While most Choate students spent their Wednesday afternoons catching up on homework or at athletic competitions, Arin Kaye ’17 and Noah Hermes de Boor ’18 traveled to Nagasaki, Japan, for the Critical Issues Forum on Nuclear Disarmament. The two students, along with HPRSS teacher Mr. James Davidson, were in Japan for seven days, from March 31st until April 5th.
The conference took place over three days. Each delegation group – four from the United States, four from Russia, and four from Japan – prepared a presentation. Following the presentations, experts came to the conference to offer insight on nuclear technology. Professors from Nagasaki University, a survivor of the Nagasaki Bombing, and Dr. Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the CTBTO, spoke to students at the conference.
The forum was hosted by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, in Monterey, California. The event, begun in 1997, has taken place in several locations around the world, including Geneva, Monterey, and Hiroshima. High school students from Russia, Japan, and the United States have attended the conference. Choate has been involved for ten years.
The conference began as a high school program meant to educate students about the current circumstances of nuclear weapons and to discuss their benefits and disadvantages. This year, students attending the conference discussed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Adopted in 1996 by the United States General Assembly, the treaty bans nuclear explosions for all purposes. Major nuclear forces, including India and Pakistan, have still not signed the treaty.
During their time in Nagasaki, Kaye and Hermes de Boor immersed themselves in the Japanese culture by staying with host families. About her host family, Kaye said, “They were absolutely fabulous. They were really overeager and really excited to talk to me and show me around their city. I went to so many family dinners where I met grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was so exciting.”
Mr. Davidson, who acted as a “coach” this year for Kaye and Hermes de Boor, has directed the program since Choate sent its first students to the conference, in 2008. Choate first became involved when a trustee member familiar with the program recognized Choate’s profound commitment to international awareness and suggested the school participate. Moreover, Choate has long had a Model United Nations program, which helps enhance the skills necessary for students to contribute to the discussions at the conference.
Mr. Davidson also heads the selection process for this program. Students who demonstrate strong public-speaking skills, proper independent research skills, and the capacity to collaborate are selected to participate in the forum.
“Many Americans, even many high-school aged Americans, are unaware of the status of nuclear arms in the world and the risks that they pose,” Mr. Davidson said. “Nuclear weapons pose such an incredible risk, but we act as a country as if they may never be used. However, they still continue to be developed.”
As North Korea and Iran inch ever closer to acquiring nuclear weapons, Mr. Davidson said, “it is crucial for students to understand how treaties and international relationships work.” Recently, North Korea tested rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads, flouting the terms of the CTBT. The country is unlikely to agree to negotiations. “It was hard for anybody to propose a feasible solution knowing that North Korea wouldn’t agree,” Kaye said.
Viewpoints of various delegations at the forum sometimes clashed. For instance, a Russian student argued that the United States should not involve itself in foreign affairs to the extent that it does. He suggested that the United States not concern itself with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. American students, perhaps unsurprisingly, disagreed, though by the end of the conference, students were able to overlook their diverse standpoints and develop valuable friendships.
The duo returned to campus having learned a lot about nuclear technology and its effects on international relationships. One of Kaye’s most valuable takeaways was coming to understand the perspectives of those from other countries. “In America, we don’t think about war in the way that others do,” she said. As other states around the world have been more directly affected by nuclear technology, Kaye agrees with Mr. Davidson that Americans aren’t aware of the importance of the disarmament of nuclear weaponry.
Kaye and Hermes de Boor plan to share their experiences with the rest of the community during an all-school meeting in the coming weeks. They were given a presentation from one of the Russian delegations and hope to share it with the student body. They also hope to have time at third and fourth form meetings to elaborate on the topics discussed at the conference.
