The end of the Cold War has wrought a profound transformation of the international political and security arena. Idealogical confrontation has been supplanted by burgeoning global relations across every field of human endeavor. There is intense alienation but also civilized discourse. There is acute hostility but also significant effort for peaceful resolution in place of violence and bloodshed.

Most importantly, the long sought prospect of a world free of the apocalyptic threat of nuclear weapons is suddenly within reach. This is an extraordinary moment in the course of human affairs, a near miraculous opportunity to realize that noble goal. But, it is also perishable: the specter of nuclear proliferation cannot be indefinitely contained. The urgent attention and best efforts of scholars and statesmen must be brought to bear.

Leaders of the nuclear weapons states, and of the de facto nuclear nations, must keep the promisse of nuclear disarament enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970 and clarified adn reaffirmed in 1995 in the language codifying its indefinite extension. They must do so by commencing the systematic and progressive reduction and marginalization of nuclear weapons, and by declaring unambiguously that their goal is ultimate abolition.

Many military leaders of many nations have warned that all nations would be more secure in a world free of nuclear weapons. Immediate and practical steps toward this objective have been arrayed in a host of compelling studies, most notably in the Report of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Among these proposals, we, the undersigned, fully subscribe to the following measures:

. Remove nuclear weapons from alert status, separate them from their delivery vehicles, and place them in secure national storage.

. Halt production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.

. End nuclear testing, pending entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

. Launch immediate U.S./Russian negotiations toward further, deep reductions of their nuclear arsenals, irrespective of START II ratification.

. Unequivocal commitment by the other declared and undeclared nuclear weapon states to join the reduction process on a proportional basis as the U.S. and Russia approach their arsenal levels, within an intenational system of inspection, verification, and safeguards.

. Develop a plan for eventual implementation, achievement and enforcement of the distant but final goal of elimination.

The foregoing six steps should be undertaken immediately.

The following additional steps should be carefully considered, to determine whether they are presently appropriate and feasible:

. Repatriate nuclear weapons deployed outside of sovereign territory.

. Commit to No First Use of nuclear weapons.

. Ban production and possession of large, long-range ballistic missiles.

. Account for all materials needed to produce nuclear weapons, and place them under international safeguards.

The world is not condemned to live forever with threats of nuclear conflict, or the anxious, fragile peace imposed by nuclear deterrence. Such threats are intolerable and such a peace unworthy. The sheer destructiveness of nuclear weapons invokes a moral imperative for their elimination. That is our mandate. Let us begin.

Below is a list of international civilian leaders who have signed this statement.

Argentina
Raul Alfonsin, Former President

Australia
Malcom Fraser, Former Prime Minister

Paul J. Keating, Former Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam, Former Prime Minister; Former Foreign Minister

Kim C. Beazley, Leader of the Opposition; Former Deputy Prime Minister

Richard Butler, Ambassador to U.N.; Chair, U.N. Commission on Iraq; Chair, Canberra Commission

Gareth Evans, Former Foreign Minister; Deputy Leader of the Opposition; Member, Parliament

Bangladesh
A.D.M.S. Chuwdhury, Deputy Opposition LeaderParliament; Former Deputy Prime Minister

Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director, Grameen Bank

Bolivia
Gonzalez Sanchez de Lozada, Former President

Brazil
Jose Sarney, Former Prime Minister; Senator

Calso L.N. Amorim, Former Foreign Minister

Bulgaria
Nicolai Dobrev, Chair, National Security CommitteeParliament, former Min. of Interior

Nicolai Kamov, Chair, Foreign Affairs CommitteeParliament

Dimitra Pavlov, Minister of Defense

Canada
Pierre Trudeau, Former Prime Minister

Douglas Roche, Former Ambasssador for Disarmament

Chile
Juan Somavia, Ambassador to U.N.; Past President, U.N. Sec. Council

China
Qian Jiadong, Former Chinese Ambassador to U.N.

