current films

for nuclear disarmament

A video site for 2010 showing the weight, depth and breadth of expert opinion

that is behind the US-led global nuclear disarmament initiative

“The accelerating spread of nuclear weapons, nuclear
know-how and nuclear materials has brought us to a nuclear tipping-point…..
we call for a global effort to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons…and ultimately
to end them as a threat to the world.” George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, William Perry, Sam Nunn, Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2008

Rt. Hon. Shirley Williams

leading British politician and Harvard academic

Member of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND)

Lorna Arnold
former official historian for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA); she is a leading authority on the history of the British nuclear power and weapons programmes; co-author with the late Professor Margaret Gowing of the two-volume “Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy, 1945-1952”, and has published three histories of Britain’s nuclear weapon programme; she is a Fellow of the Institute of Contemporary British History, the Institute of Physics (London), and the Society for Radiological Protection; on 12 December 2009 she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Reading in recognition of her contributions to the history of science.
(new on December 14)

Dr. Frank Barnaby
nuclear physicist by training, who worked at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston, in the 1950s, he is one of the few people who have witnessed an atomic explosion;
he is a world expert on civil and military nuclear technology, and a prolific author; former Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and Executive Secretary of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs;
Emeritus Nuclear Consultant to the
Oxford Research Group (ORG).

Professor Keith Barnham
Emeritus Professor of Physics and Senior Research Investigator in the Physics Department at Imperial College London; he founded and leads the Quantum Photovoltaics (solar electricity) Group which was shortlisted for the prestige international award the “Eni Italgas Prize for Energy and Environment” in 2006; previously he had carried out a study with colleagues into plutonium production in UK
civil nuclear reactors and published a
ground-breaking work on the subject.
(film forthcoming on January 12)

General Sir Hugh Beach
former Master General of the Ordnance, Warden of St. George’s House, Windsor Castle, and Director of the Council for Arms Control; currently on the boards of the Council for Christian Approaches to Defence, the Centre for Defence Studies (King's College London), the Verification Technology Information Centre (VERTIC), the International Security Information Service (ISIS), and the British Pugwash Group, and co-author of its recent report on The Management of Separated Plutonium in the UK; he is a prominent critic of the UK Government’s plans to renew its Trident nuclear weapon system.

Rt Hon Des Browne, MP
a British Labour politician; former Defence Secretary, and Scottish Secretary under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown; he announced recently that he is to step down at the next general election in order to spend more time working towards the goals of multilateral disarmament and conflict resolution; he is convenor of the recently formed Top Level Group for Multilateral Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.
(new on December 11)

Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala
is a diplomat for the UN and the Sri Lankan government; he has a leadership role in many
highly respected international NGOs and think
tanks, including Pugwash, recipients of the
1995 Nobel Peace Prize; he chaired the pivotal
1995 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference; his expertise is widely sought by governments and NGOs world-wide.
(new on December 17)

Dr. Scilla Elworthy
Niwano Peace Prize laureate 2003. Founder-
director of both Oxford Research Group and
Peace Direct; consultant on The Elders
Initiative; member of the World Futures
Council; author, ‘British Nuclear Weapons
Policy: Why it has not changed with the
end of the Cold War’ (1992 doctoral thesis
for the University of Bradford).

Mark Fitzpatrick, IISS
Senior Fellow for Non–proliferation and Disarmament at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London; former Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for Non-Proliferation
at the US State Department.

Tim Hare (RN Ret’d)
Former Royal Navy weapons systems engineer,
and involved for much of his career in the operation, acquisition and support of the UK strategic nuclear deterrent, including service in the Polaris submarine
HMS RESOLUTION, and latterly as Director
Nuclear Policy at the UK Ministry of Defence
(MoD). He is currently a defence consultant
and commentator on UK nuclear deterrent issues.

Paul Ingram, BASIC
Executive Director, the British-American
Security Information Council (BASIC);
former co-leader (Green Party) of Oxford
City Council, and formerly senior researcher
for the Oxford Research Group (ORG).

Dr. Farhang Jahanpour
British-Iranian academic; tutor in Middle Eastern politics and religion in the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford; Associate of the Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research (TFF); former Editor for Middle East & North Africa at the BBC Monitoring Service;
former professor and dean of the Faculty of Languages at the University of Isfahan.

Dr. Rebecca Johnson a leading expert on non-proliferation and disarmament negotiations within the United
Nations; co-founder & Executive Director of the
Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, and editor of its journal Disarmament Diplomacy; former Vice Chair of the Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; and senior advisor to the Hans Blix Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission.

Bruce Kent
former Catholic priest and veteran British peace campaigner; founder and Chair of the Movement for the Abolition of War; Vice-President, Pax Christi; honorary vice-president, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; and past President of the International Peace Bureau.

Dr. Jeremy Leggett
leading British environmentalist and energy
expert; Founder and CEO of Solarcentury,
SolarAid and New Energies Invest AG;
member of the UK Government’s Renewables Advisory Board; former Chief Scientist for
Greenpeace International.

