An African proverb says, "When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." This proverb flashes through my mind every time I open the papers.
Indeed, you only need to listen to the barrage of threatening nuclear language to understand why an organization like the Open Nuclear Network (ONN) is important. Nuclear risks appear to be everywhere, and only a handful of organizations are dedicated to their reduction. Yet, if we don't work to control these risks, we let the elephants run free. Therefore, I am delighted to have taken on a role at One Earth Future to lead the Foundation’s Open Nuclear Network program and guide their team toward its mission.
I've concluded, over the past months consulting with colleagues and peer organizations in governmental and non-governmental settings, that while people have an informed sense of the risks, they don't fully understand them. We want to change this and work to empirically understand escalation pathways. We're placing the concept of Nuclear Risk Exposure as a guiding principle for our work. The practicalities are challenging, but not insurmountable.
We want to cement our emerging position as a trusted source of technical and validated information on North Korea's nuclear doctrine and arsenal. Then we want to take this forward, expand our focus, and enable us to replicate our successes in the more challenging Trans-Pacific context.
We have a good platform. Over the last few years, One Earth Future’s ONN team has steadily increased its reputation and reach. We intend to build on our progress and take the network further in the coming year. It's going to be a hard journey. Still, I am looking forward to embarking on it, knowing I have a good and professional fellowship beside me.
With a mission to incubate innovative peacebuilding programs around the world, working hand-in-hand with communities affected by conflict to eliminate the root causes of war, One Earth Future’s ONN program is unique. Based in Vienna, Austria, the program’s goal is to reduce the risk that nuclear weapons are used in response to error, uncertainty or misdirection, particularly in the context of escalating conflict.
