CHAIN REACTION: A BOLD FUTURE | Virtual Program

The history of nuclear weapons is wrought with heedless warnings and failed safeguards. Norms against nuclear proliferation and use that have defined global security for decades are now at risk, and we face the most challenging and complex geopolitical environment since the founding of Ploughshares over 40 years ago.

Ploughshares is uniquely positioned to guide the nuclear field through these crises using the lessons learned from our decades of experience and applying strategies to uncover new, longer-lasting solutions to the world’s greatest problem. Together, through innovative thinking, we can envision a bold future in which nuclear weapons can never be used again.

A series of events so related that each one initiates the next is known as a chain reaction. Every year we gather leaders in our field, devoted partners, and new advocates to generate bold ideas and strategies to advance policies to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons. You—and every new ally you introduce to Ploughshares Fund—represent critical innovators of change.

Program

William D. Hartung, Emcee

William (Bill) D. Hartung is a senior research fellow at The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military Industrial Complex. He has a Forbes column, and his articles have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, Defense One, The Hill, Inkstick, and numerous other outlets. And as if that wasn’t impressive enough, he does stand-up comedy in New York City and Washington, DC.

Annie Jacobsen, author of Nuclear War: A Scenario

She is a New York Times Best-Seller, has written seven other books on sensitive national security issues; was a 2016 Pulitzer Prize Finalist; and writes and produces TV shows such as Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series. Legendary Entertainment LLC has optioned her latest book for a new project under the direction of Dune director Denis Villeneuve.

Barbara Slavin, Journalist

Barbara Slavin is a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and a lecturer in international affairs at George Washington University. Prior to joining Stimson, she founded and directed the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council and led a bi-partisan task force on Iran. She is the author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the US and the Twisted Path to Confrontation, and she is a regular commentator on US foreign policy and Iran on NPR, PBS, and C-Span.

Preview of the award-winning documentary, First We Bombed New Mexico

Remarks by Lois Lipman, Director

Music by Paul Pino

The documentary tells the story of thousands of New Mexicans, primarily Hispanic and Native Americans, who were exposed to radioactive fallout without being warned, acknowledged, or helped afterward. The documentary has been screened at film festivals nationwide and won over a dozen awards including The Best of Fest Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, The Activist Award at the Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival, and The Best New Mexico Documentary Feature at the Santa Fe International Film Festival.

Additional program details to be announced.