ARMAMENTS

Photo: UNMAS, MINUSMA Mark International Day for Mine Awareness. Robots have been deployed for mine clearance by military authorities in many countries, but concerns are rising over regulation of autonomous weapons which use Artificial Intelligence. UN Photo/Marco Dormino

US, Russia Stall Attempts to Ban Killer Robots

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — As the US withdrew the last of its troops from Afghanistan on August 31 following a deadly 20-year-old war, one of the messages coming out of Washington was clear: the US will curtail “boots on the ground” in all future conflicts—even though there are still more than 40,000 American troops stationed around the Middle East.

But the wave of the future may be 'killer robots'—mostly the deployment of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—in “shadow wars,” particularly against terrorist groups worldwide.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 21 December 2021

Photo: Protest march in 2015. Credit: Mayors for Peace.

Mayors for Peace Say the Danger of Nuclear War Is Real and Growing

By Mayors for Peace

The following is the text of an Open Letter Issued by Mayors for Peace to NPT States Parties.

HIROSHIMA (IDN) — On behalf of Mayors for Peace, a global non-governmental organization with 8,059 member cities, we are writing to express our views prior to the NPT Review Conference that will open next January in New York.

We urge all participants to recall the solemn historical circumstances facing this conference. The use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 18 December 2021

Image Credit: Cold War Warriors Facebook

Cold War Warriors Are Gaining the Upper Hand Again

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Oh, to be a Cold War warrior again! I always felt a bit sorry for those politicians, academics, soldiers and journalists who had hitched their careers to the onward march of the Cold War. It was satisfying. There was a clear enemy. The complex arithmetic on which side had what and what nuclear weapons could do was as satisfying intellectually as it was complicated.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 14 December 2021

Image credit: Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Middle East Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone, Long Elusive, is Making Progress, say Experts

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A longstanding proposal for a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the politically and militarily volatile Middle East remains elusive. Since 1967, five nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZ) have been established worldwide—in Latin America and the Caribbean, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Africa and Central Asia.

Speaking at the second “UN Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs),” which took place November 29 to December 3, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that the five existing zones include 60 per cent of the UN’s 193 Member States—and cover almost all of the Southern Hemisphere.

: Thalif Deen; THE WORLD; Middle East; 04 December 2021

Image: A photo of the US Army's new MQ-1C Warrior UAV. Courtesy of US Army | Wikimedia Commons

It Is High Time to End Reliance on Nuclear Armaments

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — It's almost twenty-five years since General George Lee Butler made his confessional statement before the National Press Club in Washington—that as commander in chief of the US Strategic Command, which controls all army, navy and air force nuclear weapons, he'd had moral qualms and profound doubts about America's possession of nuclear weapons.

The speech triggered an avalanche of supportive phone calls and letters from all over the world. This led General Butler to conclude that he could "discern the makings of an emerging global consensus that the risks posed by nuclear weapons far outweigh the presumed benefits".

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 30 November 2021

Photo: Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen, President-designate of the Tenth NPT Review Conference, addresses the opening of the regional meeting on November 13-14.

The NPT Will Probably Endure, But Its Longevity May Be at Stake

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The NPT turned 50 in 2020. The anniversary should have coincided with the Tenth Review Conference, but unfortunately it had to be postponed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. President-designate Gustavo Zlauvinen wisely used the delay to deepen his consultations with states parties in an effort to ensure the success of the Conference.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 30 November 2021

Photo: An artist rendering of the future U.S. Navy Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines. The 12 submarines of the Columbia-class will replace the Ohio-class submarines which are reaching their maximum extended service life. It is planned that the construction of USS Columbia (SSBN-826) will begin in in fiscal year 2021, with delivery in fiscal year 2028, and being on patrol in 2031. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Challenge of Nuclear Submarine Proliferation

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — While many well-meaning experts have written legal, policy and technical tomes on how to verify naval nuclear fuel and to convert such fuel from weapon-grade highly-enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU), the unfortunate reality remains that none of the nuclear navies using HEU are interested in converting to LEU fuel or to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or any other inspectors within a Scandinavian mile of their nuclear fleets—that is a generous 10 kilometres.

: J Nastranis; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 27 November 2021

Photo courtesy of General Dynamics Electric Boat Public Affairs: Creative Commons Licence 040730-N-1234E-002

Driving Nuclear Submarines Through IAEA Safeguards!

By Tariq Rauf*

VIENNA (IDN) — Let me start with giving the “bottom line” of this assessment. While many well-meaning experts have written legal, policy and technical tomes on how to verify naval nuclear fuel and to convert such fuel from weapon-grade highly-enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU); the unfortunate reality remains that none of the nuclear navies using HEU are interested in converting to LEU fuel or to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or any other inspectors within a Scandinavian mile of their nuclear fleets—that is a generous 10 kilometres.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 November 2021

Are We Heading for a Cold War with China?

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

In recent months, we have often heard that the return of the Cold War is imminent, this time with China. How great is this danger? Some developments point at a dangerous confrontation; others are completely different from the times of the Cold War with the Soviet Union and its allies.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 November 2021

Photo: The Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction held its First Session from 18 November to 22 November 2019 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Credit: UN photo

Achieving The Possible Against the Odds: “A Middle East Nuclear and WMD Free Zone”

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf[1]

VIENNA (IDN) — In normal times, the second session of the “United Nations Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction”, scheduled to take place from 29 November to 3 December 2021, would have been an in-person event at the United Nations in New York.

But we are not in normal times—in addition to a long-lasting deadly pandemic, we also are facing the beginning of a new Cold War with modernization of nuclear weapons and development of destabilizing new weapons technologies, acute climate change, a near complete collapse of the UN disarmament machinery, and longstanding broken promises on the Middle East.