ARMAMENTS

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

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 1974 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; Health & Well Being; 28 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.

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 13 March 2020

Photo: NPT Prepcom 2019. Credit: James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS).

Five Nuclear Weapon States Pledge Commitment to NPT

By J C Suresh

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) — Five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council – USA, China, France, Russia and Britain – who together possess an overwhelming majority of 13,865 nuclear weapons have pledged "unstinting commitment to preserving and deepening … for future generations" the legacy of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

A joint statement by Foreign Ministers of the five countries on the 50th anniversary of the entering into force of the NPT on March 5, 2020 says "we celebrate the immeasurable contributions this landmark treaty has made to the security and prosperity of the nations and peoples of the world."

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 12 March 2020

Photo: Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace laureate, Gloria Steinem, author activist and Carol Jenkins, CEO of the ERA Coalition at the War No More conference Feb 28, 2020 UN and an overview of the conference. Credit: CTAUN/Don Carlson

Committee on Teaching About the UN Demands 'War No More'

By Narin B. Stassis

The writer currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Committee on Teaching About the UN. She is a former Director of Curriculum and Instruction, a lifelong Educator, and holds a Master's degree in International Education from Lesley University.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations was created with a determination "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war". As the world body celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, the Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN), convened a conference, "War No More", co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 12 March 2020

Photo: A view of the sculpture - Good Defeats Evil - on the UN Headquarters grounds, presented to the UN by the Soviet Union on the occasion of the Organization’s 45th anniversary. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

The Virus of Nuclear Proliferation

Viewpoint by Alice Slater

The writer serves on the Board of 'World Beyond War', and represents the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation at the United Nations.

NEW YORK (IDN) — In an avalanche of reporting we are now assaulted with information about how the world is urgently attempting to batten down the hatches to avoid the possibility of deathly consequences from the broadly publicized outbreak of the coronavirus, causing the possibility of postponing or perhaps downsizing the upcoming five year mandatory Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 08 March 2020

Photo: Protests after U.S. decision CC BY 4.0to withdraw from JCPOA, around former U.S. embassy, Tehran, on 8 May 2018. CC BY 4.0

Trump's Abandonment of Nuclear Deal with Iran Backfires

By Reinhard Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) — The quarterly report on Iran released by UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on March 3 has revealed a significant increase in the country's stockpile of enriched uranium since its last report. The stockpile stood at 1,020.9 kg in February, up from 372.3 kg in November 2019, reports Jane's Defence Weekly.

This 648.6 kg increase is raising international concern as it marks a significant breach of the 300 kg stockpile limit imposed on Iran by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and the P5+1— China France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — on July 14, 2015. The nuclear deal was endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted on July 20, 2015.