OPINION

Photo: The scale of destruction in Aleppo is massive and heavy equipment is urgently needed to remove debris. Credit: UNHCR/Bassam Diab

Focus on Prevention As Conflicts Become More Intractable

By António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Following are extensive excerpts from UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks at open debate of the Security Council on 'Addressing complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security' on December 20, 2017 during Japan's presidency of the Council for the month. – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) – I would like to make three main points today. First, we are seeing not only a quantitative but also a qualitative change in threats to international peace and security. The perils of nuclear weapons are again front and centre, with tensions higher than they have been since the end of the Cold War.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 20 December 2017

Photo: The U.S. nuclear warheads are stored in some 21 locations, which include 13 U.S. states and 5 European countries. Credit: worldatlas.com

The Doomsday Machine by a Damascene Convert

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The nuclear weapon missile business is contradictory, full of missteps, highly dangerous and prepared in its madness (Mutually Assured Destruction, aka MAD, they used to call it in Cold War days) to plunge the world into a nuclear war that will reduce most of the world to dust.

A new book, “The Doomsday Machine” by Daniel Ellsberg tells the whole nuclear bomb story in detail. No one has done it better. The only rival is the movie, “Dr Strangelove”, that got the essentials right without being privy to much of the Ellsberg’s knowledge.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 19 December 2017

Photo: Setsuko Thurlow delivering her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Credit. Norwegian Nobel Committee.

'Listen To Our Testimony. Heed Our Warning'

By Setsuko Thurlow

Setsuko Thurlow is a Japanese-Canadian nuclear disarmament campaigner who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. She is a leading figure in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. Thurlow accepted the prize on behalf of the campaign at a ceremony in Oslo on 10 December 2017, together with Beatrice Fihn, the executive director of ICAN. Following are extensive excerpts from her Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech. – The Editor

OSLO (IDN) – It is a great privilege to accept this award, together with Beatrice, on behalf of all the remarkable human beings who form the ICAN movement. You each give me such tremendous hope that we can – and will – bring the era of nuclear weapons to an end.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 15 December 2017

Photo: Roman siege and destruction of Jerusalem (David Roberts,1850). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Trump's Damning Move Raises the Stakes Over Jerusalem

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - Poets as diverse as William Blake and Yehuda Amichai have sung the praises of the heavenly Jerusalem, a land without strife or rancour, war or bitterness, envy, acquisitiveness or hatred.

Until last week and President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s de facto capital, Israel, Fatah, Hamas and their common interlocutor, the U.S., had the historic opportunity to take a giant step towards making the present day Jerusalem acquire, at least in some of its aspects, the earthly prototype of the heavenly Jerusalem.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 12 December 2017

Photo: Drago Kos, Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery and former Chair of the Slovenian Anti-Corruption Commission – pictured in 2011 as President of the Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO). Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Miles To Go Before Corruption Is Rooted Out

Viewpoint by Drago Kos

Drago Kos chairs the OECD Working Group on Bribery. The following is his statement on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that intends promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. – The Editor

PARIS (IDN) – Corruption facilitates some of the most important global threats of our time, such as terrorism, climate change and the refugee crisis. It’s vital that we ramp up our fight to contain this threat to our economies and societies.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 12 December 2017

Photo: People in Pyongyang watch Kim Jong-un on North Korean TV, 2015. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

No More Bluster, A Way Out of North Korean Nuclear Crisis

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - When, soon after the election, President Barack Obama invited Donald Trump to the White House we didn't learn much about their conversation. But we were briefed on one thing: Obama had told Trump that North Korea would be the most pressing and difficult issue on his agenda.

How right that was. But the Americans have missed the boat. It's as simple as that. What’s done is done. While Washington has dithered and dithered through three successive presidencies, missing opportunity after opportunity, North Korea has gone from zero nuclear weapons to an arsenal of at least 20. Its test of an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, in the early hours of November 29, is said to be capable of striking the U.S. It doesn't have a nuclear tip yet but that will come sometime in the next two or three years.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 05 December 2017

Photo: Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., asks about the president's nuclear authority at November 14 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Credit: PBS Newshour

Reducing the Risk of Nuclear Miscalculation

By Daryl G. Kimball

Daryl G. Kimball is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. This article first appeared with the caption 'Step Back From the Nuclear Brink'.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) - Over the past year, cavalier and reckless statements from President Donald Trump about nuclear weapons and his threat to unleash “fire and fury” against North Korea have heightened fears about Cold War-era policies and procedures that put the authority to launch nuclear weapons in his hands alone.

Partially in response, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for the first time since 1976, held a hearing on the “executive’s authority to use nuclear weapons.” The November 14 hearing should be just the start of a process that leads to changes that reduce the risk of nuclear miscalculation and establishes that the United States will not be the first to use nuclear weapons.

: Arms Control Association; OPINION; 02 December 2017

Photo source: Mother Jones. Bryce Vickmark/ZUMA; RomoloTavani/iStock; photoillustration by Ivylise Simones.

Decode Trump To Halt His Access To U.S. Nuclear Codes

Viewpoint by David Krieger*

SANTA BARBARA | USA (IDN-INPS) - The future of the world and of humanity is at the mercy of a lunatic. His name is Donald Trump, and he alone has access to the U.S. nuclear codes. Before he does something rash and irreversible with those codes, it is imperative to decode Donald, taking the necessary steps to remove this power from him.

Trump tweeted on December 16, 2016: "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."

What good would a greatly strengthened and expanded nuclear capability do for the U.S.? We can already end civilization and most life on the planet with the use of our nuclear arsenal. The U.S. has nearly 7,000 nuclear weapons, with more than 1,500 of them deployed and ready for use.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 30 November 2017

Photo: WANG Shouwen, China’s Vice-Minister of Commerce. Credit: The Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

China and UNIDO Have Engaged in Substantial Cooperation

By WANG Shouwen

WANG Shouwen is China’s Vice-Minister of Commerce. Following are extensive excerpts from his address at the 17th session of the UNIDO General Conference 'Partnering for Impact: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals' in Vienna on November 27, 2017 – after Li Yong was re-appointed for a second term (2017-2021) as the Director General of the Organization. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – China appreciates the significant achievements UNIDO has made during the past 4 years under the guidance of DG Li Yong. ISID [Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development] was incorporated into 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. PCP [the Programme for Country Partnership] received full recognition of member countries. UNIDO becomes the leading agency in UN System of implementing the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa. With its active participation in mechanisms such as G20 and the BRICS, UNIDO has remarkably increased its influence and visibility.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 29 November 2017

Photo: David Krieger. Credit: Rick Carter /images/david_krieger.jpg

Progress Toward Nuclear Weapons Abolition

Viewpoint by David Krieger*

SANTA BARBARA | USA (IDN-INPS) - The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has been working to end the nuclear weapons threat to humanity and all life for 35 years. We were one of many nuclear disarmament organizations created in the early 1980s, in our case in 1982. Some of these organizations have endured; some have not.

We were founded on the belief that peace is an imperative of the Nuclear Age, that nuclear weapons must be abolished, and that the people of the world must lead their leaders to achieve these goals. As a founder of the organization, and as its president since its founding, it now seems an appropriate time to look back and reflect on the changes that have occurred over the past 35 years.