ARMAMENTS

Possible Deployment of North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: "Automatically and Immediately"

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

BONN (IDN) — In the shadow of the Ukraine war and the extraordinary media attention, the conflict over North Korea's nuclear ambitions is currently receding into the background. For years, the government in Pyongyang has been continuously advancing its program. After numerous missile tests earlier this year, according to the English-language state news agency KCNA, the Supreme People's Assembly passed a law on September 8, "On Policy of the Nuclear Force of DPRK".

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 27 September 2022

Photo: SGI Director General for Peace and Global Issues Hirotsugu Terasaki (left) opening the exhibition. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | INPS-IDN Multimedia Director.

Exhibition Educates Youth on Dangers of Nuclear Weapons

By Kalinga Seneviratne

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (IDN) — An exhibition that opened at Keruen Mall, an upmarket shopping centre here on September 16 and continues until the end of the month, uses a novel method to reach out to young people with the message of the dangers of nuclear weapons.

The exhibition depicts over 70 years of nuclear history from the Hiroshima explosion through to today, using photographs, illustrations, and graphs that show the devastating effects of nuclear weaponry on communities.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 September 2022

Photo: Thousands of demonstrators join Fridays for Future’s global day of action to stand with Ukraine by walking down Willy-Brandt-Strasse, a main thoroughfare in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo: Daniel Reinhardt/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Ukraine War: Still a Cuban Missile Crisis in Slow Motion

Viewpoint by Joseph Gerson

This article was first published by CommonDreams.org

NEW YORK (IDN) — During the first days of the Ukraine war, former Senator Sam Nunn warned that the Ukraine War was a Cuban Missile Crisis in slow motion. That warning was recently reiterated by senior analysts in Moscow during an off-the-record conversation.

The war is about Ukraine and much more: power, privileges, the security disorder in Europe; the future of Putin’s rule; and Biden/Blinken efforts to reinforce U.S. hegemony in the face of pressures for a bipolar or multi-polar world disorder.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 September 2022

Photo: Biological weapons. Source: Australian Institute of International Affairs

US Warns Russia Against Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons in Ukraine

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The retreat of Russian troops from occupied territory in Ukraine has led to widespread speculation that Moscow may use non-conventional weapons, primarily biological and chemical weapons, to beat back the Ukrainians.

In a prime-time interview on US television on September 19, US President Joe Biden said the US response to any use of “non-conventional weapons” by Russia “would be significant” but did not provide any details of possible retaliation.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 21 September 2022

Image: (Left) US Navy Virginia-class SSN, courtesy of General Dynamics Electric Boat Public Affairs, Creative Commons Licence 040730-N-1234E-002); Right: Royal Navy Astute-class SSN, courtesy Royal Navy MoD.

IAEA Safeguards: The Continuing Challenge of Nuclear Submarines

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf*

VIENNA (IDN) — Coming up to the one-year mark following the announcement of the AUKUS agreement on the supply of nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to struggle to deal with the challenge to the efficacy and credibility of the Agency’s nuclear safeguards (verification) system created by AUKUS.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 13 September 2022

Photo: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov attend the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Sept. 8, 2022. Credit: Chad J. McNeeley, DOD.

Momentum Builds for Ukraine Defense Contact Group

By Jim Garamone , DOD News

This article was issued by U.S. Department of Defense.

RAMSTEIN, Germany (IDN) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said nations of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group are even "more united and resolved to keep up our support for Ukraine's right to defend itself."

The secretary and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed the media at the conclusion of the contact group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on September 8.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 08 September 2022

Gorbachev Changed the World

Viewpoint by Ramesh Thakur

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

CANBERRA, Australia (IDN) — Most people have modest aspirations of being able to feed, house, clothe and educate their families, assist their children to climb one rung higher on the social ladder and spend their autumn years in comfortable retirement. Some aim a little higher and strive to make a mark in a chosen field of human activity. There are very few of whom it can be said: they changed the world.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 September 2022

Photo: Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen (left) presiding over the four-week long NPT Review Conference which concluded August 26. Source: ACA-Arms Control Association.

UN Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Declared a Failure

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The alarm bells have been ringing right across Europe as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not only triggered nuclear threats by one of the world's major nuclear powers but also set off emergency drills outside a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia which has come under fire.

Against this distressing backdrop, a four-week Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) concluded on August 26 on a note of abject disappointment.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 30 August 2022

Image: Tenth NPT Review Conference. Credit: GEDES

A Four-Week Festival of Double Standards

Hypocrisy & Outright Lying by Nuclear-armed States

By Jackie Cabasso

The writer is Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, who participated in the Tenth NPT Review Conference, which concluded on August 26.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The 10th NPT Review Conference didn't fail because it couldn't produce a final document. It failed because the nuclear-armed states haven't made good on their fundamental nuclear disarmament obligation under Article VI of the Treaty, undertaken 52 years ago, nor on the promises and commitments to action items that would lead to nuclear disarmament they agreed to in connection with the indefinite extension of the Treaty in 1995 and in the 2000 and 2010 final documents.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 28 August 2022

US Remains Restrained Over North Korea's Missile Tests & Nuclear Threats

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The US response to North Korea's continued missile tests—and occasional nuclear threats—has been surprisingly restrained.

The reaction has been summed up in two words: dialogue and diplomacy.

On August 17, North Korea fired two cruise missiles toward the sea off its west coast. And, according to a report on Cable News Network (CNN), military officials from South Korea and the US have been analyzing the launch for "further details”.