It鈥檚 no accident that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as the site for the 2023 G7 meeting. Shortly after announcing his choice, he that, 鈥淸a]s prime minister of Japan, the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, there is no better place than Hiroshima to show our commitment to peace.鈥�
Although will be discussed at the G7 meeting, including climate change, the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and issues of economic security, Kishida sees the meeting鈥檚 location as an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of Hiroshima and reaffirm Japan鈥檚 commitment to nuclear disarmament.
Since World War II, Hiroshima has of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons. On August 6, 1945, hoping to convince Japan to surrender to the Allies, the US on Hiroshima. Although it is difficult to assess how many Japanese died from the bombing, low estimates run into the tens of thousands. Not surprisingly, 78 years later, many Japanese are still haunted by the horrors of nuclear war.
Though born in Tokyo, Kishida understands this history 鈥� and the present-day threat 鈥� very well; he hails from a political family in Hiroshima and represents the city鈥檚 first district in the National Diet (Japanese legislature). And while Kishida was not alive in 1945, a relative of his caused by the bombing. Kishida of his grandmother recounting stories of the destruction from the bombing and has said those stories have been a driving factor in his political career.
The threat of nuclear weapons is one Kishida has both written and spoken about before. Back in 2014, while he was still Japan鈥檚 Minister of Foreign Affairs, he in Foreign Affairs magazine detailing specific actions that might be taken to encourage the reduction of nuclear arms and nuclear proliferation across the globe. His recommendations included strengthening multilateral channels for negotiating nuclear arms reductions and encouraging nations to be transparent about the number of weapons they now possess.
Many of the points Kishida made in this article are also part of the Hiroshima Action Plan that he he made last year at a conference for parties to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT). The Hiroshima Action plan also obligates Japan to 鈥減romote the accurate understanding on the realities of nuclear weapons use through encouraging visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by international leaders and others.鈥�
Yet despite his efforts toward nuclear disarmament, the G7 meeting is occurring while much of the world is not at peace.
搁耻蝉蝉颈补鈥檚&苍产蝉辫; in Ukraine and its that it is placing nuclear weapons in Belarus, a nation that borders not only Ukraine, but also the NATO countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, has reminded the world that nuclear war remains a contemporary threat.
According to the US government, the Russians their nuclear arsenal and , including hypersonic missiles existing missile defenses, toward Ukraine. This has raised concerns among world leaders about a new nuclear arms race and the potential for a catastrophic conflict.
The Russian war against Ukraine at the summit, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky possibly making a virtual or in-person appearance. It is expected that the Hiroshima meeting will provide an opportunity for the G7 leaders to both tighten and increase economic sanctions on Russia.
This is particularly important as for an expected new offensive. The hope is that expanded sanctions will not only prevent the Russian army from obtaining the provisions it needs to counter the offensive, but will also succeed in undermining support for the war among the Russian public.
The Japanese Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs Noriyuki Shikata that one of the goals of the summit will be for the G7 nations 鈥渢o uphold the international order based upon the rule of law, and to firmly reject any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, or the threat to use nuclear weapons.鈥� This clearly alludes to Russia鈥檚 actions in Ukraine, but might also apply to future hostilities in the Taiwan straits involving a .
It鈥檚 likely that other nuclear-related issues will be discussed at the G7 meeting, including the specific threats posed by nearby North Korea鈥檚 nuclear program and its ongoing missile tests. Although North Korea has not conducted a nuclear test in more than , they continue .
The proliferation of nuclear weapons to North Korea, not to mention the ongoing nuclear program in Iran, alongside the ongoing concern that Russia might use nuclear weapons in Ukraine serve as a reminder of the urgent need for global cooperation to mitigate the risk of nuclear war.
Unfortunately, it also shows that, if anything, the world appears to be moving in a direction that increases the threat posed by these weapons. Perhaps the best we can hope for, as the G7 leaders walk by the ruins of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, is the beginning of a conversation about how we can reverse course before it鈥檚 too late.