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Photo: Two young Ukrainian voices, Yelyzaveta Khodorovska and Valeriia Hesse delivered a statement on behalf of ICAN calling for nuclear disarmament at the NPT Review Conference. Source: Arms Control Association.

Old and New Controversies at the 10th NPT Review Conference

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is a former High Representative of the United Nations for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) takes place in a volatile and unpredictable international context. The danger of the actual use of nuclear weapons was brought vividly to the forefront of international concerns by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia last February. The claim that nuclear weapons have prevented a war in Europe since 1945 has once more been proven false.

: Sergio Duarte; UN INSIDER; 17 August 2022

Photo: Hirotsugu Terasaki, Director General of Peace and Global Issues, Soka Gakkai International. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun.

The Risk of a Nuclear Attack has Risen to its Highest Level Since the Cold War

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — Speaking during a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the devastating atomic bombing of Hiroshima, UN Secretary-General António Guterres remarked on August 6 that it is totally unacceptable for states in possession of nuclear weapons to admit the possibility of nuclear war.

“The elimination of nuclear weapons is the only guarantee that the atrocities of Hiroshima will never be repeated,” he declared.

: Thalif Deen; OPINION; 17 August 2022

Photo: UN Chief Guterres calling from Hiroshima Peace Memorial on August 6 not to "forget the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". @antonioguterres

Beyond First Steps: Phasing out Nuclear Weapons and Energy

By M. V. Ramana*

VANCOUVER, Canada (IDN) — The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for “all military activities in the immediate vicinity of the [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear] plant [in Ukraine] to cease immediately and not to target its facilities or surroundings” because “any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia or any other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, or anywhere else, could lead to catastrophic consequences not only for the immediate vicinity but for the region and beyond”.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 August 2022

Image: A collage of Tim Peake, an astronaut of the International Space Station by the British/European Space Agency (timpeake.com), with a special apple tree grown from seeds taken into space. The tree was planted on the Vienna International Centre (VIC) grounds on 26 September 2021 to inspire future generations of space scientists.

Bringing the Benefits and Peace of Space to Humanity

A new UNOOSA head is to be appointed soon

By Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — Legend has it that a young Isaac Newton was sitting beneath an apple tree contemplating the mysterious universe. Suddenly —"boink!''—an apple unexpectedly hit him on the head. He experienced his "aha moment!". In a flash of light, he understood that the same force that brought the apple crashing toward the ground also keeps the moon falling toward the Earth and the Earth falling toward the sun: gravity. We are talking about real space Affairs in practice, which debuted in his book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1869).

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 16 August 2022

The West's Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost

Mistakes Made Since The 1990s Might End in A Disaster

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — You can interpret it on any level you like—that the Russians are inherently parochial and out of touch with how most of the world thinks and have it coming to them; that Russia is instinctively and cleverly Machiavellian and having failed to overpower the West with communism is now undermining it with a crude version of capitalism—as at present, using its commodity, oil, to push NATO to pull back from its expansionary urges.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 16 August 2022

Image: A general view of the new banknotes released in Sierra Leone on July 1, 2022. Credit: African News

Rising Prices, Low Incomes Bedevil Sierra Leoneans

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | FREETOWN (IDN) — Americans aren’t alone in turning purple over the car's skyrocketing costs for housing, food, medical care and fuel.

Last month in Sierra Leone, women street vendors gathered peacefully to protest the soaring cost of living. A few days later, the number swelled to the hundreds as many more protestors turned out, clashing with police and demanding the president’s resignation over the government’s perceived failure to address the rising prices.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 August 2022

Photo: Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto (Front) speaks after receiving a certificate to confirm his victory in the presidential election at a tallying centre in Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 15, 2022. Credit: Joy Nabukewa/Xinhua

Kenyans Select Presidential Winner but Not All Agree

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — What began as a quiet voting exercise with a low voter turnout ended with an upset victory for Kenya's Deputy President, William Amolo Ruto, who becomes the nation's fifth president. The race had taken a worrying turn since polls were shut down several times after complaints by supporters of the leading candidates.

On August 15, Kenya's elections chief declared Deputy President William Amolo Ruto. Still, four other senior election officials said the week-long count was too opaque amid chaotic scenes and disowned the result.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 15 August 2022

Photo: Hungry kids in South Sudan. Credit: Siegfried_Modola | The Star

Humanitarian Food Grain on way to Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A UN-chartered vessel has been loaded with humanitarian food grain for Africa, in a first step toward releasing much needed food aid that had been trapped in the Ukraine.

The vessel will carry 23,000 tons of grain for Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya as part of a UN-backed plan to move the grain trapped by Russia's war on Ukraine and help relieve a global food crisis.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 15 August 2022

Photo: Abylaikhan Bogenbaiuly, used with permission, credit: gov.kz

Achieving the Elusive Against the Odds: "A Middle East Nuclear (and WMD) Free Zone"

By Tariq Rauf

NEW YORK (IDN) — Finally, at long last, the postponed 2020 Tenth Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference commenced its work at United Nations headquarters in New York on August 1, 2022. Under the able Presidency of Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen of Argentina, the review conference is expected to complete its work on August 26.

If all goes well, a Final Document would be adopted on the review of the implementation of the NPT and the commitments agreed at the review conferences held in 1995, 2000 and 2010—there was no agreement in 2005 and 2015 as the conferences ended in disarray over disagreements on nuclear disarmament and the Middle East.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 15 August 2022

Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on August 3 (Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation MFA)

"Misery Acquaints a Man with Strange Bedfellows"

Russia's Complex Myanmar Embrace

Viewpoint by Jan Servaes

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Think tanks conduct interdisciplinary research to develop positions and recommendations on a wide range of domestic and international topics encompassing defence, economic development and social policy. Therefore, many think tanks advocate and lobby for policy changes at the local, national and international level. The International Crisis Group, founded in 1995, is such an independent organisation that has gained recognition for its work to prevent wars and advocate policies to build a more peaceful world.