ARMAMENTS

Photo: Vienna Hofburg, the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty rulers; which and today serves as the official residence and workplace of the President of Austria. It is located in the center of Vienna and was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. Credit: Robert Fischer, Pixabay

Proposal to Convene NPT Review Conference in January 2021

Why Peaceful Vienna Is More Suitable than Toxic New York

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *

VIENNA, (IDN) – In my previous posts on IDN InDepthNews, Update: Postponed 2020 NPT Review Conference, Challenge for the NAM: Move the NPT Review Conference to 2021 in Vienna, and Postpone the NPT Review Conference to 2021 and Convene in Vienna, I had provided information and perspectives on the Review Conference of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty scheduled at the United Nations in New York from 27 April to 22 May that had to be postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 20 April 2020

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".

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 12 April 2020

Photo: President Trump's visit to India on end of February 2020 came exactly a year after Hindu-Muslim tensions in India were stoked by mysterious external parties with the near-war between nuclear armed rivals, India and Pakistan, staged in Pulwama District, Jammu and Kashmir in February 2019, just before General Elections in India. Source: YouTube.

Trump's 'Pivot to Asia' To 'Make America Great Again' Setting the Stage for a New Clash of Civilizations

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

The writer is a cultural anthropologist with research expertise in international political economy, peace, and development studies in South and South East Asia.*

COLOMBO (IDN) – India's capital New Delhi burned in the last week of February 2020 as US President Donald Trump pivoted to India. Visiting the world's largest and increasingly tattered 'democracy', Trump sold among other things, over USD 3 billion worth of weaponry to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 'partnership of the century' between India and the US announced by Modi seemed designed to put China and its Belt and Road initiative (BRI), already besieged by the mysterious Novel Corona virus, on notice.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 03 April 2020

Photo: Collage from images on www.un.org/en/conferences/npt2020

Update: Postponed 2020 NPT Review Conference

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *

VIENNA (IDN) – On 30 March 2020, IDN-InDepthNews published my article, Challenge for the NAM: Move the NPT Review Conference to 2021 in Vienna, in which I had noted the announcement of the postponement of the 2020 review conference of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), scheduled to be held in New York from 27 April to 22 May, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 02 April 2020

A Nobel Peace Laureate Calls for Slashing Military Spending and Investing in Healthcare

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) – The world's oldest peace NGO, the 1910 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Peace Bureau (IPB), is calling for a "dramatic reduction" of military spending in favour of healthcare and meeting social needs. A petition launched on March 27 and signed by all interested will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly on the first day of the next session opening on September 15, 2020.

"The world spends 1.8 trillion dollars on military expenditure every year and is scheduled to spend 1 trillion dollars on new nuclear weapons in the next 20 years," notes the IPB in the petition and a statement earlier from its headquarters in Germany's capital city, Berlin.

: Jutta Wolf; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 02 April 2020

Photo: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the 2010 High-level Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Challenge for the NAM: Move the NPT Review Conference to 2021 in Vienna

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf*

VIENNA (IDN) – It is sometimes said that it is easy to try to herd cats than to get the States parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to agree on anything practical! This certainly seems to be the case now, as after dithering for several weeks the earth shaking announcement coming out of New York on March 27 is that "In light of the situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, States Parties have decided to postpone the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to a later date, as soon as the circumstances permit, but no later than April 2021. Information on the new dates of the Review Conference will be posted in due course".

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 30 March 2020

Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump at the Singapore Summit on June 12, 2018. Source: @Scavino45 of Dan Scavino Jr., the White House Director of Social Media and Assistant to the President.

Behind North Korea's New Missile Launches in the Midst of Coronavirus Pandemic

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – While the international community has been engrossed in combating the global COVID-19 pandemic, it has been constrained to respond to North Korea's first missile launches this year. The United Nations Security Council convened behind closed doors on March 5 but failed to agree on a resolution.

However, Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium said in a "joint statement" that they are "deeply concerned by the testing of ballistic missiles by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (DPRK) on March 1.

: Santo D. Banerjee; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 March 2020

Iran Should Demonstrate That Its Nuclear Program Is Peaceful

By Kelsey Davenport and Julia Masterson

This article first appeared on Arms Control Association Website. Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy, and Julia Masterson research assistant

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi raised concerns earlier in March about Tehran’s failure to cooperate with an agency investigation into possible storage and use of undeclared nuclear materials at three locations in Iran.

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 19 March 2020

Photo: Collage with images from Arms Control Association and the Doomsday clock.

Postpone the NPT Review Conference to 2021 and Convene in Vienna

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf

The writer has attended all nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) meetings since 1987 as a delegate, including as senior adviser to the chair of Main Committee I (nuclear disarmament) in 2015 and to the chair of the 2014 preparatory committee; as alternate head of the International Atomic Energy Agency delegation to the NPT; and as a non-proliferation expert with the Canadian delegation from 1987. Personal views are expressed here.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 March 2020

Photo: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump meeting during G7 Summit on Osaka on June 28. Credit: Kremlin.ru

Bullish on Trilateral Arms Control and Bearish on New START

By Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos

While Kingston Reif is director for disarmament and threat reduction policy, Shannon Bugos is research assistant at the Arms Control Association.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – President Donald Trump said recently that he is open to meeting with the other heads of state of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to discuss arms control and will soon put forward a trilateral arms control proposal with Russia and China. But China continues to express its opposition to trilateral talks and has yet to respond to U.S. overtures to begin a bilateral strategic security dialogue.