Ploughshares Monitor articles from March 1998

Ploughshares Monitor archives from March 1998

Where is the threat? (questioning the necessity for buying Upholder subs).
March 1, 1998... The head of Canada's naval forces, Vice-Admiral Greg Maddison, recently defended the decision to buy the Upholder submarines by pointing to the continuing existence of a worldwide "submarine threat." Additional reasons are often cited (see the...

More Canadian arms to human rights violators and countries at war.
March 1, 1998... After a substantial drop from the boom years of the Reagan era, the volume of Canadian military exports has levelled off in the post-Cold War period to about $1 billion per year or somewhat more than two per cent of the global arms trade. (1)...

Public supports abolition (opposition to nuclear arms).
March 1, 1998... The Canadian public strongly supports the abolition of nuclear weapons and wants the Canadian government to play a leading role in promoting a nuclear ban. According to an opinion poll conducted in February for the Canadian Peace Alliance by...

US resists landmine removal.
March 1, 1998... After failing to obtain exemptions to the Ottawa treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, the United States appears to be using other tactics to stall treaty implementation. The US is resisting demands from NATO allies that are signatories to...

Peace awards (Peace activists recognized).
March 1, 1998... Dr. Hannah Newcombe is the 1997 recipient of the Pearson Peace Medal. The United Nations Association in Canada established the Pearson Peace Medal in 1979 in honour of former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's contributions to world peace. ...

Manufacturing compliance: peacebuilding in an outlaw state: Iraq crisis '98.
March 1, 1998... "You can do a lot with diplomacy, but you can do a lot more with diplomacy backed up by firmness and force." (1) Such was the assessment of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on returning from his successful visit to Baghdad to persuade Iraq to...

1998 armed conflicts report: conflicts continue to decline.
March 1, 1998... For the second year in a row there has been a reduction in the number of armed conflicts (1) worldwide. While one in six countries continues to endure the trauma and devastation of war, during 1997 the total numbers declined to 37 armed...

Canadian nuclear weapons: the untold story of Canada's cold war arsenal.
March 1, 1998... John Clearwater, Dundurn Press (Toronto), 1998, 400 pp., ISBN 1-55002-299-7, $23.99. In 1968 Canada signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state. But, like several other NATO members, Canada was a non-nuclear state...

Bombs away: airshow Canada, globalization, and the new international arms trade.
March 1, 1998... co-production of End the Arms Race and the Fraser Valley Chapter of Project Ploughshares with Working TV, 1997, 30 minutes, VHS, $20. Send orders to Fraser Valley Arts & Peace Festival, 31-3120 Trethewey Street, Abbotsford, BC, V2T 4H2. ...

Skennen Enkatharakhen, notes on nonviolence #5.
March 1, 1998... Resource Centre on Nonviolence (420 St-Paul est, 2e etage, Montreal, PQ, H2Y 1H4), 1997, 64 pp., ISBN 2-9803006-5-9, $10.00 plus $2.35 shipping/handling. Skennen Enkatharakhen means Peace Assembly in the Mohawk language. This fascinating...

Unarmed bodyguards: international accompaniment for the protection of human rights.
March 1, 1998... Liam Mahony and Luis Enrique Eguren, Peace Brigades International-Canada (304-192 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5T 2C2, pbi@web.net), 1997, 288 pp., $31.00 plus $3.00 s/h. International accompaniment has been used for many years to protect...

Canadian church leaders' 1998 statement on nuclear weapons.
March 1, 1998... The following letter was sent to Prime Minister Chretien in February 1998 by the leaders of 19 Canadian church denominations: Dear Prime Minister Chretien, We write in deep appreciation of your government's persistent and courageous...

Exploding the myths: Canada and military spending.
March 1, 1998... Canada's cash-starved armed forces have a pitifully small budget. Deep spending cuts have cost us the respect of our allies and endangered our forces' ability to operate in an increasingly dangerous world. The Canadian Forces need more money....