Book on Sakharov raises issues

Abstract

Kojevnikov replies: My understandably disappointed respondents have not addressed the main criticism formulated in my review, namely that many contributors to Andrei Sakharov: The Conscience of Humanity cited Sakharov’s moral authority only to advance ideas and agendas that fundamentally contradict his humanitarian values. Here are some examples from the book: Retired general Jim Mattis invoked Sakharov while extolling the morality of the US military’s continuing engagement in the Middle East. Retired admiral James Ellis Jr, who commanded the 1999 NATO attack on Yugoslavia, used human rights as a justification for that and subsequent wars. He also suggested that a preemptive strike can “be viewed as an ethical imperative” against possible nuclear proliferation. Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes referred to Sakharov and human rights as the basis of her own work, which the media has since exposed as fraudulent corruption of science by commercialization.In contrast, Sakharov stood up against the high-level scientific frauds, hawkish politicians, and trigger-happy generals of his time. He resolutely opposed warmongering and preventive strikes, championed human rights as the basis for peace and reconciliation of ideological tensions but not for war, and criticized as “flagrant crimes against humanity” the superpowers’ military interventions in other countries, such as Vietnam and Afghanistan.In today’s world, the misuse of human rights arguments for violent ends has become widespread, and I felt obliged to remind readers that it contradicts Sakharov’s worldview. The letters call my summary “flawed,” “dubious,” and “questionable” but were not able to specify a single idea of Sakharov’s that I got wrong. I trusted his own writings rather than wishful misinterpretations by some later biographers, and although there was no space for long quotations, I did indicate how Sakharov’s ideas developed over time. The true legacy of the great humanist is absolutely incompatible with hawkish and neoconservative agendas and must not be used for such purposes.© 2017 American Institute of Physics.