Uncertainty Haunts the Future of Non-Proliferation Treaty and Disarmament
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *
Photo courtesy of UNITAR Hiroshima Office.
HIROSHIMA (IDN)—August 6 and August 9 will mark the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No sentient human being who has met or seen the hibakusha (survivors), or visited the hypocentres in the two cities, or seen the photographic evidence of the destruction of these two Japanese cities, can avoid being shocked and horrified by the devastation that nuclear weapons inflicted. [2020-02-28 | 30] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN | MALAY | THAI
U.S. Abrogation of Iran Deal Leaves a Puzzling Legacy
By Bernhard Schell
Image source: Forum IAS.
ISTANBUL (IDN) – Iran has been bashed for its January 5 announcement that it would no longer abide by certain "operational restrictions" on uranium enrichment in the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. The declaration has also prompted doubts about the regime's activities and intentions and the fate of the nuclear deal. [2020-02-15-29] ARABIC | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE | SPANISH
Towards Nuclear Disarmament with Monitoring and Verification
By Radwan Jakeem
Photo: Twenty-two participants from 11 IPNDV partner countries gathered at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Jülich, Germany on September 23, 2019 to participate in the Nuclear Disarmament Verification Exercise, jointly organized by France and Germany. Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich / Tobias Schlößer.
NEW YORK (IDN) – With the international community persistently striving for a world free of nuclear weapons, verification systems and methods are crucial to understanding the complex challenges of accurately monitoring and verifying future nuclear disarmament activities which will likely subject countries to more intrusive verification than ever before. [2020-02-14-28] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | NORWEGIAN | SWEDISH | TURKISH
Buddhist Leader Urges Nuclear Weapons Free Common Security
By Ramesh Jaura
Photo: SGI president Daisaku Ikeda. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun
BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – An eminent Buddhist philosopher and nuclear disarmament advocate has tabled four critical initiatives to "contribute to the creation of a sustainable global society where all can live with dignity and a sense of security". The initiatives cover four major areas: building support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW); multilateral negotiations for nuclear disarmament; climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR); and education for children in crisis. [2020-02-13] JAPANESE |
Sri Lanka Committed to Non-Proliferation and Disarmament
By Jaya Ramachandran
Collage courtesy of Sri Lanka’s Daily FT
GENEVA | COLOMBO (IDN) – In an exceptional move, Germany has granted funds to Sri Lanka’s Forum on Disarmament and Development (FDD) for the translation of the texts of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT) to the island state’s official languages Sinhala and Tamil. NPT and CTBT texts were until now available only in official languages of the United Nations: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. [2020-01-31-27] GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF
Climate and Nuclear Weapons Are the Focus of Buddhist Leader's Peace Proposals
By Taro Ichikawa
Photo: A view of participants in the UN Youth Climate Summit on 21 September 2019. Credit: UN.
TOKYO (IDN) – Climate action and nuclear weapons abolition, with a focus on the individual lives and suffering often hidden behind macroeconomic indices, is the main theme of the 38th annual peace proposal by Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist network. [2020-01-27]
Russia Exhorts US to Extend New START Without Preconditions
By Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos
Image credit: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – Russian officials repeated in late December and early January President Vladimir Putin’s call for extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) as soon as possible, though Washington continues to remain silent on the future of the accord, which is scheduled to expire in just over 12 months.[2020-01-23]
Experts Plead for Foiling Collapse of the Iran Nuclear Deal
By Radwan Jakeem
Photo: The ministers of foreign affairs of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France, China, the European Union and Iran meeting in Lausanne in March 2015, a few weeks ahead of the nuclear deal was struck in Vienna. Credit: U.S. Department of State.
NEW YORK (IDN) – Since U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the JCPOA, also known as the "Iran nuclear deal", in May 2018, a widespread view is that the regime in Tehran is yearning for an atomic bomb.
Washington experts, however, maintain that while Iran’s violations of the JCPOA “are serious, they are reversible and they do not suggest, as some have alleged, that Iran is dashing to acquire a nuclear bomb“. [2020-01-15]
IPPNW and Pugwash Slam the Killing of Gen. Suleimani
By Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN) – Two Nobel Peace laureates – IPPNW and Pugwash – have vehemently censured the killing of Gen. Qassem Suleimani on January 3. Suleimani was Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and, from 1998 until his death, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations. [2020-01-14]
The Future of New START and NPT Hangs in the Balance
Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball
The writer is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. The following is the text of his article published in January/February 2020 issue of Arms Control Today.
Photo: John R. Bolton holds a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on 23 October 2018. CC BY 4.0
WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – This year, the world will mark the 75th anniversary of the catastrophic atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the indispensable but imperfect nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). [2020-01-11]
