Alva Myrdal: A Pioneer in Nuclear Disarmament

286 Pages·2022·6.329 MB·English

by  Peter Wallensteen, Armend Bekaj

Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice 31
Peter Wallensteen
Armend Bekaj
Editors
Alva Myrdal:
A Pioneer in Nuclear
Disarmament
Forewords by
Margot Wallström and Izumi Nakamitsu
Prefaces by
Thomas Graham Jr. and Rolf Ekéus
Department of Peace Alva Myrdal Centre for
and Conflict Research Nuclear Disarmament
Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science,
Engineering, Practice
Volume 31
Series Editor
Hans Günter Brauch, Peace Research and European Security Studies
(AFES-PRESS), Mosbach, Germany
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/PAHSEP.htm
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/PAHSEP_Myrdal.htm
https://link.springer.com/book/9783031127960
·
Peter Wallensteen Armend Bekaj
Editors
Alva Myrdal: A Pioneer
in Nuclear Disarmament
Forewords by Margot Wallström and Izumi Nakamitsu
Prefaces by Thomas Graham Jr. and Rolf Ekéus
Editors
Peter Wallensteen Armend Bekaj
Department of Peace and Conflict Research Department of Peace and Conflict Research
Uppsala University Uppsala University
Uppsala, Sweden Uppsala, Sweden
Acknowledgement:
The editors wish to thank Kaj Fölster—Alva Myrdal’s daughter—for always being ready to
respond to our enquiries regarding Myrdal’s life, and for providing us with valuable informa-
tion and photos during the process of preparing this book. Also, we wish to extend our sincere
thanks to Bill Montross for reading and providing comments on some of the text for this book.
Credit for book cover photo: Uppsala University, Electronic Archive, Photographs, Alva
Myrdal.
More on Alva Myrdal, her books, other publications and links to selected media are found at:
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/PAHSEP_Myrdal.htm.
ISSN 2509-5579 ISSN 2509-5587 (electronic)
Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice
ISBN 978-3-031-12796-0 ISBN 978-3-031-12797-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12797-7
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Copyediting: PD Dr. Hans Günter Brauch, AFES-PRESS e.V., Mosbach, Germany
Credit: Uppsala University, Electronic Archive, Photographs, Alva Myrdal
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Foreword by Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström, Sweden’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs. Photo by Martina Iverus
It has to be said straight away: I never met her. But Alva Myrdal became the personal
name denoting history in my country and was somebody that I would have given
anything and everything to meet and learn from. I have carried, and still carry, some
of the shared national pride over her accomplishments—without knowing her at all,
only as a public figure and through reporting about her work. But now I sometimes
use only her first name and people will know whom I refer to—that is the kind of
authority and respect Alva gained.
The photos of Alva Myrdal show us a beautiful woman, elegantly dressed, clearly
in control. Her reputation was also impeccable, and I imagine she must have worked
so hard throughout her life to keep everything up. She was active in a man’s
world, often dealing with issues that traditionally had been handled and decided by
v
vi ForewordbyMargotWallström
men. She served as Swedish Minister for Disarmament and Church matters—both
posts unheard of in today’s governments. Alva also was a member of Parliament
for eight years, she wrote several books, worked for the UN, served as Ambassador,
did impressive academic work, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982—to
mention just some of the highlights of her amazing career and life, which ended in
1986.
There is to me a familiar pattern in her engagement and priorities. Based on
thorough understanding and reflection on children and family life, social, and of
course gender issues, she widens the circles and connects these matters to peace,
nuclear, and disarmament policies.
What seems logical and urgent others interpret as “women’s issues,” emotional
and naive—why is that? Are women more inclined to think long term and about their
children’s future? Are women more capable of visualizing a world free of nuclear
weapons or more effective means for weapons control?
I try to imagine Alva Myrdal’s voice in today’s debate on nuclear weapons: surely
well-articulated, clear, and maybe with a hint of disappointment about our sorry
achievements. A brutal war is now destroying Ukraine, and the aggressor—Russia—
is threatening the world with nuclear weapons. Finland and Sweden consider joining
NATO—unthinkable for the two militarily non-allied neighbors just a few months
ago. NATO members are increasing their military capacities considerably—some
would even call it a new arms race. Since a decade back, the world has witnessed the
withering of arms control regimes, the modernizing of nuclear weaponry and a new
rhetoric about the use of such weapons.
But Alva today would recognize a debate about the definition of security, a return
to the concept of “Common security”—now including how to deal with climate crisis
and pandemics. We are in dire need of a joint will to survive instead of mutual assured
destruction.
The fact that a binding UN convention prohibiting nuclear weapons has entered
into force would please her, I guess. The arguments against prohibition would sound
