Global Zero Summit: 25 years after Reykjavik

“So I say, let’s jack up our resolve now, use our best brains and creativity, and get rid of nuclear weapons so we can win one more for the Gipper."
– Sec. George P. Shultz

On October 11-12, the 25th anniversary of the historic Reykjavik Summit -- when Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev astonished the world by nearly agreeing to eliminate all nuclear weapons -- 100 eminent international leaders gathered for the Global Zero Summit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to call on heads-of-government to revitalize this vision and initiate the first in history multilateral negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Former U.S. Secretaries of State George Shultz and James Baker, and Gen. (Ret.) James Cartwright delivered addresses on the key steps to a world without nuclear weapons; business leaders Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Skoll provided compelling analysis of the opportunity costs of global spending on nuclear arsenals; and an extraordinary group of national security leaders discussed critical issues, including what it will take to initiate multilateral nuclear arms negotiations and the implications of the Arab Spring for the Global Zero movement.

President Mikhail Gorbachev provided a statement of support to the Summit, as did PM Yoshihiko Noda, joining President Barack Obama, President Dmitry Medvedev, PM David Cameron, PM Manmohan Singh and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in endorsing Global Zero.

Campaign and student leaders presented Global Zero's grassroots campaign on the $1 trillion cost of nuclear weapons reporting that tens of thousands of people have signed the petition (cutnukes.org), and more than 100 groups worldwide have promoted it by emailing their members, posting on social networks and holding events, including Greenpeace, Physicians for Social Responsibility, TakePart, the New Evangelical Partnership, tcktcktck, Agir pour l'environnement, artists like REM and many others.

Global Zero leaders announced two new initiatives at the Summit: (1) the formation of the Global Zero NATO-Russia Commission on reducing U.S. and Russian tactical nuclear weapons as part of further reductions in their arsenals, and (2) a research project in partnership with Princeton University to develop a new and promising approach to warhead verification.

Media coverage of the Summit brought the number of articles on Global Zero since its launch three years ago to more than 10,000 in publications spanning 120 countries.

In the days leading up to the Summit, 35 student leaders gathered for cutting-edge policy and organizing training and committed to building and strengthening Global Zero chapters on college campuses.

In the lead-up to the Global Zero Summit, more than 15 international leaders joined Global Zero, including: former Minister for Special Affairs and Economic Cooperation Dr. Egon Bahr from Germany; former Minister of Defense Paul Quilès from France; former Deputy Minister of Defense Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Ephraim Sneh from Israel; Senator Wasim Sajjad from Pakistan; Representative Ryosei Akazawa and Vice Adm. (Ret.) Yoji Koda from Japan; Amb. Abdel Raouf El Reedy from Egypt; Col. Gen. (Ret.) Vladimir Nikolaevich Verkhovtsev from Russia; former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, MP from the UK; and Amb. Steven Pifer and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Dr. Lawrence Korb from the US.

To see more photos from the Summit, please click here to visit our online album.