Rock Against Nukes: 24-hour global unity relay

What: live concerts held as a relay on the same day, interconnected and broadcast live around the world, held in the major stadiums of the capitals of all 9 countries with Nuclear Weapons + 3. (Think – LiveAid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Aid). With viewing parties, local concerts, peaceful marches – demonstration of massive, global caring by Citizens – to compel Leaders to act.

A means to raise global awareness and lead to action – No More Nukes. The voice of the whole world: Freeze, Reduce, Eliminate Nuclear Weapons.

Live attendance would be free, but tickets would be issued only to those who demonstrated via social media their active involvement and specific action in support on Nuclear Disarmament. Crowd-source goodness – the build-up to the actual event would be months of Citizen activity around the world; the best examples would be broadcast as part of the advertising in advance of the event and during breaks in the performances.

Where: Moscow, Jerusalem, Paris, London, Washington D.C., Beijing, Pyongyang, New Delhi, Islamabad, Cape Town and Tehran

· Cape Town – to celebrate the fact that South Africa is the only nation to eliminate its own Nuclear Weapons program and dispose its Nukes; Tehran – Iran signed the P5+1 nuclear deal.

Other cities and towns may choose to host their own events or massive watch parties at local stadiums.

Before the main event – perhaps a standalone “proof-of-concept”: musicians from all 11 nations playing at Safeco Field (symbolism: Seattle hosted the Goodwill Games in 1990 to promote US-Soviet cooperation) .

Who: top international musicians and top local artists. E.g. in Moscow Sting could perform “Russians” and “Walking in your footsteps” and Boris Grebenshikov/Akvarium could perform “I declare my home a nuclear free zone” (written by his late friend Victor Tsoi/Kino).

How: 

· ask the heads of 9 nuclear countries +2, to explicitly “kick things off” in each city: e.g. Putin to talk about what he wants to do to get to No More Nukes. Followed by 11 performances (each at ~10-20 minutes), which, with breaks – filled with testimonials from leading public figures, politicians and plain Citizens – would mean ~3 hours per city.

· Some events may overlap/run parallel for -45-60 minutes. E.g. Moscow concert winding down, while Jerusalem kicks off and gets into high gear. Then, same with Jerusalem and Tehran (special symbolism for the nation to nation relay! (peace dove carrying a musical note/olive branch as the graphical image?), same with New Delhi and Islamabad…). This would add to the symbolism of unity for the common cause of No More Nukes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.%E2%80%93Soviet_Space_Bridge - a space bridge was a public interactive television link between two or more geographically separate and culturally distinct locations, a form of public video-conference. 

The first space bridge was sponsored by computer pioneer Steve Wozniak. On September 5th, 1982, a TV-link was established for the first time between the Soviet Union and the United States. The participants in that space bridge could see each other, ask questions and receive answers and could also hold a musical dialogue. 

The programs of the subsequent space bridges consisted not only of music-hall turns and greetings but also discussions on different subjects, in which prominent scientists, public figures, cosmonauts and journalists took part. Phil Donahue and Vladimir Pozner hosted the meetings between the US and the USSR respectively; 180 million people in the USSR watched these programs.

Modern technology allows for the bypass of expensive satellite/space connections. Cisco Webex or Microsoft Skype would provide on-demand/instantaneous collaboration, online meeting, web conferencing and videoconferencing capabilities. 

Skype Translator voice translator can currently translate conversations in 10 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Arabic, and Russian; the text translator is available in more than 60 languages for clear, seamless instant messaging. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/translator/business/languages/ 

Historical example - Citizen's Summit between Leningrad and Seattle in 1985, opens with "we are worried about nuclear missiles": https://youtu.be/-GcP-asqXP4