Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona BEIJING (IDN) — I was the co-chair, along with Dr Liesbeth Lijnzaad of the Netherlands, of the United Nations ad hoc Working Group on Biological Diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). Since handing over our conclusions and recommendations in 2015, a negotiating process has begun with a view to finalizing a […]
ICRC Accentuates the Vital Importance of Nuclear Disarmament
Following are excerpts from the text of ICRC President Peter Maurer’s statement at the TPNW MSP1 on February 21, 2022. VIENNA (IDN) — A decade ago, this may have seemed illusory. Today, a global, unequivocal, comprehensive prohibition of nuclear weapons—the most catastrophic weapons ever created—is a reality. We owe this reality to the tireless efforts […]
Kazakhstan Calls for Universalization of the TPNW
Following are excerpts from the text of the statement by Kazakh’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, at the High-Level Opening Session of TPNW MSP1 on June 21, 2022. VIENNA (IDN) — The First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW is a remarkable historic achievement following a nearly decade-long collective effort […]
There Is No Such Thing as A Limited Nuclear War
Viewpoint by Dr Mohamed ElBaradei Following is the text of comments by Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General Emeritus, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Nobel Peace Prize 2005, at the opening of the 2022 Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons on June 20, 2022. VIENNA (IDN) — It is an honour to take part […]
A Scientist Reflects on Our Common Future
Following is the text of comments at the opening of the 2022 Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons on June 20, 2022, by John Polanyi, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986. VIENNA (IDN) — Ambassador Alexander Kmentt, convener of the 2022 Vienna […]
Mongolian Independence and its Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone
Viewpoint by Joseph Gerson The writer is President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security and Vice-President of the International Peace Bureau. BERLIN (IDN) — We don’t often think in terms of national independence and nuclear disarmament initiatives, but their intersection lies at the heart of Mongolia’s unique single-state nuclear-weapons-free zone.
Eritrea: North Koreans with Black Faces
Viewpoint by Daniel Haile* COLLEGE STATION, Texas | USA (IDN) — Eritrea is a very small country in East Africa along the Red Sea. Second to North Korea, the Eritrean regime is the most isolated, secretive, and repressive authoritarian regime globally, and the last remaining Marxist state on the African continent. The Kim Jong-un of […]
Second Comprehensive Study on NFWZs Is Needed
Viewpoint by Dr Jargalsaikhan Enkhsaikhan The writer is Chairman of Blue Banner NGO, Former Mongolian Permanent Representative to the United Nations. ULAANBAATAR (IDN) — In preparation for the 10th Review Conference (Revcon) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August, a group NGOs met in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to exchange views and […]
The Brazilian Nuclear Submarine
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte The writer is an Ambassador, former United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affair, and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) — Last July 8 the Director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, informed the Board of Governors that Brazil had decided to […]
The World Is Not Going to Hell in A Handbasket
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Is the World going to hell in a handbasket? (The etymology of this goes back to Revolutionary France in the eighteenth century when guillotined heads fell into a conveniently placed basket.) No, it is not, despite Covid and despite the worldwide unsettling, brought about by the Russian […]