Chen Jifeng, Secretary General, Chinese People's Assoc. for Peace & Disarmament

Colombia
Misael Pastrana Borrero, Former President (deceased 8/97)

Costa Rica
Jose Figueres, Former President

Oscar Arias Sanchez, Former President

Rodrigo Carazo, Former President

Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis, Former Second Vice President

Rodrigo Oreamuno B., First Vice President

Cyprus
George Vassiliou, Former President; President, United Democrats

Egypt
Esmat Abdul Meguid, Sec. General, League of Arab States; Former Foreign Minister

Finland
Kalevi Sorsa, Former President

France
Michel Rocard, Former Prime Minister; Chair, Comm. on Development & Cooperation, European Parliament

Jacques Attali, Former Special Advisor to President Mitterand

Georgia
Eduard A. Shevardnadze, President

Germany
Helmut Schmidt, Former Chancellor; Hon. Chair, International Council

Hans Modrow, Former Prime Minister, E. Germany

Egon Bahr, Former Minister for Special Affairs

Angelika Beer, Spokesperson for Defense Alliance 90/Green Party; Member, Bundestag

Alfred Dregger, Hon. Chair, Christian Dem. Party; Member, Bundestag

Hans Koschnik, Former Administrator European Union, Mostar

Markus Meckel, Former Foreign Minister East Germany; Member, Bundestag

Dr. Walter Romberg, Former Minister of Finances East Germany

Lothar Späth, Former Minister-President Baden-Württemberg

Hans-Jochen Vogel, Former Mayor, Berlin; Former Minister of Justice; Former Chair, Social Dem. Party

Hungary
Ervin Laszlo, Founder and President, Club of Budapest

India
Dr. Karan Singh, Former Ambassador to U.S.; Former Cabinet Minister

Italy
Giuliano Amato, Former Prime Minister

Israel
Yael Dayan, Member, Knesset

Japan
Tsutomu Hata, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet

Morihiro Hosokawa, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet

Kiichi Miyazawa, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet

Tomiichi Murayama, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet

Noboru Takeshita, Former Prime Minister; Member, Diet

Takako Doi, Former Speaker House of Representatives; Member, Diet

Masaharu Gotoda, Former Vice Prime Minister

Takashi Hiraoka, Mayor, Hiroshima

Iccho Ito, Mayor, Nagasaki

Yohei Kono, Former Vice Prime Minister

Hyosuke Kujiraoka, Former Vice Speaker House of Representatives; Member, Diet

Kenzaburo Oe, Nobel Laureate

Kyrgyz Republic
Askar Akaev, President

Muratbek S. Imanaliev, Foreign Minister

Rosa Otunbaeva, Former Foreign Minister; Ambassador to U.K.

Lebanon
Sadim El Hoss, Former Prime Minister

Malaysia
Ismail Razali, President, U.N. General Assembly

Mexico
Miguel de la Madrid, Former President

Mongolia
Punsalmaa Ochirbat, Former President

Jalbuu Choinhor, Ambassador to U.S.

Namibia
Samuel Nujoma, President

Nauru
Lagumont Harris, Former President

Ruben Kun, Member, Parliament; Former President

David Peter, Former Speaker, Parliament

Netherlands
Ruud Lubbers, Former Prime Minister; Minister of State

Andries van Agt, Former Prime Minister; Chair, Interaction Council

E. Korthals Altes, Former Ambassador to Madrid

A.L. ter Beek, Former Min. of Defence (1989-1994)

J. van Houwelingen, Former Deputy Minister of Defence

J.G. Kraaijeveld-Wouters, Former Deputy Minister of Culture

Dr. D.J.H. Kruisinga, Former Minister of Defence

Mr. J. de Ruiter, Former Minister of Defence

Prof. Dr. J.C. Terlouw, Former Deputy Prime Minister; Minister for Economic Affairs

