Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, joins us to discuss the current risks of nuclear war, policies that can reduce the risks of nuclear conflict, and how to move towards a nuclear weapons free world.

Topics discussed in this episode include:

-The current nuclear weapons geopolitical situation-The risks and mechanics of accidental and intentional nuclear war-Policy proposals for reducing the risks of nuclear war-Deterrence theory-The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons-Working towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons

You can find the page for this podcast here: https://futureoflife.org/2021/01/21/beatrice-fihn-on-the-total-elimination-of-nuclear-weapons/

Timestamps: 

0:00 Intro4:28 Overview of the current nuclear weapons situation6:47 The 9 nuclear weapons states, and accidental and intentional nuclear war9:27 Accidental nuclear war and human systems12:08 The risks of nuclear war in 2021 and nuclear stability17:49 Toxic personalities and the human component of nuclear weapons23:23 Policy proposals for reducing the risk of nuclear war23:55 New START Treaty25:42 What does it mean to maintain credible deterrence26:45 ICAN and working on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons28:00 Deterrence theoretic arguments for nuclear weapons32:36 The reduction of nuclear weapons, no first use, removing ground based missile systems, removing hair-trigger alert, removing presidential authority to use nuclear weapons39:13 Arguments for and against nuclear risk reduction policy proposals46:02 Moving all of the United State's nuclear weapons to bombers and nuclear submarines48:27 Working towards and the theory of the total elimination of nuclear weapons1:11:40 The value of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons1:14:26 Elevating activism around nuclear weapons and messaging more skillfully1:15:40 What the public needs to understand about nuclear weapons1:16:35 World leaders' views of the treaty1:17:15 How to get involved

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