Global Green USA

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Forums & Dialogues

To foster dialogue on weapons of mass destruction, nonproliferation, and threat reduction issues, Global Green USA and its Green Cross affiliates bring together U.S. and foreign military and government officials, experts and private citizens in a variety of formats, from high-level meetings between senior policymakers to expert seminars to public forums. Known as 'Track II' or backchannel diplomacy, these initiatives complement official government channels and are essential to real progress.

The Green Cross National Dialogue

The Green Cross National Dialogue Forum on chemical weapons destruction in Russia, held annually in Moscow, is a unique opportunity for open and frank discussion of all aspects of Russia's chemical weapons destruction program, including political, legal, technical, environmental, health and social issues. Russia, which holds the world's largest stockpile of chemical weapons, is committed under the Chemical Weapons Convention to destroy its stockpile by April 2012.

Green Cross Russian Seventh National Dialogue 2005: Download proceedings

Green Cross Russia Sixth National Dialogue 2004

Workshops and lectures given at the sixth public Dialogue-Forum on the "Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention by Russia: Status and Prospects as of Year End 2004." Hosted by Green Cross Russia (GCR), held November 2004 in Moscow. Download proceedings

The Global Green Legacy Forum

The Global Green Legacy Forum, created in 1994, was designed to facilitate dialogue on key military-environmental issues and encourage networking at the local, regional, national, and international levels. Recent Legacy Forums have taken place on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, and spotlighted chemical weapons and threat reduction challenges. Congressional Members and staff, senior U.S. and foreign officials, leading experts on weapons of mass destruction, and citizens from weapons stockpile communities have all taken part in these open discussions.

The Ninth Annual Legacy Forum "Chemical Weapons and WMD Cooperative Threat Reduction; Comprehensive Approaches for a Complex World"

September 23, 2005 on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, with keynote remarks by Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). [Click here for Forum agenda]

The Eighth Annual Legacy Forum "Russian and US Chemical Weapons Destruction: Global Security and Nonproliferation"

September 17, 2004 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. [Click here for Forum agenda] [Click here for remarks by Mikhail S. Gorbachev]

The Seventh Annual Legacy Forum "Toward a Sustainable and Secure World: Advancing Russian and US Initiatives in Reducing Weapons of Mass Destruction"

April 24-25, 2001 on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, with keynote remarks by Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

The Sixth Annual Legacy Forum on military toxic cleanup and the environment "Sustainability in the Southeast: Partnering Community, Business and Military for Environmental Protection"

December 4-5, 1999 at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Fifth Annual Legacy Forum on military toxic cleanup and base conversion

November 19, 1998 in San Diego, California.

The Fourth Annual Legacy Forum on military toxic cleanup and base conversion "Finding the Silver Lining: Tools and Strategies for Revitalizing Communities"

November 20-22, 1997 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Third Annual Legacy Forum "Moving Toward Sustainable Base Conversion"

October 3-4, 1996 in San Francisco, California.

The Second Annual Legacy Forum on military toxics

April 7, 1995 at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC.

The First Annual Legacy Forum on military toxics

June 22-23, 1994 at the Albert Schweitzer Institute for the Humanities at Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Connecticut.

Legacy News

Iraq Faces Major Challenges in Destroying Its Legacy Chemical Weapons

CENTER FOR NONPROLIFERATION STUDIES. MARCH 4, 2010. By Jonathan B. Tucker

Iraq joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in February 2009 and now faces major challenges destroying the chemical munitions it inherited from the Saddam Hussein regime. Learn More

Activists Criticize Uncoordinated DOD Energy Measures, Seek Changes

DEFENSE ENVIRONMENT ALERT. MARCH 2, 2010. By Suzanne Yohannan

A new report from the environmental group Global Green USA is recommending the Defense Department undertake a high-level coordinated effort to expand its use of renewable energy, prioritize energy efficiency at its forward operating bases and adopt fuel efficiencies in its tactical systems, in order to reverse what it says is the department’s approach of talking about moving towards energy efficiency but not acting. Learn More

Implications of a Global Black Market for Botox

WAMU 88.5 FM. JANUARY 27, 2010.

