The Doomsday Clock, for 55 years the world’s most recognized symbol of nuclear danger, will be reset by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at a Chicago news conference Wednesday (Feb. 27).p. George Lopez, director of policy studies in the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and chair of the Bulletin’s directors, will announce the change at 11 a.m. at the Max Palevsky Theater at the University of Chicago.p. The Doomsday Clock is reset periodically by the Bulletin to reflect the changing state of global security; the closer the minute hand is to midnight (doomsday), the more dangerous the state of the world. The hands have been moved 16 times since the clock’s inception in 1947 and have been set at 9 minutes to midnight since 1998.p. Lopez is the first social scientist to serve as chair of the Bulletin’s board of directors. He was interim executive director of the organization in 1997.p. A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1986, Lopez is a professor of government and international studies. He has written extensively on the economic tools of statecraft as well as the differing forms of political violence and terrorism.p. A Webcast of the news conference will be available at 5 p.m. (EST) at http://www.bullatomsci.org
TopicID: 2812