Nuclear Weapons

Image: Nuclear Armageddon. Source: The National Interest

Neutral Countries Should Mediate Between Russia and Ukraine

Viewpoint by Jeffrey D. Sachs

This article was published in The Economist and is being republished with the author's permission.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Neither Russia nor Ukraine is likely to achieve a decisive military victory in their ongoing war: both sides have considerable room for deadly escalation. Ukraine and its Western allies have little chance of ousting Russia from Crimea and the Donbas region, while Russia has little chance of forcing Ukraine to surrender. As Joe Biden noted in October 2022, the spiral of escalation marks the first direct threat of “nuclear Armageddon” since the Cuban missile crisis 60 years ago.

Photo: The "Good Defeats Evil" sculpture, located at UN Headquarters in New York, depicts an allegorical St. George slaying a double-headed dragon—symbolic of a nuclear war vanquished by historic treaties between the Soviet Union and the United States. UN/Ingrid Kasper

The Ukraine War Should Alert Us to The Need to Ban Nuclear Weapons

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — In the year 2000, President Vladimir Putin, having just won his first election, made his own contribution to solving the nuclear weapons imbroglio. He said in a speech that Moscow was prepared to drastically reduce its stockpile of nuclear missiles. Putin's call was not just for further cuts than the US suggested ceiling of 2,500 for each side but for reductions far below Moscow's previous target of 1,500. (At present, Russia has around 6,000 warheads and the US 5,400.)

Photo: The foreign affairs ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France, China, the European Union and Iran (Lausanne, March 30, 2015). Wikimedia Commons.

US Must Offer a Nuclear Deal That Iran Cannot Afford to Decline

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The policies of Iran’s government are not set in stone, as critics interminably suggest. Early December Iran’s prosecutor-general was reported as saying that the morality police were being disbanded. Clearly two months of demonstrations, led mainly by women, and now with open support by Iran’s football World Cup team while competing in Qatar, have made some in the government have a big think about its long-term policies.

Photo: President Yoon Suk Yeol shown on Jan. 9 receiving this year's business briefings from government ministries at Yeongbingwan, the guesthouse at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae. (Office of the 20th President)

South Korea Warned Against Talk of Pursuing Nuclear Weapons

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | WASHINGTON (IDN) — A former U.S. official has cautioned South Korea against talk of pursuing nuclear weapons. Mr Thomas Countryman, who served as the acting Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security until January 2017, was responding to remarks by South Korea's president Yoon Suk Yeol.

Image: The powerful Group of 20 agreed on Nov. 16 at their summit in Indonesia that threats and use of nuclear weapons are “inadmissible.” Source: Twitter@g20org

The Nuclear Taboo Remains Strong for Now

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball

The writer is the Executive Director of the Arms Control Association (ACA). The following text was published in the organization’s monthly journal, Arms Control Today.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — Even before his disastrous decision to invade Ukraine last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin had demonstrated a malign indifference toward basic norms of international behavior, an uneven record of compliance with cornerstone arms control agreements, and a penchant for bullying and using deadly force against opponents.

Photo: Daisaku Ikeda. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun.

On the Ukraine Crisis and No First Use of Nuclear Weapons

By Daisaku Ikeda

The following is the text of the statement by peacebuilder and Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda, who is president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI).

TOKYO (IDN) — The Ukraine crisis that erupted in February last year continues with no prospect for cessation. The intensified hostilities have inflicted great suffering in population centers and destroyed infrastructure facilities, compelling large numbers of civilians, including many children and women, to live in a state of constant peril. More than 7.9 million people have been forced to find refuge in countries throughout Europe, and some 5.9 million have been internally displaced.

Photo: US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev after signing in Prague the "New START", the only arms control agreement still surviving. Credit: Kremlin.ru

The Decline & Fall of Nuclear Disarmament in 2022

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — As a politically and militarily tense 2022 came to an inglorious end, nuclear threats kept hitting the front pages of newspapers with monotonous regularity last year.

The rising tensions were triggered primarily by threats from Russia, the continuous military rhetoric spilling out of North Korea and Iran's unwillingness to give up its nuclear option—and its increasingly close relationship with two of the world’s major nuclear powers, Russia and China.

Photo: (From left to right) Ambassador Mr. Alexander Kmentt, Ms. Rebecca Jovin and Ms. Elena Sokova address the audience about the key role of disarmament education in advancing international peace and security, and the indispensability of partnerships in these effortsImage credit: UNICEF/UN0579998/Lateef

UN Takes to New Ways to Promote Nuclear Disarmament

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 24 May 2018 his Agenda for Disarmament, which outlines a set of practical measures across the entire range of disarmament issues, including weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and future weapon technologies.

Action 1 for "Securing Our Common Future," the title of the Agenda, aims to "facilitate dialogue for nuclear disarmament". It underlines that disarmament and non-proliferation remain indispensable tools for the creation of a secure environment favourable to human development, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Photo: Natanz Nuclear Facility. CC BY 2.0

No Nuclear Weapon Can Save Iran from its Internal Strife

Viewpoint by Dr Alon Ben-Meir

Dr Alon Ben-Meir, a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU), taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Words from various officials in the know suggest that, although President Biden stated that the Iran Nuclear deal is “dead,” the President would still like the 2015 deal to be revived. However, several obstacles must first be resolved.

Photo: Then U.S. President Trump announcing withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. Credit: The White House Flickr.

Is the Iran Nuclear Deal Dead or Alive?

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — U.S. President Joe Biden's off-the-cuff remark, describing the nuclear deal with Iran as "dead", has led to widespread speculation about the future of the landmark agreement—and of the potential emergence of new nuclear powers in the horizon.

"It is dead, but we're not going to announce it," Biden said before adding, "long story".

Biden's quote was on a video circulating on social media filmed during an election event in November—and disclosed in December.