Bad decision; Worse timing. The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) has come under a fully-justified barrage of criticism for its recent announcement regarding changes to its nuclear weapons stance. In what follows, we will place this policy shift in context, so as to underscore the need not only to…

Alfonso Garcia Robles shared the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize with Alva Myrdal of Sweden. On the momentous occasion of the entry into force of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), January 22, 2021, I would like to share some reflections on the past and future of independent, collective action by…

The summit of Mt. Everest is the highest point above sea level. But sea level is not as far from the center of the Earth at Everest’s latitude as it is at the Equator. If you want to find the highest point on Earth as measured from the center of…

The trailhead for Mount Shasta is only just above the timberline and far below the summit. (Or at least it was in the 1970s, on the day in question.) So I awoke before dawn to make it up and down before sunset. The first thing I discovered was that, during…