By Bernhard Schell AMMAN (IDN) – The upcoming Review Conference (postponed to August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is expected to be characterised by deep divisions among the nuclear-weapon states (NWS), and between them and the non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS), which are deeply disappointed with the lack of progress […]
Iran Joins China, Russia, EU, France, Germany and UK in Reaffirming Commitment to ‘Nuclear Deal’
By Robert Johnson BRUSSELS (IDN) – Amid speculations about Iran’s reaction to the assassination of the country’s eminent nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on a road outside of Tehran on November 27, participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have reiterated their commitment to preserving the agreement and stressed their respective efforts in this […]
A New Handbook on Parliamentary Action for Disarmament
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – Nearly one-and-half years after UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched Securing Our Common Future: An Agenda for Disarmament in May 2018, a new handbook to support disarmament for security and sustainable development has been released. Its approach and focus draw primarily on the Agenda. Titled Assuring our Common Future, published […]
Doubts Whether Space Is Being Used Only for Peaceful Purposes
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – A Soviet cosmonaut and an American astronaut shook hands high above the planet Earth, on July 17, 1975, where the Soviet spaceship Soyuz-19 and the U.S. spacecraft Apollo had met and docked. In a message of greeting, the Soviet leadership described the “joint flight of the […]
Missile Defence Plans Threaten to Trigger Arms Race
By J C Suresh TORONTO | WASHINGTON (IDN) – President Trump’s legacy is far from inspiring. Joe Biden and his team face numerous crucial decisions. Arms policy experts believe that one of the momentous decisions confronting the new administration is “whether and how to move forward with Trump-era plans to expand the U.S. national missile […]
Faith-based & Other NGOs Look Forward to Entry into Force of the Nuclear Ban Treaty
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN (IDN) – When she learned that the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) reached the 50 states parties required for its entry into force, Setsuko Thurlow said: “I was not able to stand. I remained in my chair and put my head in my hands, and I cried […]
A Rallying Call for Nuclear Weapons Elimination By 2045
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in New York has joined the call of civil society for achieving the global elimination of nuclear weapons at least by 2045, arguing that setting the 2045 goal would provide a global rallying call to build a strong movement and that […]
Setsuko Thurlow: The TPNW – A Game Changer in Nuclear Disarmament
The following is the text of the Statement by Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and long time campaigner for nuclear-weapons abolition, as the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) reached the 50 states parties required for its entry into force. ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear […]
The U.S. Should Embrace TPNW’s Vision of a More Democratic World
The following is text of the Statement of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP) and Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF) are affiliates of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), a partner of the 2017 Nobel Peace laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). NEW YORK (IDN) – Fifty states have ratified […]
Mongolian NGO Greets 50th Ratification of TPNW
ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – Blue Banner, Mongolian NGO and a partner organization of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), welcomes the 50th ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on October 24 as a major political impulse and a step in making this most dangerous weapon of mass destruction illegal […]