familiar to her, and she would probably frown over the lack of progress in the
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
It is not easy to measure up to an iconic leader as Alva Myrdal, but she has for
sure inspired me. What would she have thought of a Feminist Foreign Policy that I
introduced as new Minister of Foreign Affairs—to acknowledge the fact that more
women in peace processes means more solid peace agreements that last longer?
Or the Stockholm Initiative started in 2019 with the aim of promoting a successful
review of the NPT? In an inner dialog with this amazing role model I say to her:
“Same, same—but different”, dear Alva! I like to think that you watch over and
continue to inspire us because as you said: “It is not worthy of us humans to give
up!”
Karlstad, Sweden Margot Wallström
April 2022
ForewordbyMargotWallström vii
Margot Wallström was Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs 2014–2019 formulating a feminist
foreign policy. She has had a long experience in public affairs as a member of the Social Democratic
Party, notably as Member of Parliament 1982–1999, Minister of Consumer Affairs 1988–1991, and
European Commissioner for Environmental Affairs 1999–2004 and for Communications 2004–
2010. She was UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict 2010–2012.
Foreword by Izumi Nakamitsu
Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
Photo taken from UN website: UN Page
In her acceptance speech to the Nobel committee in Oslo in 1982, Alva Myrdal ended
with a hopeful wish for peace: that the world was learning that nuclear weapons can
never become beneficial and that “men will understand that the interest of all are the
same, that hope lies in cooperation.”
Alva was clear: without nuclear weapons, the world is more secure. While her wish
for a more peaceful world is not yet fulfilled, her legacy and call for collaboration
are kept up by the many women and men from all countries of our world working
ix
x ForewordbyIzumiNakamitsu
for peace and disarmament and can be seen throughout the current disarmament and
non-proliferation fields.
As the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, I can recog-
nize the urgency that Alva expressed for progress on disarmament to secure our
peace. Many of her concerns remain the same. Today, nuclear arsenals are growing,
and there are more violent conflicts than since the foundation of the United Nations.
Complex power relations between states and non-state actors in combination with
emerging weapon technologies are bringing new challenges to the international
security landscape. International disarmament efforts struggle to keep up.
I highly welcome this new book on Alva’s achievements in disarmament, with
thanks to the contribution of those who had the privilege to work with her and
those who have studied her work. Alva’s approaches to disarmament influenced
disarmament policy and international diplomacy.
One could say that Alva personified what the UN was created to do, through
her tireless work for international peace and security, diplomacy, social progress,
and human rights. She was a defining voice for placing military resources into
health, education, and other social needs. In the book, The Game of Disarmament
(1977), she illustrated how the Cold War’s arms races ruined the world economy.
She was in many ways a champion of the UN Charter’s Article 26 on the least diver-
sion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources. It is saddening
that in 2020, during a global pandemic, the world military spending rose to nearly
$2 trillion according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)—
an institution Alva herself held a key role in establishing.
Alva also contributed to bringing women’s rights to the Swedish and international
political agendas, creating another lasting legacy for herself and her country.
States have recognized the disproportionate impact of weapons and armed conflict
on women and girls, and the need for their equal and meaningful participation in peace
and security through the adoption of various normative frameworks such as the Secu-
rity Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace, and security and the General
Assembly resolution 56/57 (2010) on women, disarmament, non-proliferation, and
arms control. Yet, no major multilateral disarmament forum has yet achieved gender
equality. In the Conference for Disarmament in Geneva, where Alva represented the
Swedish delegation in the 1960s, less than one in four of those speaking in last year’s
sessions were women.
As a woman leader in the United Nation, I acknowledge how Alva, as one of
the first female senior managers in the UN system heading the UN Welfare Policy
Section already in 1949, has paved the way for many to follow. It took almost
70 years to achieve gender parity among UN leaders at the most senior levels, and
we still have further to go with Secretary-General’s target of parity at all levels in
the UN system by 2028.
Alva’s tireless and passionate fight for disarmament during the Cold War was not
an easy task. She brought her sociological ability to forecast and quickly react to the
world’s challenges into all steps of her career, and her evidence-based approaches
and ability to explain the illogical nature of arms races are as pertinent today as in the
1960s. As states continue to negotiate non-proliferation issues through treaties and