Nuclear-armed States Panic as Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty Becomes International Law

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *

“Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat,

Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,

Evil appears as good in the minds of those whom gods lead to destruction.” [2020-10-26]

The Promise of the Treaty on Prevention of Nuclear Weapons

Viewpoint by Dr Joseph Gerson*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Treaty on the Prevention of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) has received its 50th ratification and will go into force in 90 days – January 22, 2021. Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb survivors, activists from ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) and the diplomats are celebrating this contribution to the long struggle for a nuclear-weapons-free world. [2020-10-25 |17]  JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SWEDISH

Precarious Multilateralism Seizes CTBTO Nuclear-Test-Ban Organization

By Stephanie Liechtenstein*, Passblue

VIENNA (IDN) – For the first time in its 24-year history, state parties to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, a multilateral agreement that bans all nuclear testing worldwide, have taken a controversial decision by a two-thirds majority. Decisions in the treaty’s body are usually taken by consensus. [2020-10-24]

2045: A New Rallying Call for Nuclear Abolition

Viewpoint by Alyn Ware, Vanda Proskova and Saber Chowdhury*

NEW YORK (IDN) – On October 2, 2020, 77 Heads of State and Government Ministers addressed a United Nations High-Level meeting on the elimination of nuclear weapons, along with the UN Secretary-General, the President of the UN General Assembly and two representatives of civil society.

One of the proposals highlighted by some of the governments and supported by the two civil society representatives was an appeal to UN member states to commit to the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2045, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations. [2020-10-22 |16] CHINESE | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

Forum Calls for New Approach to NE Asian Denuclearization and Economic Development

By Alan Gua

Photo: Virtual International Forum

ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – Former Mongolian Ambassador to the United Nations and Chairman of Blue Banner NGO of Mongolia Dr Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan believes that “establishing a Northeast Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone (NEA-NWFZ) and providing North Korea with a joint, credible mini-Marshall Plan might be a win-win solution for the Korean Peninsula as well as for overall regional security and development”. [2020-10-02 | 15] BHASA | GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN

UN Chief Concerned About Standstill in Arms Control Talks

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – "We need a strengthened, inclusive and renewed multilateralism built on trust and based on international law that can guide us to our shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, commemorating the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26.

He was reiterating the resolve adoption of the General Assembly resolution in 1946, which committed the UN to the goal of ridding the planet of nuclear weapons. Because of these, "the world continues to live in the shadow of nuclear catastrophe". [2020–09-27 | 14]  ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | RUSSIAN

U.S. Shifts Arms Control Strategy with Russia

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in Manila, the Philippines on August 6, 2017. (Photo credit: U.S. Department of State/Public Domain)

While Kingston Reif is the director for disarmament and threat reduction policy, Shannon Bugos is research assistant at the Arms Control Association.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – The Trump administration has softened its demand that China immediately participate in trilateral nuclear arms control talks with the United States and Russia and says it is now seeking an interim step of a politically binding framework with Moscow. 

But the administration continues to reject Russia’s offer of a clean five-year extension of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and has said that President Trump will not consider an extension until several conditions are met. [2020–09-17]

Fervent Calls for The CTBT To Be Urgently Brought into Force

By Jaya Ramachandran

VIENNA (IDN) – The International Day against Nuclear Tests (IDANT) 2020 was a rallying point for calls around the globe for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to be brought into force, featuring a high-level plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly and a prestigious panel discussion at the European Forum Alpbach. [2020–08-31]

Extinguishing Prometheus’ Nuclear Flame: International Day Against Nuclear Tests

By Tariq Rauf*

Collage of photos of the author in his IAEA capacity at the Semipalatinsk “polygon” on 29 August 2011, with ‘Stronger than Death’ monument in Semey in the centre. It was erected in 2001 in memory of the victims of nuclear testing at Semipalatinsk. Photos by Tariq Rauf.

VIENNA (IDN) – The first nuclear explosive device was detonated at the Alamogordo Test Range in the New Mexico desert in the United States of America on  July 16, 1945, and then on August 6 and 9 the US carried out the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the next seven decades, nine additional countries carried out some 2060 nuclear explosions, spreading radioactive contamination in the air, lands and space, and in the world's oceans, leading to long-lasting catastrophic consequences for the health and well-being of millions of innocent people. [2020–08-29 | 13] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | MALAY

The Limits of Breakout Estimates in Assessing Iran’s Nuclear Program

An Issue Brief by the Arms Control Association Issue Brief

By Kelsey Davenport, Director for Nonproliferation Policy, with Julia Masterson, Research Assistant

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) –Over the past year, Iran has taken several troubling steps to breach the limits that were imposed on its nuclear program by the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). While Iran’s violations of the accord appear to be carefully calibrated to create leverage in response to the Trump administration’s 2018 withdrawal from the accord and reimposition of sanctions, Iran’s actions have rekindled the debate about how quickly Iran could “breakout,” or produce enough nuclear material for a bomb. [2020–08-10]