Tag Archives: War / Weapons

Scholars’ Circle – Nuclear war an imminent threat to humanity persists – November 16, 2025

What is Donald Trump trying to accomplish by resuming nuclear testing? And what impact will this decision have on nuclear non-proliferation? It seems that Trump doesn’t understand either nuclear testing or the basics about nuclear weapons. Does this undermine US policy for non-proliferation? Also, the US is unique in that a single person controls the decision to use nuclear weapons? Could the international response to the US announcement of resuming nuclear testing change this command structure? [ dur: 58mins. ]

  • Ira Helfand, MD is a member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)s International Steering Committee. He is a co-founder and past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), IPPNWs US affiliate. He has co-authored PSRs report Nuclear Famine: 2 billion at Risk?
  • Wayne Glass is Professor Emeritus in the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California. He is the former Senior Defense Policy Advisor to Senator Jeff Bingaman on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has worked extensively with nuclear weapons policies.
  • Joe Cirincione is a national security analyst and author with over 40 years of experience. He is the author of the books Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It Is Too Late and co-author of Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Threats.

Active Campaign by Back from the Brink to prevent nuclear war.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, War / Weapons, Nuclear Weapons

Scholars’ Circle – Known Environmental impact of the US Military – November 2, 2025

We spend the hour looking at the environmental impact of the US military. How much does the US military pollute the environment? What is their role in climate change causing green house emissions? The military has taken some measures to reduce its impact on the environment and green gas emissions, but our guests say these measures do little to assuage the military’s bigger effects on climate change. What are these effects and what can be done about them?[ dur: 58mins. ]

This interview was recorded July 2019. For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Consequence of Trump’s Gun boat attacks on Venezuelan coast – October 26, 2025

Are the US Navy attacks on ships off the coast of Venezuela and Colombia legal? And are they unprecedented? On today’s show we explore the legality of these attacks and the precedents for them under the global war on terror and the war on drugs. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – President Trump’s use of transactional international diplomacy – October 5, 2025

Donald Trump has asserted himself with the power of the US into multiple ceasefires and conflict negotiations. How does this comport with US policy historically? What might be his motivation? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Continue reading Scholars’ Circle – President Trump’s use of transactional international diplomacy – October 5, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – US role in South Caucasus Armenia Azerbaijan peace treaty – August 24, 2025

Will the so called peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan legitimize ethnic cleansing? Will it bring peace to the two nations? Or is it a recipe for future conflict?

Military aggression and violations of of the notion of sovereignty have marked the conflicts in the South Caucuses region over the last three decades. Will the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan continue this trend or will it avert claims to sovereignty?

This agreement between Armenia & Azerbaijan brings the US directly into the South Caucuses. Will American answer the call if there is further military violence? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Recognizing Palestinian statehood and what that would mean for the war in Gaza – August 17, 2025

After nearly two years of a war on Gaza, some countries in the West have indicated that they intend to recognize Palestine as its own state. What would such recognition mean for the conflict and how can the war end? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Scholars’ Circle – Private Military Corporations and State responsibilities – July 27, 2025

Private Military Corporations have become a growing element of the warfighting landscape. States have historically had a monopoly on the use of military force. But private corporations challenge this monopoly. How much do they increase the lethality and likelihood of war? How much can private corporations be regulated? And what are the challenges to regulation? We explore the political, military, legal, and socioeconomic implications of private military corporations. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This interview was recorded in July 2023.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Aging & wars ; Peaceful use of nuclear power – June 29, 2025

Does the aging world population mean fewer wars in the future? What exactly is a geriatric peace?

book cover of the book the Geriatric Peace - population aging and the decline of war, blue cver with a white peace dove balanced on a walking stick

Our guest, Mark L. Haas, is the author of The Geriatric Peace: Population Aging and the Decline of War. [ dur: 30mins. ]

Then, we explore a new book on the peaceful uses of nuclear power: The Wretched Atom by Jacob Hamblin. [ dur: 28mins., recorded August 2021 ]

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Maria Armoudian, Ankine Aghassian, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Israel and Iran War – June 22, 2025

We look at the history of conflict and outcome in the past to understand the attacks between Israel and Iran to control Nuclear capabilities of Iran. What is the humanitarian and political impact of this war? On both Iran and on Israel. What is the impact on the region? Is this war legal, based on the laws of war? Principle of  JUS AD BELLUM. And how would American intervention on behalf of Israel escalate the war, and complicate the war. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Note: This recording was made before US bombing of Iran’s Nuclear Facility on June 22, 2025.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Maria Armoudian, Ankine Aghassian, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Origins of war and ways to resolve socially violent tendencies – April 13, 2025

With wars still raging in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, we return to an earlier interview on the origins of war. When and how did war begin?

While some have argued it evolved in early human behavior within forging bands societies, our guests say, that’s not true. Forger bands did not wage war. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

We continue this conversation by exploring how war and violent conflict might be resolved. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Websites mentioned : University of North Calorina Greensboro studies of Peaceful Societies and an example of building a Peaceful society organization.

This recording was produced Nov. 2013.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.