Nuclear fears resurface among younger generations amid global tensions
For decades, the possibility of the Soviet Union and United States starting a civilisation-ending nuclear confrontation was the pre-eminent fear of many people growing up in the 20th century.Whilst the real possibility of this cataclysm never went away, it was supplanted in the minds of younger generations by existential concerns that seemed more pressing, such as the climate crisis and rogue artificial intelligence tools.But the shadow of a nuclear conflict has never gone away, even if, in part thanks to the 56-year-old nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), nuclear weapons have not been used in a war since the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.The return of nuclear rhetoricAnd, in recent years, nuclear rhetoric has been making a comeback, prompting the UN to reach out to young activists and explain why these weapons can never again be used in a theatre of war.
UNODA/ Camila Perez
Members of the second cohort of the Youth Leaders Fund.
“Nuclear war wasn’t high on my agenda, to be honest,” says 30-year-old Natalie Chen, “and the same goes for my peer group, but disarmament is definitely a major concern, in the context of current conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran.”Since becoming a member of the Youth Leader Fund for a World without Nuclear Weapons (YLF), a programme run by the United Nations, Ms. Chen, a UK-based arts producer from Hong Kong, has been learning more about the complexities and key principles of nuclear disarmament, and why nuclear weapons continue to pose such a major risk to world peace.Ms. Chen took part in an event on Thursday at the Poster House museum in New York, organised by the Government of Japan and supported by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), which featured artworks developed by participants from the second cohort of the YLF.The programme aims to provide the knowledge activists need, in order to be more effective in their disarmament and peace and security advocacy. “I’ve learned how the political process can be powerful if we, as young people, are part of that process,” says YLF participant Abdul Mustafazade, an artist who uses digital media to make global issues more engaging. “The language of disarmament can be very technical, and I have learned how to use art to make it understandable.”