New Zealand
David Lange, Former Prime Minister

Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Former Prime Minister

Northern Ireland
Mairead Maguire, Honorary President, Peace People; Nobel Peace Laureate

Pakistan
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees; President, Bellerive Foundation

Mahbub ul Haq, President, Human Development Ctr.; Former Minister of Finance; Principal Architect of UN's Annual Human Development Report

Panama
Ricardo de la Espriella, Former President

Philippines
Corazon Aquino, Former President

Portugal
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, Former Prime Minister

Republic of Korea
Shin Hyon-Hwak, Former Prime Minister

Russia
Egor Gaidar, Former Prime Minister; Director, Research Institute for the Economy in Transition

Mikhail Gorbachev, Former President, U.S.S.R.

Georgi Arbatov, President, Governing Board Institute of U.S.A. and Canada

Alexander Bessmertnykh, Former Soviet Foreign Minister; Former Soviet Ambassador to U.S. President, Foreign Policy Assoc.

Vitaly Goldansky, President, Russian Pugwash Comm.; Academician

Roland Timerbaev, Former Permanent Representative of the U.S.S.R. and Russia in IAEA;President, Center for Political Studies of Russia

Oleg Troynavsky, Former USSR Representative to U.N.; President, Russian U.N. Association

Evgeny Velikhov, Member, National Security Council; Academician

Alexander N. Yakovlev, Chair, President's Commission on Rehabilitation of Repression Victims; Chair, Russian Public Television; Former Member, Politburo; Principal Domestic Advisor to President Gorbachev

South Africa
Nelson Mandela, President

Thabo Mbeki, Executive Deputy President

F.W. De Klerk, Former President; Member, Parliament National Leader, National Party

Bishop Desmond Tutu

Spain
Enrique Baron Crespo, Member & former President European Parliament; Former Minister

Fernando Moran Lopez, Chair, Committee on Institutional Affairs, European Parliament; Former Foreign Minister

Sri Lanka
A.T. Ariyaratne, Leader, Sarvodaya Movement, Gandhi Peace Prize, 1996

Anura Bandaranaike, Member, Parliament; Former Minister of Education; Former Leader of Opposition

Jayantha Dhanapala, President, NPT Review and Extension Conference, 1995; Former Ambassador to U.S.

Suriname
I.M. Djwalapersad, Speaker, Assembly

Sweden
Goran Persson, Prime Minister

Ingvar Carlsson, Former Prime Minister

Maj Britt Theorin, Former Chair, UN Commission of Experts on Nuclear Weapons; Member, European Parliament

Tanzania
Al Hassan Mwinyi, Former President

Julius K. Nyerere, Former President; Chair, South Commission

Salim Ahmed Salim, Former Prime Minister; Secretary General,Organization of African Unity; President, U.N. General Assembly, 34th Session

Joseph Warioba, Former Prime Minister; Judge, International Tribunal-Seas

Thailand
Anand Panyarachun, Former Prime Minister

Uganda
Milton Obote, Former President

Dr. Paul Kaeanga Ssemogerere, Former Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister

Dr. Naphali Akena Adoko, Former Chief of State Security

Justice Emmanuel Oteng, Former Acting Chief Justice

United Kingdom
Lord James Callaghan, Former Prime Minister; Member, House of Lords

Lord Denis Healey, Former Secretary of Defense; Former Chancellor of Exchequer

John Edmunds, Former Chief Negotiator, CTBT; Former Head, Arms Control & Disarmament, Foreign Office

Betty Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate

United States
Jimmy Carter, Former President

Robert McNamara, Former Secretary of Defense

Paul H. Nitze, Former Deputy Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Navy; Former Ambassador-at-Large and Special Advisor to President and Secretary of State on Arms Control; Diplomat-in-Residence, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Elliot Richardson, Former Secretary of Defense

Cy Vance, Former Secretary of State

Zimbabwe
Dr. Robert Mugabe, President