War); Elaine Scarry (Harvard Univ).

J). Pressing for Ceasefire in Ukraine – Nicolas Davies (co-author of Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict); Jackie Dee King (Mass Peace Action); John Ratliff (Mass Senior Action); Brian Garvey (Mass Peace Action).

K). Promoting State Legislation:  Bonnie Gorman (Veterans for Peace, MAPA), State Rep Carol Doherty (Massachusetts); Kathleen Hamill (Warheads to Windmills).

L). Relations with Catholic Organizations – Peter Metz (Mass Peace Action); Mike Moran (Pax Christi); Claire Schaeffer-Duffy (Catholic Worker).

M). Rotary Clubs and Related Civic Organizations – Fran Jeffries (Rotary International); Ann Frisch (Rotary International); Kathie Malley-Morrison (Mass Peace Action).

N). Warheads to Windmills– Timmon Wallis (Nuclear Ban, US); Vickie Elson (Nuclear Ban, US); John MacDougall (350.org).

O). Working with Communities of Faith –John Bach (Cambridge Quakers), Rev. Savina Martin (Poor Peoples Campaign); Nicholas Colluras (MIT Chaplains); Cathy Murphy (Minnesota Peace Project).

P). Working with Nurses and Public Health orgs; Sandy Eaton (MassCARE); Catherine DeLorey (Fund Healthcare not Warfare); Dr. Bob Gould (Am Public Health Assn Peace Caucus); Jonathan King (Mass Peace Action); Mateo Krumholz (University of Minnesota).