BRC Hosts Council Meeting of International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Security

At the request of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES), an anti-nuclear and environmental organization based in Germany, the BRC hosted a public meeting on the theme, "New Security Concerns and Approaches."

To support the Council's focus on sustainable development, BRC executive director Virginia Straus and publications manager Amy Morgante led a discussion on the Earth Charter initiative. Following close scrutiny of the draft document and discussion by members in a specially-convened subcommittee, an INES response to the Benchmark Draft was formulated and forwarded to Professor Steven Rockefeller, coordinator of the drafting process for the Earth Charter. This effort was directed by David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Toward the close of the summer council meeting, following discussions that ranged from the dire economic conditions of Russians to the status of warhead reduction efforts to the possibility of the development of additional nuclear weapon-free zones, the meeting ended on a hopeful note with the repetition of Margaret Mead's observation: "Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world. It's the only thing that ever has."