Obama Promised a “World Without Nuclear Weapons,” But May Now Spend $3 Trillion on Weapons Upgrades

democracynow
Published on Oct 24, 2014

We are on the road in the historic city of Vienna, Austria, not far from the Czech Republic where President Obama gave a major address in 2009 that called for a nuclear-free world.

His disarmament efforts were cited when he won the Nobel Peace Prize, but since then advocates say little progress has been made.

A recent New York Times investigation found the United States is on pace to spend as much as $1 trillion over the next three decades to modernize its nuclear arsenal and facilities.

This week, more than 150 countries at the United Nations signed a joint statement calling on nuclear powers to attend the third major conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons scheduled this December in Vienna.

The United States has yet to attend one of the meetings.

We are joined by Elena Sokova, executive director of the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.