Dr. Patricia Lewis
a nuclear physicist by training, she is Deputy Director and Scientist-in-Residence at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies; previously she was Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva; and before that Director of the Verification Research and Training Centre (VERTIC)
(film forthcoming on January 12)

Dr. Caroline Lucas, MEP
Green Party Member of the European Parliament for South-East England, and principal Speaker for the UK Green Party. She is vice President of Stop the War Coalition, and a CND National Council Member. She is co-author of the pamphlet ‘Taking the Cons out of the Constitution and Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto’.

Lord Ramsbotham
retired senior British Army officer; cross bench member of the House of Lords; prominent critic of the UK Government plans to renew its Trident nuclear weapon system.

Lord Rees of Ludlow
Master of Trinity College and Professor of
Cosmology and Astrophysics and at the University
of Cambridge; and President of the Royal Society of London; he was appointed to the House of Lords
as a non-party-political peer in 2005; he holds the honorary title of Astronomer Royal and also
Visiting Professor at Imperial College London
and at Leicester University.
(new on December 11)

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, MP
prominent British Conservative politician; Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea; Secretary of State for Defence from 1992–95, and Foreign Secretary from 1995–97; member of the recently formed cross party UK Top Level Group for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and
Non-Proliferation.

Dr. Nick Ritchie
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Disarmament Research Centre, University of Bradford, and lead researcher on the Nuclear-armed Britain programme; previously researcher at the Oxford Research Group (ORG); author of “Deterrence Dogma? Challenging the Relevance of British Nuclear Weapons”, International Affairs (Jan 2009), and “US Nuclear Weapons Policy Since the End
of the Cold War” (Routledge, 2008)
(new on December 19)

Professor Paul Rogers
Professor of Peace Studies at the University
of Bradford, Global Security Consultant to the
Oxford Research Group (ORG), and International Security Editor for openDemocracy.net; a world
authority on international security, arms control and political violence, he is a prolific author
and media commentator.

Clare Short, MP
prominent former Labour Party British politician; currently independent Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood; Secretary of State for International Development, 1997 - 2003, she resigned in protest against the invasion of
Iraq without a proper UN mandate.

Baroness Williams of Crosby
prominent British Liberal Democrat politician and Harvard academic; adviser to the British Prime Minister on nuclear proliferation issues; former Liberal Democrat Leader of the House of Lords; member of the Australian & Japanese
government’s International Commission on
Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND).

General Lord Ramsbotham

Senior British army officer and cross-bench member

of the House of Lords

Mark Fitzpatrick

former senior Sate Department official;

International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)

Dr. Farhang Jahanpour

British-Iranian academic, University of Oxford

SEE ALL THE FILMS IN THE FIRST SERIES ON TalkWorks DEDICATED
YOUTUBE CHANNEL

read full transcript.pdf

General Sir Hugh Beach
senior UK adviser on defence policy, arms control
and disarmament

Clare Short, MP

British politician; former Labour Cabinet Minister and Secretary of State for International Development

Films of personal interviews with leading politicians, diplomats, military experts, global security analysts,
scientists and other specialists from a range of different backgrounds and perspectives who are making
common cause in support of the US-led initiative to rid the world of nuclear weapons  Read Barack Obama’s Prague Speech of 5 April 2009
Click here to see and hear it on YouTube

Bruce Kent

Founder and chair of the Movement for the Abolition of War

Dr. Rebecca Johnson

The Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, London

What is TalkWorks?

TalkWorks

is an independent, non-commercial film project set up to communicate to the widest possible audience the voices of leading international policy makers and experts who are supporting the US-led initiative for global nuclear disarmament.

TalkWorks

makes short films for the internet of prominent politicians, diplomats, scientists, and military and global security experts speaking from their personal perspective on how the goal of a nuclear weapon-free world may be achieved. The films offer important insights from a range of disciplines and political and national backgrounds.

There is a common consensus now that nuclear proliferation poses at least as great a threat to the world as climate change, that world leaders have to address as a matter of urgency in the critical period leading up to the May 2010 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review conference, and beyond.

TalkWorks

Our films aim to promote a better understanding of an overriding global issue which concerns and baffles most thoughtful citizens. We hope the viewer will be inspired to follow President Obama’s lead, and join in the global effort to help make the world a safer and saner place free of nuclear threats for future generations.

~ follow this link to ‘Stepping down the Nuclear Ladder:  Options for Trident on a Path to Zero’, Nick Ritchie, May 2009

Dr. Nick Ritchie
of Bradford University
Disarmament Research Centre

“Although we averted a nuclear nightmare during the Cold War, we now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches.”
President Barack Obama
chairing the
United Nations Security Council
September 24th, 2009

~ follow this link to the December 2009 Report of the Commission,
‘Eliminating Nuclear Weapons: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers’