October 11, 2007
Hans Blix to speak on arms race threat
Hans Blix, who headed the United Nations commission that searched Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, is deeply worried that a new but quiet arms race threatens the world.
Blix will visit the UW on Oct. 18 and 19, meeting with students and delivering a lecture, From a Cold War to a Cold Peace: Time for a Revival of Disarmament? The lecture will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, in 130 Kane.
In 2006, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, an international body assembled in 2003 and headed by Blix, noted that some 27,000 nuclear weapons remain in various countries, about 12,000 of those weapons actively deployed. Blix visited 40 countries last year to raise awareness of the issue.
“I’ve been touring the world, trying to tell people that there’s not just one inconvenient truth.” There’s also a new arms race, Blix said in a telephone interview earlier this month.
For example, he said, the United Kingdom has decided to prolong its Trident nuclear program. China has shot down a weather satellite of its own, demonstrating an ability to fight in space. Russians have said that if the U.S. places weapons in space, it would not be alone. Russia has also resumed international bomber flights with nuclear weapons on board.
Altogether last year, said Blix, the world spent $1.3 trillion on military affairs. Half of it was the U.S. budget. Blix finds continuing buildup unnecessary. “No longer are there significant conflicts between the great powers regarding borders, territory or ideology,” he said.
He urges revival of disarmament talks in Geneva, as there have been no serious negotiations in 10 years.
Blix sees some hope, however, in the U.N. “The Bush administration has modified its stance somewhat in international affairs; it’s a bit more geared toward diplomacy,” Blix said. Former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton’s disdain for the U.N. was a serious stumbling block, Blix said. However, he added, the U.S. has been turning to the U.N. in the case of Iraq, and tacitly accepting, in some cases, the work of the International Criminal Court.
Asked for his opinions of U.S. presidential candidates, Blix said Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards “have made constructive statements” on international questions. He took issue, however, with Rudy Giuliani’s statements in a recent edition of Foreign Affairs. “I thought the international security related comments in the article appalling. Mr. Giuliani advocates another 10 combat brigades and strengthening the military budget.” Giuliani also underestimates the worth of the U.N., Blix said. “I found his article not for this millennium.”
Also during the interview, Blix recalled then-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan drafting him in January of 2000 for the mission to Iraq. In his 2004 book, Disarming Iraq, Blix calls the change “out of the ice-box and into the frying pan.” He and his wife, Eva Kettis, a Swedish diplomat responsible for Arctic and Antarctic issues, were in Patagonia, on their way to the Antarctic.
Nobody’s come up with a really good answer to problems in Iraq, Blix said. “Iraq will own the problem only when they are aware the U.S. is leaving within a specific time.”
Blix sees no rationale for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country is not threatened by near neighbors. If, however, the U.S. were to threaten military action, Blix said, it could cause Iranian hardliners to urge such weapons.
Blix, 79, was born the son of a biochemistry professor in Uppsala, a Swedish university town north of Stockholm. He entered Uppsala University at 18, eventually earning a double doctorate from Stockholm and Cambridge University. In 1960, at the age of 32, he was appointed associate professor of international law at Stockholm University. He was a foreign minister of Sweden in 1978-79 and director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1981 to 1997.
Blix’s visit is presented by the UW Department of Scandinavian Studies and the UW Alumni Association in partnership with the College of Arts & Sciences, The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, the Jackson School of International Studies, Scandinavian Air and Hillel UW.
