COVID-19 and Disarmament Resources

The following resources address humanitarian disarmament issues in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. They explore the effects of the pandemic on the movement, the ways in which advocates are adapting to the new environment, and particular challenges and concerns at the nexus of the pandemic and humanitarian disarmament.

General Resources

Control Arms, “Arms Control in the Time of COVID-19”

Project Ploughshares, COVID-19 resources page  

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), COVID-19 blog series

Humanitarian Disarmament: Cross-Cutting Issues 

Jeff Abramson, “Civil Society Letter on Humanitarian Disarmament Advocates Path Ahead,” Arms Control Now, August 11, 2020

United States Conference of Mayors, “Resolution Calling for Human-Centered Security in a Time of Global Pandemic,” June 22-July 1, 2020

HALO Trust, Fighting for a Common Cause: COVID-19 and the Need for Global Leadership (May 2020)

Karl Grossman, “COVID-19 and a New, Better World,” CounterPunch, May 8, 2020

Lan Mei, “Humanitarian Disarmament’s Twin Solutions to Two COVID-19 Problems,” Disarmament Dialogue, May 7, 2020

Ray Acheson, “COVID-19: A Sustainable Ceasefire Means No More ‘Business as Usual,’” WILPF, April 17, 2020

Bonnie Docherty and Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, “COVID-19: The Threats and Opportunities for Humanitarian Disarmament,” Disarmament Dialogue, April 14, 2020

Bonnie Docherty, “From Weapons Bans to Travel Bans: Humanitarian Disarmament Stays Strong During the Pandemic,” Disarmament Dialogue, March 27, 2020

Ray Acheson, “COVID-19: From Ceasefire to Divestment and Disarmament,” WILPF, March 26, 2020

Ray Acheson, “COVID-19: Militarise or Organise?” WILPF, March 23, 2020

Diplomacy

“Humanitarian Disarmament: Digital Diplomacy Dos and Don’ts,” May 2020

Verity Cole, “Multilateralism in the Era of COVID-19,” Stimson, April 8, 2020

Izumi Nakamitsu, “The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs Remains Active and Committed: How the Covid-19 Pandemic is Affecting the Work of Disarmament,” UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, April 3, 2020

Cesar Jaramillo, “Arms Control Diplomacy a Worrying Casualty of COVID-19,” Project Ploughshares, April 1, 2020

Arms Trade and Military Spending

Maricela Muñoz, “Connecting the Dots and (Finally) Understanding International Security,” Diplo, February 26, 2021

“Impactos de la Crisis del COVID-19 en Seguridad y Defensa,” Segundo Boletín Colaborativo Amassuru, August 6, 2020

Ben Freeman and William D. Hartung, “Coronavirus? What Coronavirus?” Inkstick, July 1, 2020

Mandy Smithberger, “Washington Is Still Putting the Military Before Public Health,” The Nation, June 30, 2020

Stimson, “US Arms Sales in the Time of COVID-19,” May 20, 2020 (webinar)

Jeff Abramson, “Why are We Continuing to Sell Arms to Repressive Regimes amid a Pandemic?” Responsible Statecraft, May 15, 2020

Ray Acheson, “COVID-19: Divest, Demilitarise, and Disarm,” WILPF, May 5, 2020

Oxfam International, “With Coronavirus Spreading, Time to Repurpose the Arms Industry to Meet Human Need,” Medium, April 30, 2020

Shannon Dick and Rachel Stohl, “COVID-19 and the U.S. Defense Industry,” Stimson, April 27, 2020

George Monbiot, “What Does ‘National Defence’ Mean in a Pandemic? It’s No Time to Buy Fighter Jets,” Guardian, April 8, 2020

Christopher Preble, “Comparing Military Spending and COVID-19 Related Medical Costs,” CATO Institute, April 7, 2020

Connor Paul, “Disarming during the COVID-19 Outbreak,” Non-Violence International,  April 3, 2020

Conflict and Environment

Mara Tignino and Tadesse Kebebew, “COVID-19 Shows Why Protecting Water in Conflict is Vital,” Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), May 6, 2020

Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas

Action on Armed Violence, “Global Explosive Violence Sharply Declines during Covid19, New Data Suggests,” August 12, 2020

Mark Lowcock, Izumi Nakamitsu, and Robert Mardini, “Conflict and COVD-19 are a Deadly Mix,” Reuters, May 27, 2020

Insecurity Insight, “The Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas: The Effect of Airstrikes, Shelling and IEDs on Health Care and the COVID-19 Health Response in March and April 2020,” Aid Security and COVID-19, Bulletin 6, May 22, 2020

Kelsey Gallagher, “Urban Conflict: A Breeding Ground for COVID-19,” Project Ploughshares, April 30, 2020

Killer Robots

Branka Marijan, “Tech for the Good of Humanity,” Medium, April 28, 2020

Ray Acheson, “COVID-19: The Risks of Relying on Technology to ‘Save Us’ from the Coronavirus,” WILPF, April 15, 2020

Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, “Digital Diplomacy Begins,” March 31, 2020

Landmines and Cluster Munitions

Jesus Martinez, “Importance of Considering Persons with Disabilities Including Mine Survivors in COVID -19 Responses,” ICBL-CMC, April 14, 2020

International Campaign to Ban Landmines-Cluster Munition Coalition (ICBL-CMC), “ICBL-CMC Actions on Mine Awareness Day 2020,” April 3, 2020

Nuclear Weapons

James E. Muller and David G. Nathan, “COVID-19, Nuclear War, and Global Warming: Lessons for our Vulnerable World,” Lancet, June 12, 2020

Sue Wareham, “As We Wait for a Vaccine, There is Another Global Threat We Could Address Today,” Canberra Times, May 26, 2020

Ray Acheson, “COVID-19: The Pandemic of Nuclear Weapons,” WILPF, May 18, 2020

“Editorial: Hibakusha Now Taking Anti-Nuke Push Online amid Virus Outbreak,” Asahi Shimbun, May 18, 2020

Tilman Ruff, “COVID-19 and Nuclear Weapons,” Croakey, May 15, 2020

John Letman, “What the Coronavirus Can Teach Us about Nuclear Weapons,” Responsible Statecraft, May 6, 2020

Sergio Duarte and Ira Helfand, “The Novel Coronavirus and Nuclear Weapons,” Common Dreams, May 4, 2020

Tom Sauer and Ramesh Thakur, “How Many Intensive Care Beds Will a Nuclear Weapon Explosion Require?” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 28, 2020

“Former Royal Navy Commanders to UK parliament: ‘Cut Nuclear Weapons Budget, End Continuous-At-Sea-Deterrent and Address Covid-19,” Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, April 2, 2020

“Global Doctors on COVID-19 and Nuclear War,” ICAN, March 26, 2020

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), “Nuclear Spending vs. Health Care,” March 20, 2020