Pacific nuclear fears: New archive of works by late activist Van Dyke is rich resource for policies

The tensions of nuclear war are now part of everyday life. It wasn’t too long ago when North Korea threatened to launch missiles with nuclear warheads if the U.S., and its regional allies, continue to engage in military exercises in the region. And the recent false alarm about a ballistic missile headed to Hawaii gave added urgency to improve planning needs, and gain a deeper understanding of how threats have evolved.

That legal historical perspective is part of “The Jon Van Dyke Archival Collection,” a new acquisition at the University of Hawaii School of Law Library that will be opened to the public beginning March 5.

Jon Van Dyke, a professor of constitutional law at the William S. Richardson School of Law who passed away in 2011, served as a legal consultant for three decades to Pacific Island nations that spoke out against normalizing nuclear dependence. The Hawaii Council for the Humanities helped to fund the preservation of Van Dyke’s papers, which include his research and advocacy against nuclear waste dumping in the Pacific during his 35-year career as a scholar and legal practitioner.

Pacific islands have a long history of opposing nuclear weapons and warfare. Early initiatives undertaken in partnership with Van Dyke are part of a vast trove of his documents that have been collated at the law library. The papers offer a glimpse of anti-nuclear advocacy in the Pacific region, of how Pacific communities conveyed a different viewpoint when mainstream news and political channels rationalized nuclearism.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Van Dyke was a participant in the “South Pacific Regional Environment Programme” expert meetings when protections against dumping nuclear or oil wastes in Pacific waters were drafted. His papers also include findings and research proposals that have identified both political and economic barriers Pacific Islanders have faced when trying to halt the dumping of radioactive waste in their waters.

Today, three decades later, economically powerful nations are still pursuing security needs through nuclear energy or nuclear weaponry — at the expense of Pacific environ- ments and peoples’ health. In addition, radioactive waste is deposited indefinitely; although it can be kept in barrels, there is still no guarantee against corrosion or leakage.

These issues, as well as the new nuclear tensions, have immediate and profound implications for islands in the Pacific, including the Hawaiian islands.

Over the past months, news agencies have reported that Kim Jong Un’s North Korean administration tested missile launches to nearby U.S. territories and allied nations. And military officials have raised the need in Hawaii to create disaster preparedness policies to include procedures in the event of air strikes or nuclear war.

The tense political climate regarding the Korean Peninsula is a byproduct of traumatic international relations, an issue that can be traced back decades. Although an armistice was signed in 1953 to end the hostilities, peace is yet to be achieved. The recent détente attempts during the Winter Olympics in South Korea still require a careful navigation of the fragile relationships between the North, the South and the U.S.

But Van Dyke’s papers also offer legal strategies that can be used by diverse nations to craft new policies and definitions of security based on protecting the environment and the people. This collection is a resource for legal scholarship — and practice — on ways anti-nuclearism can be organized at regional and international levels, offering security to all nations, both large and small.

For more about the Jon Van Dyke Archives, see archives.law.hawaii.edu.