Time to watch (NPT) TV!

Friends,

After nearly a month of trying to keep up with activities at the 2010 NPT Review Conference I finally decided that I needed to watch TV, but not just any TV. I've discovered NPT TV, a Website designed and run by a team of students from Germany. They have been running brief video interviews with a wide variety of people involved with the 2010 NPT RevCon; people like John Burroughs, Executive Director of the Lawyer's Committee on Nuclear Policy. Check out one of the interviews with him here as he talks about "watered down drafts" negatively affecting the outcome of the conference:

Changes in the drafts from NPT TV on Vimeo.

I've watched a few of these videos, and they have provided me with insights I would not get by following the UN 2010 Review Conference Website or even the excellent coverage at Reaching Critical Will (which I highly recommend!). There is nothing like the power of video.

I discovered a particularly powerful video created by NPT TV's art branch; it's called "Hair Trigger Alert", and through the stark contrast of everyday images woven through a series of interviews with people like David Krieger of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Hair Trigger Alert is intended to engage those who aren't yet convinced that all this disarmament work is worth the effort. Check it out (below), and then share it with your as yet unaware friends.

Hair Trigger Alert from NPT TV on Vimeo.

As for what the final day of the conference will bring, I would wager that those of us working to abolish nuclear weapons won't be breaking out the champagne. "Consensus" was a lovely pipe dream. It will be time to roll up our sleeves and continue the struggle. Until then, enjoy a little TV time...

Peace,

Leonard

Note: NPT TV is a project of the Heidelberg-based Student Peace Bureau, a grassroots organization, initiated, and organized by students, working on issues of peace and development.