Former US Secretaries of State George Shultz and James Baker and General (Ret.) James Cartwright to Headline Global Zero Summit at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 11-12, the 25th anniversary of the historic Reykjavik Summit when Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev astonished the world by nearly agreeing to eliminate all nuclear weapons, 100 eminent international leaders will gather at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to call on heads-of-government to revitalize this vision and initiate the first in history multilateral negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Participants include former US Secretaries of State George Shultz, who will open the Summit Tuesday morning, and James Baker, who will address the gala dinner Tuesday evening; Gen. (Ret.) James Cartwright (former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), who will deliver remarks on Wednesday morning and business leaders Richard Branson and Jeff Skoll, who will speak on a panel on the cost of nuclear weapons directly following Gen. Cartwright's speech. Academy Award-winning producer Lawrence Bender, a founding member of Global Zero and producer of the documentary, Countdown to Zero, will participate in the Summit. Details below.

To stop proliferation and achieve Ronald Reagan's dream of "the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth," Global Zero will call on heads-of-government to hold a Nuclear Weapons Summit to launch the first in history multilateral negotiations for the phased elimination of arsenals and universal, unrestricted verification.

Global Zero notes that since 2009-2010, when Presidents Obama and Medvedev declared their commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons and negotiated the New START treaty, momentum has stalled. Heads-of-government have been occupied with other challenges, including a faltering global economy and rapid change and upheaval in the Middle East. But what many of them emphatically declared just a couple of years ago remains true today: nuclear weapons pose the most urgent threat to the world, and the only way to eliminate that threat is to eliminate all nuclear weapons.

Until the Global Zero goal gets back to the top of the international agenda, nuclear weapons will continue to spread, increasing the risk that they will be used. If Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev – at the height of the Cold War – could come together to cut nuclear weapons, today's leaders can do the same.

The Global Zero Summit will take place at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 11 and concluding at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 12. The program will include progress reports by leaders from key countries, strategy sessions, presentations by student leaders on Global Zero's grassroots campaign focusing on the $1 trillion per decade cost of nuclear arsenals, and a gala dinner. See attached for full program schedule.

Global Zero Summit Highlights: All Events at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

TUESDAY, October 11, 2011

9:00 – 10:15 | Presidential Learning Center

Opening Session: Address by Sec. George P. Shultz, followed by Q&A

Opening remarks by Amb. Richard Burt

6:00pm – 8:30pm | Courtyard

Gala Dinner: Address by Sec. James A. Baker, III, followed by Q&A

WEDNESDAY, October 12, 2011

9:15am – 10:30am | Presidential Learning Center

Opening Session: Address by Gen. (Ret.) James Cartwright followed by Q&A

10:30am – 12:00pm | Presidential Learning Center

The Cost of Nuclear Weapons: Panel with Sir Richard Branson, Amb. Mahmud Durrani, Col. Gen. (Ret.) Victor Esin, Dr. Lawrence Korb, Gen. (Ret.) Bernard Norlain and Mr. Jeff Skoll, moderated by Dr. Bruce Blair

Global Zero – the international movement for the elimination of all nuclear weapons – has grown to 300 leaders and 400,000 citizens; developed a step-by-step plan to eliminate nuclear weapons; built an international student movement with 80 campus chapters; and produced a documentary film, Countdown to Zero, with the team behind An Inconvenient Truth. President Barack Obama, President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister David Cameron, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have endorsed the Global Zero movement, with Obama declaring, "Global Zero will always have a partner in me and my administration." Leading newspapers have backed Global Zero's plan, the Financial Times concluding that, "Global Zero's plan has shown the direction to be travelled; the world's leaders must now start moving." 

*Views and opinions expressed by Global Zero are not necessarily shared by The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation.

SOURCE Global Zero