It costs to tell about one’s suffering. It costs even more to do it time and time again. The members of the organization that won this year’s peace prize have done so. They have been time witnesses from the time, the only time, nuclear weapons were used in war. Nihon Hidankyo is a grassroots movement of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To this day, the consequences are difficult to fathom, but that alone is no guarantee that an event will be remembered. For the state authorities, the desire to forget and move on can be strong. Those involved will not be held responsible. Even for us ordinary people, it can be comfortable not to remember, and not to care. That is why time witnesses are so important, that is why they play a role. They tear us all out of the sleep of oblivion and the duties of daily life. They send a message to the state leaders about the consequences of their actions. Therefore, this year’s award also goes straight into the conflicts of our time. The threat of the use of nuclear weapons by Vladimir Putin and Russia is repeated more and more often. Sometimes covertly, other times more directly, but the goal is the same: To scare Ukraine and Ukraine’s allies that resistance to the Russian war of aggression is futile and can lead to even worse consequences. The threats so far have not worked. The West still supports Ukraine. Ukraine is still resisting the Russian invasion. But it has put a damper on how far Ukraine can go with the arms support they receive, and it creates fear which in turn can undermine the resilience of our societies. Each time the threat is uttered, the threshold for use becomes ever so slightly lower. If it is said enough times, it can also backfire on Putin, even if he does not put action behind his words. Nuclear weapons are also an underlying driver in the other of our time’s great war zones, the Middle East. Israel has nuclear weapons. Iran has tried to acquire technology to develop it. It is speculated whether Iran’s nuclear facilities could be a target for an expected Israeli retaliatory attack on Iran. A possible nuclear arms race in the Middle East is always just below the surface. From a Japanese point of view, the world is also changing. China’s growth has set in motion an arms race in East Asia where China is modernizing its nuclear weapons, while the US has, among other things, responded with the AUKUS alliance, which unites the US, Great Britain and Australia to have more nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific. North Korea is testing new missiles, has nuclear weapons in stock and has an all-powerful and unpredictable leader at the top. This year’s Nobel Prize is part of a long tradition. Japan’s then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato received the award in 1974 for Japan’s signing of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (NPT). ICAN, which fights against the use of nuclear weapons, received the award in 2017. It is not a controversial award. The committee did not go directly into the Middle East war, which could quickly make headlines. But it also becomes somewhat less immediately relevant. Today’s price shows that the committee works along long time horizons. The possibility of giving another award that goes more directly into the conflicts in the Middle East will also be possible next year, or next year again for that matter. This year the committee used its voice on the global stage to warn against nuclear war. It is almost 80 years since the weapons were used. It’s been a long time, but the testimonies from Japan should be more than enough to send chills down most of our spines. Published 11.10.2024, at 18.31
ttn-69
A Nobel Prize with a clear warning – Speech
