By Ashish Kumar Singh* NEW DELHI | 18 May 2024 (IDN) — On this day in 1974, India conducted its landmark first nuclear tests in Pokhran, Rajasthan, as part of the ‘Smiling Buddha’ operation. Until it actually happened, secrecy surrounded the event, as many major world powers at the time attempted to restrict the proliferation […]
A Nuclear Deal with Iran Is Essential to Duck a Nuclear Holocaust
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 30 April 2024 (IDN) — Rightly the debate over a way to end the Iranian (nuclear?) bomb crisis remains one of the prime issues in Western foreign policy. Compared with that the partial war in Ukraine seems to be almost trivial. Likewise, Israel versus Hamas, the de facto rulers […]
Why Not the Whole World as A “Zone of Peace”?
By P. Soma Palan* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 21 April 2024 (IDN) — I refer to your Article under the Heading “Indian Ocean – a zone of peace sinking in troubled waters”. I wish to express my seemingly radical views on the subject of attaining world peace in the backdrop of the increasing militarization of […]
Will the Ukraine and Gaza Wars Encourage Russia to Support Nuclear-Armed Iran?
By Meir Javedanfar* TEL AVIV | 19 April 2024 (IDN | ELN) — According to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency’s recent report, the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) currently has sufficient uranium enriched to 60% to build three nuclear weapons if it decides to do so. Building a nuclear bomb would provide the IRI […]
Space Warfare Is the Newest Fighting Domain
By Bharat Dogra* NEW DELHI | 14 April 2024 (IDN) — In December 2019, when the Space Force was formed in the USA, President Trump called this a big moment and added that there are “going to be a lot of things happening in space. Because space is the world’s newest war-fighting domain.” Mark Esper, […]
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant: The “Sum of All Fears”
By Leonam dos Santos Guimarães* RIO DE JANEIRO | 12 April 2024 (IDN) — Drone attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, whether carried out by Ukraine or Russia, introduce a new and dangerous dimension to the conflict between the two largest former Soviet Socialist Republics, with possible far-reaching ramifications, not just for the region […]
Japan Chairs a Rare UN Security Council Disarmament Debate
By Shizuka Kuramitsu and Daryl G. Kimball* This article was issued by Arms Control Today and is being republished with their permission. WASHINGTON, D.C. | 5 April 2024 (IDN) — Japan chaired a rare, high-level UN Security Council meeting on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation on March 18. Although the meeting underscored the urgency of addressing […]
Revival of the Cold War and Decarbonization of the Economy
By Leonam dos Santos Guimarâes* RIO DE JANEIRO | 31 March 2024 (IDN)—The wars in Ukraine and Gaza can be seen as manifestations of intensified geopolitical tensions that resemble the Cold War period, although the contexts and circumstances are different. During the Cold War, the world was divided into two main blocs, led by the […]
“Oppenheimer” Brings the Harsh Reality of Nuclear Doomsday, Warns UN Chief
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 25 March 2024 (IDN)— The award-winning movie “Oppenheimer”, based on the life of Robert Oppenheimer, credited with having helped the creation of the atomic bomb, has once again turned the spotlight on the longstanding campaign for nuclear disarmament—and the deaths and devastation caused by one of the world’s most destructive […]
Is There a Way Out of Nuclear Stalemate?
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 16 March 2024 (IDN) — Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has entered its third year. President Vladimir Putin has been threatening the use of nuclear weapons. Republican Presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, doubled down his threat and appeared to invite Putin to invade any NATO member failing to meet […]