World's Major Nuclear Powers Pledge to Avoid Wars—Even as they Continue to Upgrade their Arsenals

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — When the world’s five major nuclear powers—the US, UK, China, France and Russia—pledged to prevent nuclear wars and abandon the pursuit of more weapons, their joint statement released January 3 explicitly left out several of the demands from anti-nuclear activists, including an end to the upgrading and enhancing of existing arsenals. [2022-01-09-24] CHINESE | GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SPANISH

Review Conference on Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Stalled due to Rising COVID-19 Infections

By Thalif Deen

Photo: The UN General Assembly Hall will have to wait until August 2022 or beyond to host the delayed 2020 NPT Review Conference. Credit Sophia Paris/UN.

NEW YORK (IDN)— The United Nations, which has been brought to a virtual standstill because of an upsurge in coronavirus infections in New York City, has been forced to postpone a long-awaited 10th review conference (REVCON) of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), scheduled to take place 4-28 January.

Diane Barnes, NGO Liaison Office at the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), was explicit: "There will be no Review Conference in January 2022, in any format". [2022-01-01-23] HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | RUSSIAN

Stockholm Initiative Determined to Achieve the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

By Ramesh Jaura

Photo: Gathering of Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament against the backdrop of the city of Stockholm (August 2020) showing the Kastellet, Vasa Museum, and Nordic Museum.

BERLIN | STOCKHOLM (IDN) — The 16-nation Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament has urged the upcoming Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) from January 4-28, 2022, "to demonstrate political leadership, honour commitments and achievements made under the Treaty, and set ourselves on a decisive path towards a world free of nuclear weapons, in the interest of preserving humanity". [2021-12-25-22] ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | NORWEGIAN

An Important TPNW Signal from Germany—But Nothing More

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

Photo: Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister. Photocosmos1/Shutterstock

BONN (IDN) — The new German coalition government will not rock the foundations of German foreign and security policy. It wants to remain a reliable partner in the EU and NATO. But it sends an important signal for disarmament and arms control efforts. The 177-page coalition agreement contains the following passage on the TPNW: [2021-12-22]

A New Cold War Between Russia and The West Is Unnecessary

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

Photo: US President Biden met virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on 15 November 2021. Source: Los Angeles Times.

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — George Orwell, the author of “Animal Farm”, the satire on how a dictatorship can slowly but steadily evolve in a democratic society, and “1984”, a novel about a future dystopian dictatorship, was the first person to use the phrase “Cold War” in a 1945 newspaper article, written just after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [2021-12-21]

Mayors for Peace Say the Danger of Nuclear War Is Real and Growing

By Mayors for Peace

The following is the text of an Open Letter Issued by Mayors for Peace to NPT States Parties.

Photo: Protest march in 2015. Credit: Mayors for Peace.

HIROSHIMA (IDN) — On behalf of Mayors for Peace, a global non-governmental organization with 8,059 member cities, we are writing to express our views prior to the NPT Review Conference that will open next January in New York.

We urge all participants to recall the solemn historical circumstances facing this conference. The use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had catastrophic humanitarian consequences. [2021-12-18]

Elimination of ICBMs Would Greatly Reduce the Chances of a Global Nuclear Holocaust

Viewpoint by Norman Solomon*

SAN FRANCISCO, USA (IDN) — Nuclear weapons are at the pinnacle of what Martin Luther King Jr. called “the madness of militarism.” If you’d rather not think about them, that’s understandable. But such a coping strategy has limited value. And those who are making vast profits from preparations for global annihilation are further empowered by our avoidance. [2021-12-16-21] GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | THAI

Middle East Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone, Long Elusive, is Making Progress, say Experts

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — A longstanding proposal for a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the politically and militarily volatile Middle East remains elusive. Since 1967, five nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZ) have been established worldwide—in Latin America and the Caribbean, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Africa and Central Asia. [2021-12-04-20] ARABIC | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

It Is High Time to End Reliance on Nuclear Armaments

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — It's almost twenty-five years since General George Lee Butler made his confessional statement before the National Press Club in Washington—that as commander in chief of the US Strategic Command, which controls all army, navy and air force nuclear weapons, he'd had moral qualms and profound doubts about America's possession of nuclear weapons. [2021-11-30]

The NPT Will Probably Endure, But Its Longevity May Be at Stake

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The NPT turned 50 in 2020. The anniversary should have coincided with the Tenth Review Conference, but unfortunately, it had to be postponed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. President-designate Gustavo Zlauvinen wisely used the delay to deepen his consultations with states parties in an effort to ensure the success of the Conference. [2021-11-27-19] HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SPANISH