Disarmament

Photo: US President Lyndon Johnson addresses the UN General Assembly during the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, 1968. Eventually, 188 countries signed the treaty, which was made into law in 1970. Photo credit: Screen capture from the documentary 'Good Thinking, Those Who've Tried To Halt Nuclear Weapons'.

An Unexpected Chance for the Success of Postponed NPT Review Conference

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and current President of Pugwash.

NEW YORK (IDN) – It took patience from the President-designate of the 2020 NPT Review Conference, a sober assessment of the situation by a number of states, particularly from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and help from the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). In the end, the parties to the Treaty agreed to postpone the Conference to next year, "as soon as circumstances permit, but no later than April 2021".

Photo courtesy of UNITAR Hiroshima Office.

Uncertainty Haunts the Future of Non-Proliferation Treaty and Disarmament

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *

HIROSHIMA (IDN) —August 6 and August 9 will mark the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No sentient human being who has met or seen the hibakusha (survivors), or visited the hypocentres in the two cities, or seen the photographic evidence of the destruction of these two Japanese cities, can avoid being shocked and horrified by the devastation that nuclear weapons inflicted.

Photo: Twenty-two participants from 11 IPNDV partner countries gathered at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Jülich, Germany on September 23, 2019 to participate in the Nuclear Disarmament Verification Exercise, jointly organized by France and Germany. Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich / Tobias Schlößer.

Towards Nuclear Disarmament with Monitoring and Verification

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – With the international community persistently striving for a world free of nuclear weapons, verification systems and methods are crucial to understanding the complex challenges of accurately monitoring and verifying future nuclear disarmament activities which will likely subject countries to more intrusive verification than ever before.

Photo: A view of participants in the UN Youth Climate Summit on 21 September 2019. Credit: UN.

Climate and Nuclear Weapons Are the Focus of Buddhist Leader's Peace Proposals

By Taro Ichikawa

TOKYO (IDN) – Climate action and nuclear weapons abolition, with a focus on the individual lives and suffering often hidden behind macroeconomic indices, is the main theme of the 38th annual peace proposal by Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist network.

Titled 'Toward Our Shared Future: Constructing an Era of Human Solidarity', the proposals were released on January 26 marking the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Soka Gakkai and the 45th anniversary of the founding of SGI.

Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with President Vladimir Putin. CC BY 4.0

NPT Review Conference Should Not Repeat the ‘Sad Experience’ of 2015

Viewpoint by Sergey Lavrov

The following are extensive excerpts from Russiaan Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference on “Foreign Policy Priorities of the Russian Federation in Arms Control and Nonproliferation in the Context of Changes in the Global Security Architecture” Moscow, 8 November 2019.

Photo (L-R): Quit Nukes Director Margaret Peril, Australian Ethical Acting CEO Steve Gibbs, ICAN Australia Director Gem Romuld. Source: Quit Nukes.

Australia’s ‘Quit Nukes’ Campaign Targets Superannuation Funds

By Neena Bhandari

SYDNEY (IDN) – A new campaign is encouraging Australians to urge their superannuation funds to exclude nuclear weapons producers from their investments, consistent with the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which has been ratified by 33 states and needs another 17 ratifications to become enforceable under international law – 90 days after the fiftieth instrument of ratification.

Image: Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (Blue); Nuclear weapons states (Red); Nuclear sharing (Orange); Neither, but NPT (Lime green). CC BY-SA 3.0

Anxiety Looms Over the 10th NPT Review Conference Next Year

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of Pugwash. Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The contentious start of the 74th Session of the First Committee of the General Assembly last October in New York was a harbinger of the difficulties to be faced in the run-up to the forthcoming 2020 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and in United Nations multilateral organs devoted to disarmament.

Photo: Sculpture depicting St. George slaying the dragon. The dragon is created from fragments of Soviet SS-20 and United States Pershing nuclear missiles. UN Photo/Milton Grant.

Growing Anxiety About the Crucial 2020 NPT Review Conference

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The survivors of atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Mayors of the two Japanese cities whose inhabitants have experienced first-hand the mind boggling cruelty of nuclear weapons, representatives of other civil society organizations as well as the United Nations are increasingly concerned about the fate of non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.

Tackling Global Warming Is Important but Nuclear Disarmament Deserves Priority

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – There’s a lot of end-of-the-world hyperbole around on climate change. So there should be. But it blankets out other important causes that are even more imminently important – wiping out malaria and sleeping sickness and introducing pure water supplies, sewerage systems and education for girls – all of which would save many more people than those likely to be hurt by global warning, at least this side of twenty-five years. Global warming, although very much apparent, is happening relatively slowly. Indeed, I feel like coining a slogan: “Kill mosquitoes today, save the icebergs tomorrow”.

Photo: Group photo at the signature and ratification ceremony of the treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Credit: UN.

12 States Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty at Signature Ceremony

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN | UNODA) – For the second year in a row, the “core group” of States supporting the Treaty for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) convened a signature and ratification ceremony on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, September 26.

At the ceremony, Botswana, Dominica, Grenada, Lesotho, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tanzania and Zambia signed the Treaty; Bangladesh, Kiribati and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic deposited their instruments of ratification. Maldives and Trinidad and Tobago both signed and ratified.