For futher information on these and all degrees offered are available on the College website at www.heythrop.ac.uk or contact can be made with Annabel Clarkson, Academic Registrar, on 020 7795 4203.

Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London, W8 5HQ New Internationalist JUNE Issue 412 nuclear weapons

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The lorry carrying the warheads stopped in a lay-by so the driver could go to McDonald’s. So Russell, who’d been following the convoy, ran in after him and shouted: “Hey everybody, want to see what Britain’s weapons of mass destruction look like? They’re parked just outside!” I’m in a caféé round the corner from the NI Oxford office, chuckling away at Nigel and Margaret’s story. They are die-hard anti-nuke activists, part of a network called Nukewatch* which doggedly follows the bombs as they are transported up and down the country. They have documented brake failures, crashes and one hair-raising incident where a lorry carrying two warheads skidded on ice and rolled on to its side in Wiltshire. They show me photos of just how close a nuclear convoy comes to my house on a regular basis. I had no idea. Before editing this issue of the magazine, I’d mainly thought about nuclear weapons in the abstract. The revelation that the Government is making new bombs all the

time and driving them round the Oxford ring-road came as quite a shock. If the powers-that-be had their way, we’d never know about any of this. The fact that we do is down to people like Nigel and Margaret, who sacrifice their time – and in some cases their liberty – to watch, track, bear witness and resist.

Jess Worth for the

New Internationalist Co-operative jess@newint.org

*A new film about Nukewatch is well worth seeing: Deadly Cargo – Tracking the nuclear warhead convoy is made by Camcorder Guerillas. You can get hold of a copy at www.nukewatch.org.uk

4 The bomb stops here With nuclear weapons multiplying again, now is the time to seize the moment and ban them, argues Jess Worth.

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8 nuclear weapons: the facts 10 The charm fades Pakistani physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy explores his country’s rocky relationship with nukes.

12 Whoops! Wayward warheads, mid-air collisions and dangerous detonations.

13 Trident tested Activist Angie Zelter celebrates a year-long blockade of Britain’s weapons of mass destruction.

14 Talking warheads What are the West’s weapons actually for? asks Paul Rogers.

16 everything has changed: a brief history of nuclear weapons 19 Resist! Anti-nuke action.

22 sPeCIAL FeATURe Bust! The gambling boom David Ransom finds a likeness between the addictions of gambling and the speculative impulses of capitalism.

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2 Letters Why Jesus was more radical than anyone but Gandhi; UN unfairly impugned; moral responsibility and flying. PLUS: Maria Golia is shocked by a new supermarket in her Letter from Cairo.

25 Currents West Papua’s push for independence; Nike workers in Vietnam go on strike; Fossil Fools Day. PLUS: Wordpower and Seriously

28 Big Bad World PLUS: NI Prize Crossword

29 Making waves Influential evangelical Christian Brian McLaren has been stirring things up by insisting on social (and global) justice.

30 Mixed Media Includes Steve Reich’s tribute to murdered journalist Daniel Pearl; books from Turkey and China; poetry from Nigeria; and an intelligent British comic drama.

32 Southern Exposure Acrobatic extravagance in Tehran, as seen by Iranian photographer Kian Amani.

33 View from New Delhi Urvashi Butalia explains why imprisoned doctor Binayak Sen is such an inspiration.

34 Essay: Global warming and the King’s Arms pub Horatio Morpurgo supplies an environmental missing link.

36 Country Profile: Uzbekistan

Front cover: Joséé Chicas / AvengingAngels.org Magazine design: Alan Hughes. All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.