Moral theologians, defense analysts, conflict scholars, and nuclear experts imagine a world free from nuclear weapons

At a 2017 Vatican conference, Pope Francis condemned nuclear weapons. This volume, issued after the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, presents essays from moral theologians, defense analysts, conflict transformation scholars, and nuclear arms control experts, with testimonies from witnesses. It is a companion volume to A World Free from Nuclear Weapons: The Vatican Conference on Disarmament (Georgetown University Press, 2020).

Chapters from the perspectives of missile personnel and the military chain of command, industrialists and legislators, and citizen activists show how we might achieve a nuclear-free world. Key to this transition is the important role of public education and the mobilization of lay movements to raise awareness and effect change. This essential collection prepares military professionals, policymakers, everyday citizens, and the pastoral workers who guide them, to make decisions that will lead us to disarmament.

Drew Christiansen, SJ, PhD, was Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Human Development in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Ethics and World Affairs, Georgetown University. He was lead editor of the award-winning companion to this book, coauthor of Forgiveness in International Politics: An Alternative Road to Peace (USCCB), and former editor-in-chief of America: The Jesuit Review. He was on the Holy See delegation to the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Carole Sargent, PhD, is author of an antinuclear activist biography, Transform Now Plowshares (Liturgical Press 2022), and coeditor with Drew Christiansen of this book’s companion volume. She is founding director of the Office of Scholarly Publications at Georgetown University.

Preface

IntroductionDrew Christiansen, SJ

Part I: How We Got Here

1. From Deterrence to Abolition: The Evolution of Roman Catholic Nuclear EthicsWilliam Werpehowski

2. Just-War Lessons We Should RememberTobias Winright

3. Philosophical Debate on Nuclear DeterrenceGregory M. Reichberg

4. The Moral Ecology of Deterrence and AbolitionWilliam Barbieri

Part II: Witnesses

5. Nuclear RealistsDavid Cortright

6. The Testimony of WitnessesDaniel Hall

7. Swords into PlowsharesCarole Sargent

Part III: Toward a World without Nuclear Weapons

8. National Attitudes toward Nuclear DeterrenceJames E. Goodby

9. 6 + 6 = 9: Law and Nuclear WeaponsDavid A. Koplow

10. Abolition in the Context of General DisarmamentPierce S. Corden

11. New Models: Building Capacities for Nuclear CooperationRichard A. Love

12. Nuclear Abolition and Global Human NeedsLawrence J. Korb

Part IV: Evolution of Just War

13. Nuclear Disarmament: Ethical Challenges at or Near Zero Gerard F. Powers

14. Just Peace and Nuclear DisarmamentMaryann Cusimano Love

15. Peacebuilding and Nuclear DeterrenceDaniel Philpott

16. Prophetic Indictment or Deliberative Discussion?Bernard G. Prusak

Part V: Conscience Formation

17. Formation of Conscience Regarding the Development, Possession, and Use of Nuclear WeaponsMargaret R. Pfeil

18. Catholic Conscience and Nuclear WeaponsJoseph J. Fahey

19. The Conundrum of Deterrence: A Practical Christian ResponseLisa Sowle Cahill

20. Pastoral Accompaniment: Pope Francis’s Approach to the Human VocationDrew Christiansen, SJ

Part VI: Moral Education

21. Reviving Disarmament EducationKelsey Davenport

22. The Nuclear History Boot CampDavid Holloway

23. Propaganda for Peace: Memes, Mass Moralizing, and the Great Game for a World Free of Nuclear WeaponsTheodore G. Dedon

24. A World without Nuclear Weapons: Imagine It One Step at a TimeJohn Paul Lederach

Part VII: Responsible Actors

25. The Ethics of Nuclear StewardsMaryann Cusimano Love

26. In the Chain of CommandDrew Christiansen, SJ

27. Responsible ActorsSusi Snyder

28. The Condemnation of the Possession, Threat of Use, and Use of Nuclear Weapons: Reflections for Catholic Scientists and TechnologistsPierce S. Corden

29. Morality Matters: A Parliamentarian Reflects on Nuclear DisarmamentDavid Lammy

30. The Ethics of Manufacturing Nuclear WeaponsRamón Luzárraga

31. The Responsibilities of “Enabled” Citizens for Integral Disarmament and Sustainable Human DevelopmentJames P. O’Sullivan

VIII. The Role of Lay Catholic Movements

32. Organizing the Church for a World without Nuclear WeaponsKevin Ahern

Index

About the Contributors