CND Vice-President Kate Hudson is co-organising an international conference as part of the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace peace camp.
How many of us get the chance to go to Japan, or South Korea, or even the US? To hear inspirational peace campaigners share their experience and analysis – as well as their strategies to face the global struggles of today?
Now you don’t need to plan a big long-haul trip, because these very activists are coming to Britain – to an international peace conference in Lakenheath on Thursday 24th April, entitled ‘Analysing and Resisting US Nuclear Expansion!’ They will be joined by many more from across Europe, often hailing from the very US bases that ‘host’ US nuclear weapons. We hope you’ll join us – to be part of the discussion and process of resistance.
And it couldn’t be more timely or appropriate. New upgraded and enhanced bombs – the B61-12s – are coming to the US/NATO bases across Europe, at the worst possible time: when we need to dial down military tension across Europe, not ramp it up. Of course these are the same bombs that we have been campaigning against for three years now: trying to stop them coming to the Lakenheath airbase.
What’s happening at Lakenheath is a focus for very serious international concern. It’s part of a global scenario of rearming, military escalation and nuclear provocation. So we don’t see it as a local or national problem that we can deal with on our own; it’s a global problem and we will face it together, as part of the international peace movement. Be part of that process!
This conference is part of the 12-day Lakenheath Peace Camp, starting on Monday 14th April, which culminates on Saturday 26th April with a blockade. There is a fantastic programme of events over that period, and you can come and camp, sign up for homestay, come for a day, or two – it’s up to you, but Lakenheath Alliance for Peace has a great support structure for accommodation, travel and everything you need to know.
I hope I can tempt you to the conference – it will be a great day. Here’s what’s on offer – and speakers’ contributions will be followed by inclusive discussion and feedback:
Analysing and Resisting US Nuclear Expansion
Lakenheath – Thursday 24th April 2025
West Row Village Hall, Chapel Road, West Row IP28 8NY
9:30am: Registration and welcome
10am-11:30am: Global Dynamics: challenging US militarism and the drive to war
Opening: Angie Zelter – Lakenheath Alliance for Peace
Col. Ann Wright (retd)– Global Women United Against NATO
Koichi Toyoshima – Japan
Sean Conner – International Peace Bureau
Chair: Kate Hudson, CND
11:45am-1:15pm: NATO and the nuclear build-up in Europe: how the bases are used
Ludo de Brabander – Vrede, Belgium
Frits ter Kuile – Catholic Worker, Amsterdam
Dr Angelika Claussen – IPPNW, Germany
Demetrios Hadjidemetriou – Workers Democracy in Cyprus
Chair: Zareen Taj – Cambridge Stop the War/CND
1:15pm-2:15pm: Lunch
2:15pm-3:45pm: How bases impact on communities: environment, pollution and people
Sung Hee Choi – Jeju campaign, South Korea
Bimal Khadka – Medact, UK
Elio Pagani -Abbasso la Guerra, Italy
Alain Rouy – Le Mouvement de la paix, France
Chair: Soetkin Van Muylem, Vrede, Belgium
4pm-5:30pm: Looking ahead: solidarity, strategy and action
Reiner Braun – Not to War – No to NATO Network
Sophie Bolt – CND, UK
Joe Lombardo, UNAC, USA
Chair: Peter Burt, Drone Wars UK
