DR. HELEN CALDICOTT AND THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX







Dr. Helen Caldicott

Activist & Author

The world's leading spokesperson for the antinuclear movement, Dr. Helen Caldicott is the founder of the Nobel Prize winning Physicians for Social Responsibility, and herself a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Both the Smithsonian Institute and Ladies Home Journal named her one of the most Influential Women of the Twentieth Century, and she has honorary degrees from nineteen universities. She divides her time between Australia and the United States, where she has devoted the last thirty years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age.(link)

In her timely new book, The New Nuclear Danger, Dr. Helen Caldicott looks at the indebtedness of the Bush Administration to the arms industry and warns of the incredible dangers inherent in allowing weapons manufacturers to dictate foreign policy. Recounting the history of government collusion with industry, Caldicott shows how the merging of weapons firms in the 1980's created hugely powerful 'death merchants', including Lockheed and others, ready to lobby politicians and manipulate public opinion on behalf of their corporate interests. (link)







Nuclear Madness and Missile Envy: The New Nuclear Danger

Dr. Caldicott demonstrates conclusively that the notion of nuclear survival is a fantasy, and that nuclear victory is an oxymoron. The evidence she presents stands to alert and mobilize millions of young people, helping them to understand the planetary threat posed by an aggressive weapons industry in a volatile world.
"Dr. Helen Caldicott has the rare ability to combine science with passion, logic with love, and urgency with humour...At the dark dawn of another war without end, it is once again time to listen up as she sounds the global alarm." - Naomi Klein, author of No Logo.(link)



AVAILABLE WEBCASTS

1. Webcast of talk by Dr. Helen Caldicott on April 28, 2003 at St. Andrews Wesley Church (link)

2. The New Nuclear Danger - Webcast of talk by Dr. Helen Caldicott on November 13, 2002 at
The First Parish Church in Cambridge (link)





1. After Hiroshima: The Question of Nuclear Weapons

Tadatoshi Akiba, mayor, Hiroshima

In August 1945, atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki instantaneously killed an estimated 200,000 Japanese citizens and reduced those cities to rubble. Nearly sixty years later, people there continue to suffer from the physical and emotional after-effects. Led by Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima, Mayors for Peace strives to raise worldwide awareness about the need to abolish nuclear weapons. Representing more than 550 cities in 107 countries, the organization promotes solidarity toward the solution of problems that threaten peaceful coexistence among nations throughout the world.

Presented in association with The Japan Society of Boston and Women's Action for New Directions (WAND), this event features an exhibit of portraits and stories of Hiroshima A-bomb survivors, The Hibakusha Project, by local artist Jane Smith Bernhardt.


2. The Debate Over Nuclear North Korea

David Kang, professor, Tuck School of Business
Victor Cha, professor, government, Georgetown

Award-winning authors and government experts David Kang and Victor Cha debate their positions on what should be done about the nuclear build up in North Korea. Drawing on arguments proposed in their new book, Nuclear North Korea, the Dartmouth and Georgetown University professors discuss the volatile history of the region and strategies for diplomatic resolution.

David Kang is associate professor of government, and adjunct associate professor and research director at the Center for International Business at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College. He has scholarly interests in both business-government relations and international relations, with a focus on Asia. At Tuck he teaches a course on doing business in Asia, and also manages teams of MBAs in the Tuck Global Consultancy Program that conduct in-country consulting projects for multinational companies in Asia. Professor Kang lived for over three years in Korea, has traveled extensively throughout Asia, and has consulted for US and Asian firms across the Pacific. Kang has been a visiting associate professor at Yale University, a visiting assistant professor at Korea University in Seoul, and a visiting professor at UC San Diego. He received an AB with honors from Stanford University (1988) and his PhD from Berkeley (1995).

Victor D. Cha is associate professor in the department of government and School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. and director of a new project at Georgetown on the Future of America's Alliances in Asia. He is the author of the book, Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Triangle, winner of 2000 Masayoshi Ohira prize for best book on East Asia. Dr. Cha is a two-time recipient of the Fulbright (Korea) and MacArthur Foundation Fellowships. He is formerly a John M. Olin National Security Fellow at Harvard University's Center for International Affairs and postdoctoral fellow at the Center for International Security and Arms Control, Stanford University. In 1999, he was the Edward Teller National Fellow for Security, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University and a recipient of the Fulbright Senior Scholar Award for Korea. Dr. Cha is an independent consultant to various branches of the US government.




FILMS :




HELEN'S WAR

Filmmaker: Anna Broinowski (released 2004, running time 52 min)

Dr. Helen Caldicott, firebrand anti-nuclear campaigner, celebrated author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is too alarmed to retire.
Certain that the White House's War on Terror is escalating the global nuclear arms race, she embarks on an explosive crusade across post 9/11 USA, armed with her fifth book, The New Nuclear Danger, and a furious determination to rally the American people against Star Wars and the new nuclear weapons labs before it is too late.
Tagging along is Caldicott's jaded niece, filmmaker Anna Broinowski, a post-punk fatalist who believes that nukes are inevitable - and wonders whether a straight talking dissident like Helen really can make a difference in George W. Bush's 'Land of The Free'.
Set against the volatile backdrop of the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, Helen's War tracks Caldicott's roller-coaster tour as she vies with spin-savvy neo-conservatives for airtime, courts celebrity backers for her DC think-tank and battles to stop the bombing of Baghdad. We discover the vulnerable, humorous, passionate woman behind the crusade ... and what it really costs to fight for Peace (description from Ronin Films).
Winner of Best Direction (Documentary) at the 2004 Australian Film Institute Awards.
Winner of Best Documentary (Dendy Award) at the 2004 Sydney Film Festival. (link)




EIGHT MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

Filmmaker: Mary Benjamin (released 1980, running time 60 min) ISBN: 1559742364

This award-winning film tells the story of pediatrician, author, and activist Dr. Helen Caldicott and her struggle to inform and awaken the public to the medical dangers posed by nuclear power. It is also an inspiring drama of how one woman meets the demands of being wife, mother, physician and involved citizen. Filmed between 1978 and 1980, during a critical period of debate about the future of nuclear energy, this film presents a vivid portrait of a woman who became a key international figure in the movement for nuclear disarmament (description from Direct Cinema Limited).
Nominated for 1981 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. (link)




IF YOU LOVE THIS PLANET

Filmmaker: Terri Nash (released 1982, running time 26 min) ISBN: 1559742208

This powerful documentary records a lecture given to American students in 1981 by Dr. Helen Caldicott, founding president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. In the film, Dr. Caldicott outlines the effects of detonating a single twenty-megaton bomb, and traces the development of atomic weapons from the devastating bombs of the 1940s to the even more dangerous, apocalyptic weapons of today. If You Love This Planet provides an urgent warning that time is running out - that unless we shake off our indifference and work to prevent nuclear war, we stand a slim chance of surviving. With current nuclear weapons proliferation among Third World nations and potential terrorist groups, Dr. Caldicott's following words have added poignancy: "You're going to have to change the priorities of your life if you love this planet" (description from Direct Cinema Limited).
Winner of 1982 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject . (link)




SPECIAL LINKS TO RELATED POSTS INSIDE THIS BLOG:

1. MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

2. WHY WE FIGHT, A FILM BY EUGENE JARECKI

3.NUCLEAR WARFARE

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