President Trump ordered the U.S. to “test” nuclear weapons. While the actual impact of his order is still unclear, it is an escalation of risk. We are at the highest risk of nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis, when President Kennedy estimated we faced a 1 in 3 chance of nuclear war, whether by accident or deliberate launch. The United States last tested a nuclear weapon in 1992. No nuclear power other than North Korea has conducted nuclear testing in more than 25 years. Before we go down this dangerous path, we should fully weigh the risks and explore all possible alternatives.
Nuclear “testing” – a euphemism for bombing ourselves with live nuclear explosives – was lethal, with consequences still affecting us today. The U.S. Southwest remains the most nuclear-bombed place on our planet. A recent study using historical weather data and artificial intelligence shows nuclear fallout from the first Trinity explosion alone polluted 46 out of 50 states. It immediately ruined Eastman Kodak film in faraway Rochester, New York, literally exposing the lie that radioactive fallout was contained. Lives were ruined, as the health dangers from the “test” bombings showed up in baby teeth, milk, bodies, and bones. Studies suggest the fallout from nuclear weapons testing contributed to nearly a half-million deaths of U.S. citizens and 2.4 million deaths globally. New nuclear weapons testing and production will kill more people and poison more of our land, air, and water.
Principles and practices of ‘Just Peace’ offer alternative approaches to de-escalate nuclear weapons dangers. From my research in war zones around the world, I have identified the following Just Peace principles and practices: widening participation, restoration, right relationship, reconciliation, and sustainability. Just Peace approaches engage actors to transform relationships from conflict to greater, more sustainable cooperation. Peacebuilding takes place when things are bad, which can create surprising openings for engagement. We do not get to make peace with Mother Teresa and Gandhi, but with people like Vladimir Putin who have blood on their hands. Just Peace principles and practices have been tested in fire, in war zones around the world, providing ethical and practical guidance.
Thirty years ago, the unexpected shocks of a costly, stalemated Russian military campaign, paired with pressure from the Catholic Church and activists, led to de-escalation, improved nuclear security and safety, and historic reductions of nuclear weapons. The groundwork was built earlier, when risk was high. I recently spoke with Nobel Peace laureate Lech Wałęsa, the former President of Poland and leader of the Solidarity movement that helped bring communism in Poland and the Soviet Union to its end. The Church supported the Solidarity movement and called for elimination of nuclear weapons. Wałęsa noted the importance of the Church’s efforts in building imagination that another world was possible. They did not wait for better times to act.
Catholic teaching on war and peace is sometimes presented as pitting Just Peace and Just War traditions against each other. This is not true. Catholic teaching has always been founded on the pursuit of a positive peace based on the right relationship. The Catholic Church has repeatedly criticized nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence as being “certainly not” a stable, moral, long-term basis of a positive peace, as evidenced now by the instability of Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and Trump’s threats to resume nuclear explosions. The Catholic Church has wisely been resolute in its calls for banning all nuclear weapons testing, expanding arms control (including an extension of the New START treaty), and moving toward disarmament. Popes and Holy See diplomats have repeatedly noted that no state has “legacy rights” to have nuclear weapons forever.
By elevating Just Peace principles and practices, the Church promotes alternative ways to address the current conflicts fueling a new nuclear arms race. Peacebuilding is not restricted to state activity. Peacebuilding continues even when government elites are stalemated or are escalating conflict. Peacebuilding extends over very long timelines by a wider variety of actors, including transnational and religious advocacy networks. We must pursue multiple channels now, not knowing where the breakthrough may come. By championing Just Peace, people of faith help bring our country and world back from the nuclear brink.
(This article is adapted from a longer essay published in Commonweal in April 2025, entitled “The Promise of Peacebuilding.”)
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Maryann Cusimano Love is a tenured associate professor of International Relations and chair of the Politics Department of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
