City leaders speak out against nuclear weapons

Several elected U.S. city officials, including Chicago Alderwoman Maria Hadden, recently joined international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to speak out about the dangers of nuclear war at the third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) held earlier this month in New York City. The U.S. government, however, openly opposes the treaty.

The relatively new United Nations treaty, which aims to promote the global elimination of nuclear weapons, entered into force in January 2021 and has been signed by 94 countries and ratified by 73.

In the absence of U.S. federal support for the TPNW, U.S. cities have taken action on nuclear weapons policy. Over the past eight years, more than 70 U.S. city councils, including Chicago, Evanston and several other major cities in the Midwest, have passed “Back from the Brink” resolutions calling on the federal government to take concrete steps to reduce nuclear threats and eliminate nuclear weapons.

There are several reasons for cities to take action on nuclear weapons policy, despite a lack of federal support. One reason is because cities are presumed targets for nuclear attack. Another is because the legacy of nuclear weapons development is pervasive within city boundaries, from historical ties to the Manhattan Project to the presence of community members affected by nuclear weapons development, including uranium mining, nuclear testing and nuclear waste disposal. Further, nuclear waste is sometimes transported through major cities as this map from contractors with the U.S. Department of Energy shows.

How do city resolutions come to pass? In Chicago, Alderwoman Hadden sponsored Chicago’s Resolution 2021-920 which passed in July 2021. The resolution called attention to the distributive justice consequences of the ongoing $1.5 trillion “modernization” project to replace the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal. The Chicago City Council resolution specifically recalls the key role the City of Chicago played in the Manhattan Project and notes the disproportionate impact that nuclear weapons development has had on people of color.

Significantly, city council resolutions are the result of broad local citizen-led efforts. For example, the Evanston City Council resolution, the first of its kind in the Midwest, was the result of an interfaith effort supported by a broad coalition of local Christian and Jewish groups. At the Jan. 13, 2020 council meeting where the resolution was passed, several local religious leaders spoke powerfully about the dangers of nuclear war and the moral issues surrounding nuclear weapons.

Many resolutions were also adopted in the context of a longer history of local efforts to promote nuclear disarmament and peace. For example, the Chicago City Council resolution builds on the city’s previous actions, such as its 1986 declaration of the city as a nuclear-free zone. Similarly, in the local campaign for the Saint Paul City Council’s “Back from the Brink” resolution, supporters cited the city’s longstanding sister city relationship with Nagasaki, the oldest sister city relationship between the U.S. and Japan (established in 1955), as a rationale for the council’s action on nuclear disarmament. 

A key challenge for city leaders is following up on these largely symbolic resolutions. In many cities I visited as part of my research, city councils have not done much after passing resolutions. Only a handful of city council resolutions, such as the Madison Common Council resolution adopted in October 2023, include a divestment measure requiring the city to review contracts with companies linked to nuclear weapons development. Such administrative action allows for sustained engagement on nuclear policy at the local level.

The responsibility of city leaders is not limited to ensuring that potholes on local roads are filled. Where national leaders lack the will to reduce the nuclear threat, address the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons development and protect human life and the environment from further damage by nuclear weapons, city leaders have an important role to play. Through their legislative actions, city leaders can recognize and elevate the voices of the people they represent, nationally and internationally, as well as locally, even when these issues are beyond their jurisdiction.

Chicago Alderwoman Hadden’s decision to speak to the international audience at the U.N. meeting serves as another compelling model for follow-up action. Where city councils have voted to support the elimination of nuclear weapons, mayors and council members have a mandate to continue to speak out and represent their constituents’ concerns to the world.

Hirokazu Miyazaki is the Kay Davis Professor and a professor of anthropology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the lead investigator of Mapping Nuclear Legacies: The Role of Cities in the Politics of Nuclear Weapons.