S3 EP5 - Nukes, Landmines, and Disarmament: A Conversation with Matthew Breay Bolton - PART II

PART II

This is the second part in our two-part series on global demining and disarmament efforts, and the Trump administration’s decision to suspend all US assistance and funding for these international campaigns. In this episode, Mark Williams speaks with political scientist and Nobel Laureate Matthew Breay Bolton regarding the US role in helping to address the problems posed by landmines and unexploded ordinance—problems that past US policy had sometimes helped create. Their conversation examines some of the ethical, political, and strategic implications of the US decision to cease supporting global demining efforts—such as the potential rise in civilian casualties, abdication of moral responsibility, and the broader strategic disadvantages this policy change (and a US withdrawal from global leadership more generally) seems likely to impose on the United States.

Dr. Matthew Breay Bolton is professor of political science and co-director of the International Disarmament Institute at Pace University, New York City. He is also affiliated with the Environmental Science and Studies department. Along with his wife, Emily Welty, Bolton was part of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) team awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. He has worked for more than 20 years with UN and NGO efforts addressing the humanitarian impact of landmines, cluster munitions, military robotics and the arms trade. 

New Frontiers is a higher education podcast series bringing scholarly research and expertise to bear on national, international, and global affairs.

Produced and edited by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams, director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Intro by Charlotte Tate, associate director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. 

Music Credits
Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album