One of the world's deadliest poisons is the key ingredient in the popular anti-aging drug, Botox. The emerging global black market for Botox and growing concerns the toxin in the drug could be used in a bioterrorism attack. Learn More

Last Two U.S. Chemical Weapons Disposal Sites Funded at $550M

GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE. JANUARY 26, 2010. By Rachel Oswald

WASHINGTON -- Funding for preparation of the last two U.S. installations set to begin destruction of their chemical weapon stockpiles received a significant boost in the fiscal 2010 budget -- roughly 30 percent over last year's allowance. Learn More

New Coalition Aims to Promote Chemical Weapons Disarmament, Nonproliferation

GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE. JANUARY 22, 2010. By Chris Schneidmiller

WASHINGTON -- Dozens of nongovernmental organizations from around the world are forming an umbrella group to help promote the total elimination of chemical weapons and prevent their use by terrorists. Learn More

Officials fear toxic ingredient in Botox could become terrorist tool

THE WASHINGTON POST. JANUARY 25, 2010. By Joby Warrick

In early 2006, a mysterious cosmetics trader named Rakhman began showing up at salons in St. Petersburg, Russia, hawking a popular anti-aging drug at suspiciously low prices. He flashed a briefcase filled with vials and promised he could deliver more -- "as many as you want," he told buyers -- from a supplier somewhere in Chechnya.

Rakhman's "Botox" was found to be a potent clone of the real thing, but investigators soon turned to a far bigger worry: the prospect of an illegal factory in Chechnya churning out raw botulinum toxin, the key ingredient in the beauty drug and one of world's deadliest poisons. A speck of toxin smaller than a grain of sand can kill a 150-pound adult. Learn More

Now Clear Away the Rubble of the Wall

THE NEW YORK TIMES. NOVEMBER 2, 2009. By Mikhail Gorbachev

The year 1989 was a turning point for Europe and for the world, a time when history went into high gear. This acceleration was symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the velvet revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe. Totalitarian and authoritarian regimes were exiting the stage of history. Learn More

Pipeline Renews Debate on Sea-Dumped Chemical Weapons

IPSNEWS.NET. OCTOBER 20, 2009. By Matthew Berger

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (IPS) - On Sep. 24, a beachgoer near Swansea, Wales reported a piece of military equipment washed up on the shore. Three days later, the two members of the team that had showed up to dispose of the shell developed symptoms compatible with mustard gas – a chemical warfare agent used in the two world wars and other conflicts. Learn More

Two First Steps on Nuclear Weapons

THE NEW YORK TIMES. SEPT 25, 2009. By Mikhail Gorbachev

YESTERDAY, President Obama presided over the United Nations Security Council meeting that passed a resolution seeking to strengthen the international commitment to limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. A week ago, he announced that the United States will not deploy — at least, not in the foreseeable future — a missile defense site in Central Europe, including powerful radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland.

Is there a link between the two events? I believe there is. Yet initial comments by many political figures and journalists have for the most part ignored this key relationship. Learn More

Nongovernmental Experts Urge Action on Nuclear Weapons Test Ban Treaty

September 23, 2009. Global Green has joined a diverse set of nongovernmental nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament leaders, as well as former government officials and diplomats, urging key governments to ratify the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and bring it into force. Learn More

Clock ticks down on a deadly chemical stockpile

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. AUGUST 23, 2009. By Bob Drogin

Efforts have been stepped up at the Blue Grass Army Depot to wipe out the last of the U.S. chemical weapons' stockpile. But disposal isn't expected to be completed until 2021, well past deadlines. Learn More

Russia Restricts Transparency at Major Chemical Weapons Site, Group Says

GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE. AUGUST 14, 2009. By Martin Matishak

WASHINGTON -- Russia recently forced an international nonprofit organization to close offices intended to ensure transparency in the operations of one of the country's largest chemical weapons destruction sites (see GSN, July 22).

Some worry that the June 30 shuttering of three Green Cross International offices devoted to community outreach at the chemical stockpile facility and associated demilitarization plant might be an attempt to minimize oversight as Russia accelerates operations to meet the 2012 disarmament deadline set by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Learn More

Global Green USA calls for major nuclear weapons reductions

Washington, DC. August 6, 2009. Global Green USA joined with a dozen other NGOs in drafting a letter to President Barack Obama on August 4, 2009 urging him to reduce nuclear weapons far below today's levels. Learn More

Continued Commitment Needed on U.S. Chemical Disarmament, OPCW Chief Says

GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE. JULY 22, 2009. By Chris Schneidmiller

WASHINGTON -- A leading international nonproliferation official is urging the United States not to retreat from providing sufficient funds to accelerate the complete elimination of the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons (see GSN, May 6). Learn More

