CLW Holds Event on Pragmatic Internationalism
Nov 02, 2009
On Thursday, October 29, 2009, Council for a Livable Board member Priscilla McMillan moderated a discussion with CLW-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Alan Khazei and CLW board member Sen. Gary Hart. The speakers discussed how the U.S. should meet the global challenges that dominate current headlines - from climate change, to war, to nuclear proliferation. The event took place at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
Matters of Principle from Sen. Gary Hart
Sep 21, 2009
This post was originally published on Matters of Principle by Sen. Gary Hart on September 21, 2009. Sen. Hart served as the Chairman of Council for a Livable World from 2006 to 2009.
The Founders of the United States not only designed a system of government, they also established principles which bind and guide their successors at home and abroad. To the degree we, their heirs, abide by these national principles we remain true to the vision of the republic they intended us to be and we earn the respect of those around the world who believe us to be a principled nation.
It is worthwhile periodically to remind ourselves what our guiding principles are. We are committed to the principle that all people (they said “men”) are created equal. We believe that every person has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our principles guarantee rights of speech and assembly and freedom of press and religion. We are dedicated to the proposition that all are entitled to equal justice under the law, that justice requires due process, not arbitrary, application of the law, and that no magistrate can place us in custody without charges. Our principles extend to the right of the individual, regardless of wealth or class, to be secure in his or her person and property from unwarranted search and seizure. Our political systems are based on checks and balances to prevent concentration of power and the principle of taxation only carried out by those we freely elect to represent us.
All this would seem elementary civics except for this: we do not always live up to these principles, especially in our dealings with other nations and peoples.
What a Year It Might Be
Jan 05, 2009
By Council Chairman Sen. Gary Hart
Originally published by the The Huffington Post on December 31, 2008
Even as the new president and administration struggle to restructure and transform the American economy in 2009, consider this possibility: 2009 could be the year when the two former Cold warriors, America and Russia, decide to make dramatic reductions in nuclear weapons and convene an international conference of all nuclear nations to agree to the complete elimination of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.
By December 2009, the START I treaty will terminate unless renewed. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty must be reviewed by 2010. And a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has been in abeyance for years. These are all relics of the Cold War which, thank God, ended 18 years ago, but there are the framework for more dramatic action.
A year ago four prominent Americans proposed elimination of all nuclear weapons. An international organization has been formed to support this ideal. Both involve conservative figures who, during the Cold War, were not known as leading arms reduction advocates. Clearly, a serious groundswell is forming to collectively embrace a goal few of us ever thought possible--elimination of the most dangerous instruments of war ever devised by man.