Belgium Banks Ban the Bomb

By ICAN

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Belgian financial institutions led the way against investments in cluster munitions, now they are poised to do the same on nuclear weapons. Three major Belgian financial institutions—KBC Bank, VDK Bank and De Groof Petercam Asset Management—have cited the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as the reason for ending investments in companies associated with the production of nuclear weapons. [2021-06-29]

The US Builds A 'Systemic' Pact to Counter China's Growing Influence

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — Nearly five months after the termination of Donald Trump's erratic presidency, US President Joe Biden has triggered a sort of 'systemic' pact against China—with partners in the Group of Seven (G-7), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the European Union (EU) at the June 11-15 summits. [2021-06-27 | 05] CHINESE | ITALIAN |  JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

Hersey Helped Hiroshima Survivors Tell and Preserve Their Stories

Viewpoint by John Loretz

This book review was originally published in IPPNW’s designated journal, Medicine, Conflict and Survival.

MALDEN, Massachusetts, USA (IDN) — In 1946, John Hersey wrote a magazine article that changed the world. On the 75th anniversary of the events he described so vividly in Hiroshima, journalist Lesley M. M. Blume has given us Fallout, a timely reminder that Hersey’s courageous and influential reporting is as important today as it was when the facts about nuclear weapons were still shrouded in secrecy. [2021-06-23]

Nuclear Risks: Reduction or Elimination?

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

Ambassador, former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) — “We escaped the Cold War without a

nuclear holocaust by some combination

of skill, luck and divine intervention—

probably the latter in greatest proportion.”[1]

— Gen. Lee Butler, former commander of U.S. nuclear forces. [2021-06-23]

A Seismic Event in US-Russia Relations

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) — The President of the United States Joseph Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met on June 16 in Geneva at a time when the two countries are engrossed in an antagonistic confrontation over many issues—historically, the worst ever relations between the two countries.

Even during the rancorous Cold War years, the two countries engaged in many noteworthy projects on global issues, nuclear disarmament, scientific advancements, and to promote foreign investment and trade that were mutually beneficial to both nations. [2021-06-17]

Canadian and French Nuclear Weapons Policies Challenged for Violating the Right to Life

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — Spurred by civil society organisations, the UN Human Rights Committee has challenged the nuclear weapons policies of Canada and France as being in violation of the Right to Life, a right enshrined in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). These rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person. [2021-06-07 | 04]  ARABIC |  JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN

Young Disarmament and Arms Control Experts Make Their Voices Heard

By Collin McDowell

NEW YORK (UNODA) — In the months before States across the world convene for a conference to advance the elimination and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, a number of next-generation experts delivered practical and actionable proposals to achieve a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons. [2021-05-30]

Only 'No First Use' Policy Can Defuse Tension

Viewpoint by Ramesh Thakur*

The article was first published in International Politics and Society Journal. on May 20, 2021, by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's Brussels office.

CANBERRA (IDN | IPS-Joural.EU) — A ‘no first use’ (NFU) policy is an official commitment by a nuclear-armed state that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons against any adversary under any contingency. By making such a declaration, the state confirms its use of nuclear weapons will be restricted solely to retaliation and only against a nuclear attack. Consequently, these weapons will never be used for preventive, pre-emptive or coercive (nuclear blackmail) purposes. [2021-05-23]

Stop Muddying The Waters On The Appointment Of The CTBTO Executive Secretary

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf*

“And so … ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”, President John Kennedy, 20 January 1961.

VIENNA (IDN) — For the better part of a year, diplomats from more than 180 countries have been feuding over the appointment of the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) located in Vienna, alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). [2021-05-16]

The Nuclear Threat in the New Information Age

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball

The writer is the executive director of Arms Control Association and publisher of Arms Control Today since 2001. The following is the text of Mr Kimball's Foreword to 2021 Joint Media Project Report of the Non-Profit International Press Syndicate Group with IDN as flagship agency in partnership with Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) — An informed and mobilized public is essential to human survival in the nuclear age—and effective and independent journalism is essential to revealing the hard truths, the consequences, and the choices that nuclear weapons pose for all of us. [2021-05-12]  JAPANESE