Experts Predict Vast Ramifications of US Pullout From Iran Nuclear Deal
By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the Iran Nuclear Deal is fraught with multiple imponderables, according to experts. It's "a costly mistake that can hold wide-ranging ramifications beyond its strictly nuclear parameters," declared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize winner Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
The decision "not only blows up a functioning agreement, it also deals a significant blow to U.S. credibility as a partner in contract and diplomacy," warned the 2017 Nobel Peace laureate ICAN (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons). [P 04] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION VERSION PDF
Faith Communities Urge Geneva Conference to Pave the Path to a Nuclear-Weapons- Free World
By Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN) – Diverse faith-based organizations and individuals are appealing to States gathered at the UN in Geneva to spare the world a nuclear catastrophe and foster sustainable development for the good of humanity affirming moral and ethical imperatives.
Twenty groups and individuals from different faiths, including Christian, Quaker, Muslim and Hindu traditions and Soka Gakkai International (SGI) tabled an interfaith statement on April 25 as one of the civil society presentations during the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference at the UN Office in Geneva. [P 03] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF
Pressure Mounts on Japan to Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty
By Katsuhiro Asagiri
TOKYO (IDN) – Japan is coming under pressure from within to sign and ratify the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty, which acknowledges the "unacceptable suffering" of the hibakusha – survivors of hitherto the first ever atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
122 member nations of the United Nations adopted what is formally known as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in July 2017. [P 02] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | NORWEGIAN
Experts Stress Importance of UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament
By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – The increasing fragility of international peace and security is accentuating the critical need for persistent dialogue and relentless diplomacy to deter multiple conflicts triggering nuclear confrontation, disarmament experts and campaigners say.
Conflicts related to nuclear weapons, including in Northeast Asia, between the U.S. and NATO on the one hand and Russia on the other, they say, should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and every effort must be undertaken to make the UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament from May 14 to 16, 2018 in New York a success. [P 01] | JAPANESE TEXT VERSON PDF
In 2018, Who Will Speak Up for Peace in the Korean Peninsula?
Viewpoint by Rick Wayman
Rick Wayman is Programs Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). In April 2016, he received the 'Activist of the Year' award from the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) for "dynamic leadership in bringing the Marshall Islanders' Nuclear Zero litigation to world attention, activating the next generation of peace leaders, and guiding ANA as board member and tech guru." – The Editor
SANTA BARBARA, CA (IDN) - A possible summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un is just weeks away. Questions abound: Is it a good idea? When and where will it take place? What will they talk about? Who, if anyone, is preparing the U.S. president for this high-stakes meeting? Will it be a success? [P 42] JAPANESE TEXT VERSON PDF | MALAY | PERSIAN | SPANISH | TURKISH | THAI
U.S. Undermining the Global Nuclear Testing Taboo
By Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – A new document that outlines U.S. nuclear policy, strategy, capabilities and force posture for the next five to ten years proclaims that the Trump Administration does not intend to ratify a global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. Nor does it rule out resuming such tests.
The document, titled 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), proclaims that "the United States does not support the ratification of the CTBT." But the U.S. will continue to support the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). [P 41] ARABIC｜BAHASA | CHINESE TEXT VERSON PDF | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSON PDF
Nuclear Deterrence Policy Gathering Steam in India
By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE (IDN) – "Though India is a reluctant nuclear power, nuclear deterrence will continue to play a crucial role in India's national security strategy over the next few decades," says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, Distinguished Fellow at India's Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).
In his recent book 'Sharpening the Arsenal: India's Evolving Nuclear Deterrence Policy', he explains the reason: "Only when India's adversaries are convinced that India has both the necessary political and military will and the hardware to respond to a nuclear strike with punitive retaliation that will inflict unacceptable loss of human life and unprecedented material damage, will they be deterred." [P 40] ARABIC｜BAHASA | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSON PDF | MALAY | THAI
Striving to Build a Broader Support for the Nuclear Ban Treaty
By Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – The second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference in April and the UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament in May will draw the focus of the international community in the coming weeks as it moves toward paving the way for a nuclear-weapons free world.
Since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted in July 2017, "these will be the first venues for debate and deliberation that will include both the nuclear-weapon and nuclear-dependent states," says eminent Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda, founder and President of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) with 12 million members in 192 countries and regions. [P 39] JAPANESE TEXT VERSON PDF
From Tlatelolco to the UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty
Viewpoint by Jorge Alberto López Lechuga
Jorge Alberto López Lechuga is Research and Communication Officer of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL). The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of OPANAL and its Member States. – The Editor
MEXICO (IDN) – On February 2, the Government of the U.S. published the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which includes the strategy to increase the role of nuclear weapons in national security. The NPR considers the need to double the military budget from 3% to 6.4% in order to modernize the U.S. arsenal. [P 38] ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSON PDF | NORWEGIAN | PORTUGUESE | SPANISH
Transforming Risks on the Korean Peninsula into Stable Peace in Northeast Asia
By Katsuhiro Asagiri
TOKYO (IDN) – 'Building Stable Peace in Northeast Asia: Managing and Transforming Risks on the Korean Peninsula' was the subject of a colloquium in which regional experts on peace and security, policy makers and civil society organizations from the United States, China, South Korea and Japan participated against the backdrop of a volatile situation in the region.
In the run-up to North Korea claiming that it had conducted its first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that can "reach anywhere in the world," 1995 Nobel Peace Laureate Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs expressed concern in a statement on May 4, 2017 that "the mounting confrontation with North Korea is raising grave dangers." [P 37] JAPANESE TEXT VERSONPDF | KOREAN TEXT VERSON PDF
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