Review by Steven Waling
Warheads to Windmills – Timmon Wallis
The Atlas of Disarmament – Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung
These two new publications are going to be really good resources in the ongoing struggle to bring an alternative point of view to that of the militarised mindset of a lot of the world around us. They both bring a mountain of facts and information to the table; but do so in reasonably accessible ways that bring the reader along.
For those of us who’s head is not tuned much to ‘information’, and for whom pacifism is as much an emotional response to war and militarism, it’s important to remember that we have alternatives to the military narrative that are cogent and realistic. For someone as untechnically minded as I am, this kind of resource is a boon.
Of the two, Warheads to Windmills is probably the most focused. It looks at the links between climate catastrophe and nuclear weapons, and how activism against one needs also be activism against the other. This review is of the summary of a much larger book (available from the Quaker Bookshop in the UK), which goes into much greater detail; but the summary does a good job of introducing many of the salient points relating to the issue.
For instance, it talks about preventing climate catastrophe, saying that the only solution is to move to carbon free electricity. There are suggestions about what needs to be done, and it links climate change to the possession of nuclear weapons. The online summary doesn’t go into many practical actions that ordinary people can do; but it does set out as clearly as possible what it thinks needs to be done on an international scale. For instance, it says that fossil fuels ought to be banned: something which may seem to many to be impossible at the moment to many people.
Clearly stating the problem is important, but it can see very daunting; so there are suggestions as to actions that can be taken, again on the large scale, such as encouraging more climate jobs and research into alternative forms of energy. This book makes clear what needs to be done, and what we need to be encouraging politicians to do to acheieve it.
The Atlas of Disarmament again is full of facts, diagrams and maps that help to arm the activist with information about what is going on around the world. In a series of detailed articles, you can learn, for instance, about the proliferation of minuture nuclear reactors, or the architecture of arms control, or feminist action in disarmament movements, and many other discussions. Its main focus is on disarmament; but its reach is worldwide and multi-disciplinary.
One article I liked was the one about the Group for Switzerland Without an Army, which talks about an organisation attempting to change the country that has helped to supply arms to large and small conflicts around the world, and has been attempting dialogue on disarmament for 40 years. Again, it’s heavy on information not personal stories.
These two resources are very necessary to keep us informed; but they can be daunting and overfacing. If you find yourself thinking that the task of peace is overwhelming and too big for any one person to carry, remember there are people all over the world who are working for peace, in big and small ways. If you pray or meditate, pray for peace, then go out and join your voice to those who are working toward change worldwide, even in a small way, then it makes a difference to the narrative. At the very least, we can be witnesses to a better way.
Warheads to Windmills is available to purchase from the Quaker Bookshop
The Atlas of Disarmament can be downloaded here
Categories Challenging militarism