海角大神

Dominance of English

Regarding the June 13 cover story 鈥�The new battle of Britain鈥�: Great reporting, but I assume that the story did not mention English as the world鈥檚 lingua franca because no one is talking about it. It鈥檚 the elephant in the room, after all. The symbolism of Britain leaving the EU is anti-world 鈥� essentially, 鈥淲e鈥檝e had all we can take of global integration.鈥�

The world has embraced English (at gun-point) as the language that can help everyone to explain their issues, if not resolve them. 鈥淏rexit鈥� is an invitation for those who don鈥檛 want to resolve differences to back off, and for those who love war to keep on fighting.

Alan Krause

Arlington, Va.

Problems with nuclear race

Regarding the June 13 article 鈥�Nuclear-capable nations are growing their weapon systems, report finds鈥� (CSMonitor.com): It neglects to mention two major problems with the qualitative race that is now taking place among the world鈥檚 nine nuclear-armed nations. First, it is clearly illegal under international law, which requires good-faith negotiations on an end to the nuclear arms race. That is why the Marshall Islands has filed lawsuits against all nine nuclear-armed nations at the International Court of Justice and, separately, against the United States in US federal court, for breaches of this obligation.聽

Second, the 鈥渕odernization鈥� programs these countries are engaged in are often giving nuclear weapons new military capabilities. In many cases, weapons that are being 鈥渕odernized鈥� right now are planned to still be in use until late in the 21st century. The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, currently being 鈥渕odernized鈥� by the US, will become the world鈥檚 first 鈥渟mart鈥� gravity bomb, with a new guided tail-fin kit and an adjustable explosive yield. These new capabilities could make the weapon more usable in the eyes of military leaders, leading to consequences that are truly unthinkable.

Rick Wayman

Director of programs, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Santa Barbara, Calif.