Today, we are faced with an existential polycrisis: the intensification of climate catastrophes and environmental degradation have pushed the planet to the edge of being able to maintain human life.1 Add to that the escalating possibility of nuclear war and the future for life on earth appears in great peril.
Yet rather than working together to achieve peace, co-operation and sustainability, states are priming their economies with military spending, and the US is clutching on to its dominance by using its military prowess and alliances to wage a New Cold War to contain China’s economic rise. In an increasingly insecure world, where one wrong move could set off mutually assured destruction and nuclear armageddon, we need to step back from the edge, rapidly de-escalate, build peace and denuclearize. We need to fight for a world where the security of one is based on the security of all: ‘common security’.
