Talk of a nuclear strike on Iran’s “Pickaxe Mountain” has no official basis. But if the idea resurfaces, the US National Academies settled the central question two decades ago: an earth-penetrating nuclear weapon cannot contain its effects. By Tariq Rauf* VIENNA | 9 November 2026 (IDN) — In recent days, parts of the US and […]
OPINION: Ending Nuclear Weapons
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 28 October 2026 (IDN) — Moscow and Washington urgently need to resume talks on a new framework for controlling nuclear weapons, said Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, on 20 October. “The absence of a treaty-based framework is creating a very dangerous situation”, he said. Indeed, there has been no […]
Iran and the United States Find a Narrow Opening in New York
Indirect exchanges through Qatar have revived diplomacy, although the two governments remain far apart By Jamshed Baruah NEW YORK | 25 September 2026 (IDN) – The annual United Nations gathering is often dismissed as a succession of speeches. Much of its diplomacy, however, takes place outside the General Assembly Hall, in private rooms, hotel meetings […]
A Nuclear Bomb Took My Arms Before I Was Born. We Must Not Let It Take Our Future
By Karipbek Kuyukov* ASTANA | 28 August 2026 (IDN) — I paint with a brush held between my teeth or my toes. I was born without arms in 1968 about 100 kilometres from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in eastern Kazakhstan. My parents’ generation watched mushroom clouds rise over the steppe without being told what […]
When Machines Decide Who Dies
The Race to Keep War Under Human Control By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/ BERLIN | 18 August 2026 (IDN) — As artificial intelligence moves from supporting military operations to becoming a weapon that can choose and launch attacks, governments must now decide, without further delay, whether machines should ever be […]
The Oppenheimer and Odyssey Films, the Nuclear Bombing of Japan and the Lies Told
By Jonathan Power Editor’s Note: This commentary was first published three years ago. It is being republished because British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan has recently released The Odyssey to widespread acclaim, while also attracting criticism over its historical inaccuracies. In this essay, Jonathan Power revisits what he believes Nolan missed—or chose to avoid—in his Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, which chronicles […]
UN Report Warns Organised Crime Networks Biggest Threat to Asia And Beyond
By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK, Thailand | 28 July 2026 (IDN) — Speaking at the launch of the report ‘Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment for South-East Asia’ by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok on Wednesday (22 July), New Zealand’s ambassador to Thailand, Raylene Liufalani noted that these criminal networks are […]
Germany, Japan and the Return of Military Power (Part III)
Rearmament Without Militarism? By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/ Editor’s Note: This article is the third and final instalment in a three-part series examining how Germany and Japan—the two former Axis powers that embraced constitutional restraint after World War II—are responding to a rapidly changing global security environment. Part I, From […]
The New Documentary “An Ordinary Insanity”
Only when such sanity becomes ordinary will we have a chance of surviving the nuclear era. By Robert Ellsberg* NEW YORK | 13 JUNE 2026 (IDN) —This film presents a synthesis of my father’s book, The Doomsday Machine. His book depicts the evil murderousness of nuclear war plans, and the particular dangers posed by ICBMS, with their […]
From Bani Walid to Zwolle: The Smugglers Are Now in the Dock
By Cedric Stephany and Mirjam van Reisen | BRUSSELS, Belgium | 12 June 2026 (IDN) — A pro forma hearing against the alleged human trafficker called Kidane, took place last month in Zwolle in The Netherlands, marking another step in what has become one of the most significant human trafficking prosecutions in European legal history. […]