Research and advocacy projects
Reaching Critical Will carries out research and advocacy on a wide range of disarmament issues. You can find more information on our ongoing and past projects here.
Abolishing nuclear weapons
WILPF has been demanding the elimination of nuclear weapons since the dawn of the nuclear age. As part of this effort, Reaching Critical Will worked with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) to achieve the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, we monitor global nuclear weapon forums and treaty bodies, and we are active in various local and national efforts for disarmament around the world.
Ending the use of explosive weapons in populated areas
The use of explosive weapons in populated areas, or the bombing of towns, cities, and villages, leads to vast humanitarian harm, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and environmental degradation. Reaching Critical Will supports efforts to end this inhumane and illegal practice, including through the development of an international political declaration and by holding governments and companies to account for arms transfers that lead to such bombing.
Preventing the development of autonomous weapon systems
WILPF is working to prevent the development of autonomous weapon systems, also known as killer robots, which are weapons that would function without meaningful human control. Due to the moral, ethical, legal, political, and technical problems with the development and use of such weapons, we are working with tech workers and governments to ensure that the dystopian future promised by these new technologies of violence never comes to pass.
Bringing feminist perspectives to disarmament
For 105 years, WILPF has articulated the links between militarism and gender norms such as violent masculinities. Reaching Critical Will seeks to achieve disarmament, challenge militarism and violence, and confront gender discrimination and normativity, including in our monitoring and reporting on international forums such as the United Nations and other meetings of governments, as well as through research, policy analysis, advocacy, and collaboration with international civil society campaigns.
Confronting the arms trade and war profiteering
The international arms trade is big business. The profits generated from the production and sale of weapons are put above the lives of the people these weapons are used against. Since its founding in 1915, WILPF has called out war profiteering as the biggest obstacle to peace. Reaching Critical Will continues this work by calling for an end to the global arms trande, weapons production, and military spending; holding governments to account to their Arms Trade Treaty obligations and working with our human rights programme to make submissions to human rights forums on arms transfers. We have also linked our work on ending the use of explosive weapons in populated areas to ending the global arms trade.
Challenging armed drones
Armed drones are the leading edge of "emerging technologies of violence" - technologies and weapons designed to make killing more remote and that lower the threshold for their use. Drones have been catastrophic for civilian causalities inside and outside of conflict, and have enabled the growing practice of extrajudicial killing, in violation of international law. Reaching Critical Will opposes the use of armed drones and works to highlight the humanitarian suffering they cause as well as their impacts on international law and militarism.
NPT Action Plan monitoring
At the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, states parties adopted a 64-point action plan in order to further the implementation of the treaty. Reaching Critical Will, in partnership with the government of Switzerland, produced comprehensive reports on the implementation of this action plan from 2011 to 2015.
Space weapons and missile defence technology
In 2007 Reaching Critical Will investigated technologies and programmes related to missile defence and potential space weaponization. We found that there are dozens of programmes in various stages of development. The following is a compilation of those under development or in planning as of March 2007.
The aerospace industry
In 2007 Reaching Critical Will examined the aerospace industry's contributions to missile defence and the weaponization of space. We found that there are dozens of corporations involved in the development of space weapon and missile defence technology and support systems. 35 of those corporations are represented in this report.
Dirty Dozen: corporate partners in mass destruction
In 2001 and 2007, Reaching Critical Will teamed up with the Arms Trade Resource Center of the World Policy Institute and the Stop the Merchants of Death Network of the War Resisters League to research and generate materials exposing the complicity of corporations contributing to the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear weapon proliferation, and the associated social, cultural, and environmental harm.