On Thursday, Nov. 6 at the Hampshire House in Boston, Council for a Livable World and the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation hosted an Election Forum and Reception on the Future of National Security.
Despite the gloomy, rainy weather, Council Board Members joined local activists, longtime Council and Center supporters, newly engaged citizens, and almost a dozen students from local Global Zero Chapters for a spirited debrief of the election and what it portends for navigating national security issues in the new Congress and for the 2016 election.
Susan Shaer (Women’s Action for New Directions, left) noted the work her team did in the field, electing local leaders and working with their champions in Congress to thoughtfully discuss Pentagon spending and the wars in Iraq and Syria. Tom Andrews (Win Without War, center) talked passionately about the history of national organizing around the wars post-911 and the new challenges coming in Congress. John Isaacs (Senior Fellow, Council for a Livable World, right) gave insights on the election outcomes and noted we must continue to hold the President accountable to his nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation commitments in his final two years. John also shared his infamous gift of pun, to appreciative groans in the audience.
The atmosphere was conversational and we had great participation with the audience, including questions from students about how to include the Millennial Generation in the nuclear non-proliferation sphere and how to expand the interest in the electorate around arms control. We launched our student membership at the event. Engaging youth is certainly one of our goals for the coming year and beyond.
To view more photos of the event, see the album on our Facebook page.