Dr. Piers Millet Speaks at a BWC Roundtable Discussion

Washington, D.C. – July 9, 2009 – On Wednesday afternoon, July 8, 2009, Global Green USA partnered with the New America Foundation to host Dr. Piers Millet in a discussion entitled, "Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention." Piers Millet is one of three experts from the Biological Weapons Convention Implementation Support Unit in Geneva, Switzerland, and spent time in Washington, D.C. in order to discuss the opportunity and necessity of better implementation strategies for the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). His discussion regarding the BWC was flanked by dialogue with Dr. Paul Walker, Director of Global Green USA's Security & Sustainability Program, as well as the words of the New America Foundation's own Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, Director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative. Learn More

Global Green USA Hosts OPCW Director-General Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter in Washington DC

Washington, DC – June 19 – For the third consecutive year, Global Green USA was pleased to host Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the implementing agency for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in The Hague, in Washington DC for a series of high-level meetings and presentations. Ambassador Pfirter holds the title of Career Diplomat from Argentina, and prior to his appointment as Director-General in 2002, he served as Director of Nuclear and Security Affairs for the Argentine Foreign Service, Under-Secretary for Foreign Policy, and Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Learn More

Shchuch’ye Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility Opening

On May 29, 2009 the Russian Federation formally opened its new chemical weapons destruction (CWD) facility in the Kurgan Oblast, just north of Kazakhstan and just east of the Ural Mountain Range. Located near the Trans-Ural village of Shchuch’ye (pronounced “shoo-che”), the chemical weapons stockpile which will be neutralized and destroyed over the next several years is one of seven CW stockpiles declared by Russia under auspices of the international Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Learn More

Disarmament lessons from the Chemical Weapons Convention

BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS. JUNE 16, 2009. By Mikhail Gorbachev and Rogelio Pfirter

The recent joint declaration by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to negotiate a new treaty reducing their countries' nuclear stockpiles as a first step toward "a nuclear-weapon-free world" has spurred hopes for renewed progress in global disarmament after a decade of gridlock. An excellent example of how nations can work together effectively within a multilateral framework to eliminate weapons of mass destruction is the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Learn More

In Siberia, the Death Knell of a Complex Holding a Deadly Stockpile

THE NEW YORK TIMES. MAY 26, 2009. By Clifford J. Levy

MOSCOW — Soon after the Soviet Union’s collapse, an American inspection team arrived at a decrepit storage complex in Siberia. The front gate was guarded by a scrawny teenage soldier who had not been paid in months. Giant sheds seemed to hold little of value. Why else would their doors be secured only with rusty bicycle locks? The reality was far more disturbing: the sheds contained two million artillery shells and warheads filled with nerve agents, extremely deadly substances, row after row, stacked like cordwood. Many were portable, and a single one detonated in a stadium or other crowded area could kill tens of thousands of people. Learn More

Washington DC City Council Hearing on Chemical Weapons

Global Green USA testified before the Washington D.C. City Council on May 11, 2009 regarding the cleanup of dumped chemical weapons in Northwest Washington, an area known as “Spring Valley.” Ward 3 Council Member Mary Cheh, Chairperson of the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, questioned fourteen witnesses on public health and environmental impacts from the post-World War I burial of chemical weapons, agents, and other toxic materials in the 661-acre area in Northwest Washington. Learn More

Weapons of Mass Destruction and Public Health

Global Green USA organized a plenary session at the 12th World Congress on Public Health in Istanbul, Turkey on April 28, 2009 on “Weapons of Mass Destruction and Public Health.” Chaired by Dr. Paul Walker, Director of the Security and Sustainability Program at Global Green USA, the session was introduced by Dr. Hikmet Pekcan, President of the Turkish Public Health Association which hosted the meeting of some 2,400 health officials from 142 countries. The plenary speakers were Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague; Ambassador Tibor Toth, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna; and Richard Lennane, Head of the Implementation Support Unit of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) in Geneva. Learn More

Getting chemical weapons destruction back on track

BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS. APRIL 15, 2009. By Jonathan B. Tucker & Paul F. Walker

One of the many arms-control challenges facing the Obama administration is to revitalize the sagging effort to destroy the vast U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons left over from the Cold War. A new U.S. Army report, to be released in May along with the Pentagon's 2010 budget request, will likely conclude that without additional funding, the elimination of these obsolete and dangerous weapons could drag on for another 15 years.

