Nuclear Weapons

Photo: Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Kazakhstan's Permanent Representative to the UN, signing the Nuclear Ban Treaty on March 2. Credit: Abolition2000

Kazakhstan Signs Ban Treaty After Security Council Debut

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Kazakhstan, known as an active and staunch supporter of a world free of nuclear weapons, became 57th country to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on March 2.

The Treaty, which opened for signature on September 20, 2017, will remain open indefinitely. It will enter into force 90 days after 50 nations have ratified or acceded to it. Until now, five states have ratified the Treaty: Guyana, Holy See and Thailand on September 20, 2017 immediately after signing. They were followed by Mexico on January 16 and Cuba on January 30.

Photo: Dr. Daisaku Ikeda. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun.

Striving to Build a Broader Support for the Nuclear Ban Treaty

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – The second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference in April and the UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament in May will draw the focus of the international community in the coming weeks as it moves toward paving the way for a nuclear-weapons free world.

Since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted in July 2017, "these will be the first venues for debate and deliberation that will include both the nuclear-weapon and nuclear-dependent states," says eminent Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda, founder and President of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) with 12 million members in 192 countries and regions.

Photo: U.S. President Donald J. Trump addresses the General Assembly’s annual general debate on 19 September 2017. Credit: UN Photo/Cia Pak

Trump Breaks Nuclear Taboos, Strives For Supremacy

By Daryl G. Kimball and Kingston A. Reif

Daryl G. Kimball is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association and Kingston A. Reif its Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy. This article appeared as Issue Brief on February 15, 2018 with the caption 'The New U.S. Nuclear Strategy is Flawed and Dangerous. Here’s Why.' It is being reproduced with permission from the Association. – The Editor.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – In December 2016, President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” and later told MSNBC that he would “outmatch” and “outlast” other potential competitors in a nuclear arms race. The comments mostly prompted condemnation in the United States and around the world and raised concerns about the direction the president would take U.S. nuclear weapons policy.

Photo: Commemorating the 51st anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco on 14 February 2018. Credit: OPANAL

From Tlatelolco to the UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty

By Jorge Alberto López Lechuga

Jorge Alberto López Lechuga is Research and Communication Officer of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL). The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of OPANAL and its Member States. – The Editor

MEXICO (IDN) – On February 2, the Government of the U.S. published the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which includes the strategy to increase the role of nuclear weapons in national security. The NPR considers the need to double the military budget from 3% to 6.4% in order to modernize the U.S. arsenal. This would mean an investment of 1 trillion USD over the next 30 years. It also states that expanding "flexible U.S. nuclear options now, to include low-yield options, is important for the preservation of credible deterrence against regional aggression", a strategy that will raise "the nuclear threshold".

Photo: Toda Institute Director Kevin P. Clements briefing media on the Colloquium. Credit: Kotoe Asagiri | IDN-INPS

Transforming Risks on the Korean Peninsula into Stable Peace in Northeast Asia

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) – 'Building Stable Peace in Northeast Asia: Managing and Transforming Risks on the Korean Peninsula' was the subject of a colloquium in which regional experts on peace and security, policy makers and civil society organizations from the United States, China, South Korea and Japan participated against the backdrop of a volatile situation in the region.

In the run-up to North Korea claiming that it had conducted its first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that can "reach anywhere in the world," 1995 Nobel Peace Laureate Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs expressed concern in a statement on May 4, 2017 that "the mounting confrontation with North Korea is raising grave dangers."

Photo: An Airman completes a missile assembly on an F-16 Fighting Falcon during a load crew competition at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., June 30, 2017. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Andrew D. Sarver

Kick Off To A Nuclear Race Threatening Doomsday

By Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of the 1995 Nobel Peace Laureate Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and a former Ambassador of Brazil who served in key posts. He was President of the 2005 Seventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs with UNODA, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2007-2012). – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN) – As if by coincidence, almost simultaneously the world learned of the Doomsday Clock moving closer to midnight and of the release of the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) by the government of the United States.

Image: Montage of an inert test of a United States Trident SLBM (submarine launched ballistic missile), from submerged to the terminal, or re-entry phase, of the multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Why 'Nuclear Weapons – An Absolute Evil' Is A 'Must-Read'

By Anne Baring*

Anne Baring is a Jungian Analyst, author and co-author of the books listed on her website, including her latest one, The Dream of the Cosmos: a Quest for the Soul. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Prof. Avery's 'Nuclear Weapons: An Absolute Evil' can be downloaded here. - The Editor.

LONDON – The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced on January 5 that they have moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock to two minutes to midnight. A few days before this announcement was made a statement by General Sir Nick Carter appeared in The Times in the United Kingdom: “Our ability to pre-empt or respond to threats will be eroded if we don’t keep up with our adversaries.” (The Times 22/1/2018).

Photo: Airborne Launch Control System. Credit: www.afgsc.af.mil/

Activists Call on U.S. to Respect the Olympic Truce

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – As the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games kicked off on February 9, over 100 activists from around the United States sent an open letter to Defence Secretary James Mattis, calling on him to respect the Olympic Truce by postponing provocative nuclear-capable missile tests.

Dozens of organizations around the country worked closely together to send the letter, Sandy Jones, Director of Communications at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara in California said.

The letter states, "Regardless of advance planning of such tests, it is essential to global security that the United States be flexible and respect worthwhile initiatives for peace such as the Olympic Truce."

Photo: Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify on the National Defense Strategy and the Nuclear Posture Review before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., Feb. 6, 2018. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Kathryn E. Holm

Nuclear Posture Review 'Recipe for a Disaster', Warns Pugwash

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Nobel Peace laureate 'Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs' has warned that the latest development of U.S. nuclear weapons policy "will serve only to increase the saliency and attractiveness of nuclear weapons, and will certainly not enhance international security."

Commenting on the United States 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), Pugwash President Sergio Duarte and Secretary General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino said on February 6: "The global landscape is already filled with simmering nuclear tensions, as well as other serious issues of conflict. Stressing the role of nuclear weapons is not merely unhelpful but is likely to increase these tensions."

Photo: U.S. President Donald J. Trump (on screen) addresses the General Assembly’s annual general debate on 19 September 2017 in which he declared: "The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea." Credit: UN Photo/Ariana Lindquist

Trump Might Well Break International Law Over North Korea

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – We are soon going to have a clash between President Donald Trump and international law. This is predicable when one examines the presidential discourse over what to do about North Korea and its possession of nuclear-tipped rockets.

He has threatened "fire and fury" which doesn’t sound like the opening words of the UN’s Charter: "We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war…..and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained……and for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours."