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9. The Architecture of a Nuclear Weapon-Free World
- Rutgers University Press
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Chapter 9 The Architecture of a Nuclear Weapon–Free World My childhood pastor at St. Edna’s Catholic Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois, the Reverend James Doherty, an irascible and intimidating old Irishman, liked to tell a story about something that happened across the water from his beloved homeland many centuries ago. It was right around the turn of the thirteenth century, and a traveler was venturing across medieval France, when he stumbled upon the very beginnings of Chartres cathedral. It took a full sixty-six years to construct, from 1194 to 1260, and here it was, in its very earliest stages. The traveler approached the workers and asked, “What are you doing?” “Me?” said the first. “I’m carving stone. That’s what I do. I’m a stone carver.” “Me?” said the second. “I’m cutting glass. That’s what I do. I’m a glasscutter.” “Me?” said the third. “I’m hammering nails. That’s what I do. I’m a carpenter.” Then the traveler saw an old, old woman, tiny, hunched over, sweeping dust and debris, her hands wrapped around an ancient broom that looked like it had seen every bit as much of the hard life of medieval Europe as she had. The traveler asked, “What are you doing?” The old lady paused, and then stood up straight, all four feet, eleven inches of her, and answered, “Me? What am I doing? What does it look like I’m doing? I’m building a cathedral! A cathedral that will soar to the heavens. A cathedral that will stand for a thousand years. A cathedral that will give everlasting glory to the spirit of the divine. Come back in a couple of centuries, traveler, and see what I have wrought!” 155 CH009.qxd 2/4/10 2:12 PM Page 155 We might take any number of lessons from this tale. One is that, in many endeavors, we are engaged on undertakings that may take many years to construct, and may endure far longer still. A second is that every person has a role to play, none is a spectator, every one of us can be a part of some great collaborative undertaking. Perhaps the most crucial lesson here, however, is the importance of articulating a clear vision of what one is trying to create. You hike to the summit of a mountain step by step, but you also have a final goal. You build a house board by board, nail by nail, but you also have a blueprint. An image of the finished product. An architecture. The same is true of our strivings toward a nuclear weapon–free world. We cannot construct our cathedral, after all, unless we know what we are setting out to build. Inspections There and Here Perhaps the single most important element of any architecture of abolition, especially for Americans, needs to be put front and center at the outset. It is a point that has not occurred to 99 percent of even the informed public who think about these issues. It is a consequence of nuclear disarmament that will astound many Americans and infuriate many others. Nevertheless, incontrovertibly, it is a key aspect of abolition , and the one that offers the only possible long-range solution to the great problem of the nuclear age. If we expect other states—Iran, North Korea, any other state—to submit to intrusive inspections by international authorities, then we ourselves have to submit to intrusive inspections by international authorities . If we demand that other nations allow the outside world to show up, unannounced, at their front door, demanding to examine their most sensitive national security secrets, then we must be willing to do the same. The kind of unprecedented intrusions on sovereignty to which Iraq was forced to subject itself between 1991 and 2003 (and which, as will be discussed below, succeeded to a significant extent) are the same kind of intrusions on sovereignty to which we must eventually subject ourselves. Indeed, this point was made vividly just days before the inauguration of President Obama. On January 17, 2009, journalist Selig Harrison appeared in Beijing after one of his frequent visits to North Korea. A p o c a l y p s e N e v e r 156 CH009.qxd 2/4/10 2:12 PM Page 156 [3.238.228.237] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 11:41 GMT) He has visited there since 1972, and is one of the...