Learn More

Mikhail Gorbachev meets with US Senator Richard Lugar to Discuss Elimination of Weapons of Mass Destruction

March 19, 2009. The founder of Green Cross International, Mikhail Gorbachev, met on Thursday, March 19, 2009 in Washington DC with the ranking Republican Senator of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, of Indiana. Learn More

Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs Should Be Upgraded

March 6, 2009: Global Green is cited in a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. The report discusses the need to reformulate U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction programs to focus on combating international terrorism and other current threats. Learn More

New Russian Chemical Weapons Site Begins Operations

Global Security Newswire. Friday, March 6, 2009.

Russia has begun to operate a U.S.-backed chemical weapons disposal facility near the Ural Mountains, the environmental organization Global Green USA announced yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 3, 2008). Learn More

U.S. Boosts Funding for Last Two CW Disposal Sites

Global Security Newswire. Nov 6, 2008. By Chris Schneidmiller

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department has received its highest-ever budget for preparing two chemical weapons disposal sites that hold the key to meeting the congressional demand to eliminate the entire U.S. stockpile by 2017. Learn More

South Korea Completes Destruction of Its Chemical Weapons Stockpile

Environmental News Service. October 17, 2008.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - In a step towards the global elimination of chemical weapons, South Korea has become the second country to destroy its declared chemical weapons stockpile. The country beat its December 31, 2008 deadline by at least three months. Learn More

Abolishing Chemical Weapons Globally: Successes and Challenges - An NGO Perspective

OPCW. September 24, 2008. By: Dr Paul F. Walker, Legacy Program Director, Global Green USA

The successful, verified elimination of some 40% of the six declared chemical weapons stockpiles in the first 11 years of the Chemical Weapons Convention represents a major achievement for the treaty regime and its implementing body, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The primary goal of the Convention – the total elimination of existing chemical weapons stockpiles – is well on the way to being met in the foreseeable future. Learn More

What I've Learned: Mikhail Gorbachev

ESQUIRE. Sept 10, 2008. By Cal Fussman

That Louis Vuitton ad? The proceeds go to Green Cross International and its American counterpart, Global Green. Also, I travel a lot, and a good bag comes in handy.

Look at what happened in New Orleans. Look at how big the blow was and how difficult the consequences are in dealing with such a blow. Imagine what would happen in a situation where nuclear weapons were used. Imagine the effect of the radiation. It's been years since the Chernobyl accident, and there are towns and villages where people do not live. The towns are still there. They haven't been torn down, but not a single person lives there. So this is a very serious matter--more than serious. Learn More

Hopeful Gorbachev receives Liberty Medal

Philadelphia Daily News, Sept. 19, 2008. By Stephanie Farr

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev accepted the 2008 Liberty Medal last night at the National Constitution Center after delivering a sharp rebuttal to remarks made earlier in the day by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Learn More

Russia opens 4th chemical weapons destruction plant

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE. June 17, 2008.

Russia opened a fourth plant Tuesday to destroy its chemical weapons stockpiles, which are the largest in the world. The destruction facility, located near the site of one of Russia's seven major chemical weapons arsenals, will help accelerate an ambitious effort to fully eliminate the stockpiles in less than four years. Learn More

Spring Valley Weapons Search to Continue

WASHINGTON POST. May 30, 2008.

The cleanup of World War I chemical weapons buried under the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest Washington could last three more years, as crews search for more shells and remove tainted soil, officials said yesterday.
Learn More

Publications

Defense Sustainability: Energy and the Battlefield

An important shift in thinking is occurring across the nation as informed citizens, private industry, and the federal government, have begun acknowledging the realities of a carbon-constrained, petroleum-dependent world. Global Green USA has released an analysis of the impact that more sustainable practices might have on the U.S. Department of Defense. The study illustrates how very important energy has become as a determinant of national and international security, and also how large an environmental impact the U.S. military has as the nation’s single largest power consumer.

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10th Russian National Dialogue on Chemical Weapons Destruction

The presentations included in this volume are from a two-day “forum-dialogue” organized by three national affiliates of Green Cross International – Green Cross Russia, Global Green USA, and Green Cross Switzerland. This meeting took place in Moscow, Russia on October 28-29, 2008, and was the Tenth annual National Dialogue on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation and Destruction organized by Green Cross and Global Green USA as part of the international Legacy of the Cold War Program.

The presentations included cover a wide variety of related and important issues, including costs and schedules of destruction; financial support by Russia, the US, and other G-8 Global Partners; public health and environmental monitoring; state and regional regulations and permits; and citizen concerns. While not all-inclusive, this annual forum-dialogue is the one place where a reader can obtain a comprehensive overview of the many challenges involved in abolishing chemical weapons.