SYNDICATION

Photo: Shaheen II, surface-to-surface ballistic missile, according to Pakistan capable of delivering conventional and nuclear weapons at a range of up to 1,500 kilometers, during a training launch in this photo released by Inter Services Public Relations, May 23, 2019.

Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile, Affirms Willingness for Dialogue with India

By Ayaz Gul

This article first appeared on Voice of America on May 23, 2019.

ISLAMABAD (IDN-INPS) – Pakistan says it has successfully conducted a “training launch” of a ballistic missile capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads up to 1,500 kilometers.

The move came amid Pakistan’s heightened military tensions with neighboring rival India, and it is seen by observers as part of the efforts Islamabad is making to keep pace with New Delhi’s massive investments in military hardware and advancements.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 24 May 2019

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit: Kremlin.ru

Uncertainty over U.S.-Russian Arms Control Talks

By Kingston Reif and Shervin Taheran

While Kingston Reif is Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy, Shervin Taheran is Research Assistant at the Arms Control Association, which carried this report on May 24, 2019.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Following a May 14 meeting in Sochi, Russia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the two countries “agreed that … we will gather together teams that will begin to work not only on [the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty] New START and its potential extension but on a broader range of arms control issues that each of our two nations have.”

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 24 May 2019

Photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. overseeing weapons tests at an undisclosed location in May. KCNA/EPA

Door to North Korea Remains Open Despite Missile Tests

By Alicia Sanders-Zakre and Kelsey Davenport

While Alicia Sanders-Zakre is research assistant, Kelsey Davenport, is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, which carried this report on May 21, 2019.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – The next steps for U.S. diplomacy with North Korea remain unclear after Pyongyang tested several short-range ballistic missiles in early May. Despite the missile tests, South Korea and the United States urged a resumption of dialogue. North Korea, however, has said little about returning to talks since Chairman Kim Jong Un declared in April that he would give the Trump administration until the end of the year to change its approach to negotiations or face a "bleak and very dangerous" situation.

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 May 2019

Photo: 38th Anniversary of the 1979 Revolution in Azadi square, Tehran, 2017. CC BY 4.0

The Security Council Must Stop the U.S. Going to War with Iran

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Amnesty International reported on March 11 that an Iranian lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has been sentenced to 38 years in jail and 148 lashes. She has dedicated her life to defending women accused of removing their hijabs in public. The persecution of human rights dissidents in Iran appears to be getting worse.

It makes it harder to feel sorry for Iran, even if President Donald Trump is wielding the heavy stick against it, and even though Trump has sabotaged the Agreement to freeze Iran’s nuclear research and uranium enrichment carefully negotiated by President Barack Obama’s team, the EU, Russia and China.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 21 May 2019

Photo: Girl on roof of a factory in India. Source: UNFPA © Andrea Bruce/Noor

In Quest of a More Equal World

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Maybe, after all, there is an argument for saying that the world needs more violence not less if we are to make its societies more equal. This is one conclusion one can derive from Walter Scheidel’s new book, The Great Leveler.

He starts from what we all know by now: the richest 62 persons in the world own as much net wealth as the poorer half of humanity. This is the number that could fit inside a London double-decker bus.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 14 May 2019

Photo: Press Briefing by Syed Hasrin Syed Hussin (right), Chair of the Third Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference, on May 10, 2019 at the UN Headquarters in New York. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS

Malaysian Diplomat Shows Courage on Way to Landmark NPT Review Conference

Viewpoint by Ray Acheson

This article first appeared as Editorial in NPT News in Review, Vol. 16, No. 7 on May 10, 2019. The writer is the Director of Reaching Critical Will – the disarmament programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She represents WILPF on several coalition steering groups, including the 2017 Nobel Laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Ray is a 2018 UN Women Metro-NY "Champion of Change". – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Standing up to bullies is always hard. It takes courage and resilience. Ambassador Syed Hussin of Malaysia and his team demonstrated this in spades. They listened to vehement criticisms from nuclear-armed states for the revised draft recommendations.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 13 May 2019

Beware of Negativity Bias Running Riot

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Do we, especially our politicians and media, focus more on threats than on opportunities, dwell on loses more than on gains, and learn more from past failures than from successes?

When we are children we are frightened of bogeymen. When we are adults we often inflate dangers.

When two years ago Steven Pinker published his book telling us how the number of battlefield deaths had gone dramatically down since World War 2 and pointed out how life had been transformed for poor people in the Third World because of immunization, contraception, disease eradication and widespread literacy many were taken by surprise.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 07 May 2019

Collage of graphics from Internet by IDN-INPS.

Demographic Peace Likely as Russia, China and USA Turn Grey

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Traditionally old men have sent young men to fight the wars they have started. Today it may be somewhat different. Old men may be shying away from war while young men are still beholden to it.

The world, as never before, is becoming demographically lopsided, with older people concentrated in rich countries and the young in not-so-rich countries. These older societies are becoming less warlike, as the influence of the experienced and the wise filters down into the body politic.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 30 April 2019

Photo: Indonesian school girls. Source: East Asia Forum

Need to Raise Awareness about Sexual Harassment in Indonesian Schools

By Iwu Dwisetyani Utomo

CANBERRA (IDN-INPS) – A recent Gender and Reproductive Health Study in Indonesia found a surprisingly high degree of comprehension of sexual harassment among Indonesian students and teachers, but there were some worrying differences across various demographics.

The findings suggest the need for more research, education and awareness-raising on sexual harassment in Indonesia, as well as institution-building for reporting and policing sexual harassment.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 26 April 2019

Photo: Women discuss politics at a women’s conference in Darfur, Sudan. Credit: UN

Women in Politics: Miles to Go Before Parity Is Achieved

By Zipporah Musau

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – In the fight for gender equality, women around the world have advanced in small and large ways. Yet for women in Africa, progress is measured in micro steps, and the struggle has a long way to go.

The good news is that women’s representation in political decision making has been on the rise globally. The not-so-good news is that the increase has been stubbornly slow, barely 1% in 2018 compared with the previous year. In 2018 the number of women ministers worldwide reached an all-time high at 20.7% (812 out of 3922).