Statement on “Rethinking National Security”

When World War II ended in 1945 our nation was secure from attack. Since then, we have invested trillions of dollars in an effort to improve our national security. We have applied some of our brightest minds to maximize the value of that investment. Yet, absurdly, we now can be destroyed in under an hour.

In mathematics, an absurd result from a logical line of reasoning proves that at least one underlying assumption must be false. While other factors contributed to our predicament, we need to re-examine the assumptions that form the foundation for our current approach to national security, starting with the concept itself.

In this age of nuclear weapons, pandemics, cyberattacks, terrorism, and environmental crises, is national security becoming inseparable from global security? If so, how do our current policies need to change?

We, the undersigned, urgently call for a bipartisan dialog, including Congressional hearings, to answer those critically important questions.

A paper with more details is accessible on this website. The following signers of the above statement do not necessarily agree with everything said in that paper. Affiliations are for identification purposes only.

© 2019 Martin Hellman