2008 Woodie Awards
Looking ahead: Hans Blix lectures on diplomacy
SONIA TREVIZO
News Writer
Issue date: 3/15/07 Section: News
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Blix’s lecture discussed the present state of affairs in Iraq and the possibilities for preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction in the future.
Hans Blix spent his early career as a Swedish diplomat, from 1962 to 1978. He served as Swedish foreign minister from 1978 to 1979, and then chaired the Swedish Liberal Party’s campaign during the 1980 referendum on nuclear power. He was also named the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1981. Blix led efforts to uncover stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction during the build-up to the U.S.-led invasion March 20, 2003.
Blix advocated setting an example by moving away from weapons of mass destruction instead of developing them.
Even though it is said that diplomacy is often ridiculed and that diplomats think twice before saying nothing, Blix urged diplomacy over war to resolve this issue. The disarmament of weapons of mass destruction would then reduce the possibility of nuclear war, whether by force or by accident. Although he claimed not to be a pacifist he said he would rather have old men sitting around a conference table get ulcers than have young men die in the battlefield.
“One of my worst fears is that weapons will land in the worst hands,” Blix said. He believes that increasing interdependence among states is needed for cooperation, which would then make conflicts less likely. In response to those who say nuclear weapons should be used on terrorists, Blix said,
“Using nuclear weapons on terrorists is like shooting mosquitoes with a cannon.”
“I felt that he was very fair-minded. He gave us credit were credit was due but he also pointed out mistakes that have been made by our country,” student Jared Neal said. Blix concluded the lecture by quoting that the U.N. is there not to bring us to Heaven but to help us avoid going to Hell.
After his work in Iraq he wrote the book “Disarming Iraq,” published in 2004. Blix said,
“There was another option for the states that wished to take armed action against Iraq in the spring of 2003. They could have heeded the [U.N Security] Council’s requests for more time for inspection. Instead, a greater price was paid for this action: in the compromised legitimacy of the action, in the damaged credibility of the governments pursuing it, and in the diminished authority of the United Nations.”
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