ARMAMENTS

U.S.-Led NATO Tops Global Military Expenditure Of $1.7 Trillion

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Countries around the world are increasing their military expenditure. While the 29 NATO members together account for 52 per cent of world spending and the United States continues to have the highest military expenditure among them, China, India and Saudi Arabia are contributing the lion's share of the continuing growth.

Total military expenditure rose to $1739 billion in 2017. Though this whopping amount marked a marginal increase of 1.1. percent on 2016, it comprised 2.2 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) or $230 per person, according to new figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 02 May 2018

Faith Communities Urge Geneva Conference to Pave the Path to a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Diverse faith-based organizations and individuals are appealing to States gathered at the UN in Geneva to spare the world a nuclear catastrophe and foster sustainable development for the good of humanity affirming moral and ethical imperatives.

Twenty groups and individuals from different faiths, including Christian, Quaker, Muslim and Hindu traditions and Soka Gakkai International (SGI) tabled an interfaith statement on April 25 as one of the civil society presentations during the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference at the UN Office in Geneva.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 29 April 2018

Photo: Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative (centre front) to the UN in Geneva addressing the Second PrepCom for the NPT Review Conference 2020. Credit: The Sunday Leader.

A World Free Of Nuclear Weapons Remains The Ultimate Goal

By Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez

Following are extensive excerpts from the Statement by Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, at the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference from April 23 to May 4, 2018. He called on all nuclear-weapon states to commit to the principle of disarmament to ensure a world free of nuclear weapons and "enhance their support for, and investment in, disarmament training and education provided by the UN and other organisations." – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN) – It is imperative that all our efforts be geared to ensuring that the 2020 Review Conference will lead to a consensus outcome, which galvanizes the commitments made in the 1995 Review Conference. Securing a world free of nuclear weapons should remain our first and foremost priority.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 26 April 2018

Photo: The Allée des Nations, with the flags of the UN member countries. Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0

U.S. Charm Offensive Takes Center Stage in Geneva

Viewpoint by Rick Wayman

The writer is Programs Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). In April 2016, he received the 'Activist of the Year' award from the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) for "dynamic leadership in bringing the Marshall Islanders' Nuclear Zero litigation to world attention, activating the next generation of peace leaders, and guiding ANA as board member and tech guru." – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN) – In February, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was widely and, I would say, unfairly criticized by the U.S. media, politicians, and even diplomats for its participation in the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. By sending high-level, suave officials to the Olympics, the narrative went, the DPRK was engaged in a “charm offensive” to win over the world and make us forget about its serious human rights violations.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 26 April 2018

Photo: An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 3, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. William Collette)

US Launches Minuteman III Missile Test in Cloud of Secrecy

NEW YORK (IDN) – With little prior notice from military officials, the U.S. launched a Minuteman III Ballistic Missile on April 25 morning at approximately 5:26 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Civilians and residents living near the base, who regularly receive ample notice of missile tests, were left in the dark this time as the missile raced through the early morning sky, according to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

The U.S conducts three or four ICBM tests each year. These are the same class of missiles for which the U.S. has been highly critical of the North Koreans for developing and testing, the Santa Barbara based Foundation said.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 25 April 2018

Photo: High Representative Izumi Nakamitsu at the 16th UN-Republic of Korea Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues. Credit: UN

Nuclear-Weapon States Leading 'A New Qualitative Arms Race'

By Izumi Nakamitsu

Following are extensive excerpts from a statement by Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs to Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference from 23 April to 4 May 2018 in Geneva. – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – Secretary-General Guterres is currently developing his agenda for disarmament, which is aimed at re-energizing the international discourse. It will seek to offer new perspectives on the traditional agenda in order to mobilize new constituencies. It will seek to identify areas where more coherent and collaborative efforts within the United Nations system can better support Member States' responsibilities for advancing disarmament.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 23 April 2018

Photo: CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo speaks to the press on the nuclear test by the DPRK in September 2017 and its detection by the monitoring system of the CTBTO. 20 September 2017. United Nations, New York: Credit: UN Photo/Kim Haughton

UN and CTBTO Hail End to Nuclear Testing by North Korea, Denuclearization Remains a Mirage

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo have welcomed the announcement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to halt its nuclear testing programme and to dismantle the test site.

The announcement came six days ahead of the DPRK leader Kim Jong-un's meeting with President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea (South Korea/ROK) taking place on April 27. After the inter-Korean summit, Kim is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in June 2018.

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 April 2018

Photo: Mushroom-shaped cloud and water column from the underwater nuclear explosion of July 25, 1946, which was part of Operation Crossroads. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Strong Plea for Early Entry into Force of Nuclear Ban Treaty

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – On the eve of a crucial international conference, an eminent Buddhist organization advocating a nuclear-weapon-free world has called for the signing, ratification and early entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) adopted by 122 UN member states as a sign of their resolve to overcome nuclear terror in the interest of protecting human rights and dignity.

Since the adoption of the TPNW in July 2017, non-nuclear-weapon, nuclear-weapon and nuclear-dependent states are meeting for the first time in the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) – Second PrepCom of the 2020 NPT Review Conference – from April 23 to May 4 in Geneva.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 20 April 2018

Photo (left to right): Michiko Kodama, Assistant Secretary General of Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- & H- Bomb Sufferers' Organizations); Akira Kawasaki, Executive Committee Member, Peace Boat and an international steering committee member of ICAN; Terumi Tanaka, co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- & H- Bomb Sufferers' Organizations); Haruko Moritaki, co-director of Hiroshima Alliance of Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA). Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS

Pressure Mounts on Japan to Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) – Japan is coming under pressure from within to sign and ratify the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty, which acknowledges the "unacceptable suffering" of the hibakusha – survivors of hitherto the first ever atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

122 member nations of the United Nations adopted what is formally known as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in July 2017.

Aging survivors – 81.41 on an average as of March 2017 – have deplored the Japanese government's decision to stay out of the TPNW for the reason that joining the Treaty could "result in the distance between nuclear weapons and non-nuclear weapons states being further widened."

: Katsuhiro Asagiri; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 16 April 2018

Photo: Back of a $1 million note, indicating what the money should instead be spent on. Design by Michael Green

Campaign For Moving 'Nuclear Weapons Money' to Boost Peace

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – While governments meet in New York for the first ever United Nations High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament from May 14-16, 2018 campaigners for 'zero nuclear weapons' will be busy counting one million specially designed notes each of $1 million value, adding up to $1 trillion.

The amount of one trillion dollars (with twelve zeros and even eighteen zeros in some countries) is being allocated over the next ten years to 'modernize' the nuclear arsenals of nine countries, which together possess around 15,000 nuclear weapons.