USA and Canada

Photo: The U.S. Defense Department conducted a flight test of a conventionally configured ground-launched cruise missile at San Nicolas Island, California on August 18, 2019. Credit: Scott Howe | DVIDS – The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

Nuclear Arms Race Is Here

By Jessica Corbett *

MAINE, USA (IDN) – Nuclear experts and disarmament advocates are warning that the world is witnessing a new arms race after the Pentagon tested a new missile August 18 that would have violated a Cold War-era treaty the Trump administration ditched earlier this month.

After years of the U.S. government—under both the Obama and Trump administrations—and NATO accusing Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed in 1987 by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington formally withdrew from the deal, which banned ground-launched nuclear and conventional ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,000 kilometers, or about 310 to 3,400 miles.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 August 2019

The Unique Sights & Sounds of Sri Lanka Come Alive in America

By Nandasiri (Nandi) Jasentuliyana

The writer is Former Deputy Director General, United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Director, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and President Emeritus, International Institute of Space Law & Policy.

NEW YORK (IDN) – When the annual Sri Lanka Day was celebrated in the historic city of Pasadena, Sri Lanka took its rightful place among the ethnic festivals held in America. The featured event of the day was the 'Pageant of Lanka', a miniature Kandy Perahera. It took the breath away of the onlookers who filed along the historic route of the annual New Year's Day Rose Parade, the most prestigious parade in America.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 15 August 2019

Photo: Two aerial photos of atomic bomb mushroom clouds, over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 (left) and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 (right). Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Hiroshima Unlearned: Time to Tell the Truth About US-Russia Relations and Finally Ban the Bomb

Viewpoint by Alice Slater

Author and nuclear disarmament advocate, Alice Slater is a member of the Board of World Beyond War, UN NGO Representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and a longtime member of CODEPINK.

NEW YORK (IDN) – August 6 and 9 mark 74 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where only one nuclear bomb dropped on each city caused the deaths of up to 146,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 people in Nagasaki. Today, with the U.S. decision to walk away from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) negotiated with the Soviet Union, we are once again staring into the abyss of one of the most perilous nuclear challenges since the height of the Cold War.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 05 August 2019

Photo: Chinese enthusiastically celebrate country’s successful test launch of a nuclear missile (1966). Source: UCS

China Holds Firm on No First Use of Nuclear Weapons, Misses U.S. Assurances

Viewpoint by Gregory Kulacki

The writer researches the cross-cultural aspects of nuclear arms control negotiations between the United States, China and Japan. He is China project manager and senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The following was first published at UCS's blog on July 24, 2019.

CLAREMONT, CA, USA (IDN | UCS) – Ever since I took this job 17 years ago U.S. colleagues of all political and intellectual persuasions have been telling me that sooner or later China would alter, adjust, amend or qualify the policy that China will never, under any circumstances, use nuclear weapons first.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 03 August 2019

Photo: Accompanied by their NATO counterparts, the then Soviet inspectors enter a weapons storage area to verify NATO compliance with the INF Treaty. Created on 16 August 1989. Source: Wikimedia Commons

INF Treaty’s Demise Opens Door to a Dangerous Arms Race

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball

The writer is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. The following is the text of his statement issued on August 2.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – The loss of the landmark INF Treaty, which helped end the Cold War nuclear arms race, is a blow to international peace and security. Russian noncompliance with the INF Treaty is unacceptable and merits a strong response. But President Trump’s decision to terminate the treaty will not eliminate Russia’s noncompliant 9M729 missiles — and is a mistake.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 02 August 2019

The then Soviet inspectors and their American counterparts scrutinize Pershing II missiles in 1989. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Growing Concern about US-Russian Disarmament Treaties

By Jamshed Baruah

NEW YORK (IDN) – In his agenda for disarmament, Securing Our Common Future, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres calls for reinvigorated dialogue, serious negotiations and a return to a common vision leading towards nuclear disarmament.

Next year, over 190 States Parties will gather in New York for the 2020 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and mark 50 years of this cornerstone of nuclear disarmament. According to experts, there are significant challenges to be overcome if this conference is to be successful – in spite of unceasingly deteriorating international security climate which does not bode well.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 31 July 2019

Photo: Alligator Near Water Plant on Body of Water. Credit: Rene Ferrer, Pexels

Everglades in Florida See Hope for Renewal Through Ecotourism

By J W Jackie

RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) – A massive ecosystem of lakes, rivers and marshes known as the Everglades dominates the southern portion of Florida. The aqueous territory once spanned a great length down the state, but extensive damage to the environment has reduced the wetland’s size in half.

As young environmentalists around the world are coordinating efforts to restore neglected natural environments, the Everglades is a site primed for the support and efforts of ecotourists.

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 25 July 2019

Photo: The UN Security Council unanimously adopted on 20 July 2015 a resolution establishing a monitoring system for Iran’s nuclear programme and considering the “eventual removal” of all nuclear-related sanctions against the country. President Trump told the White House press corps on May 11, 2018 that the Deal was defective at Its core. A new one would require real commitments. Credit: UN Photo.

Iran at the Edge of a Cliff as the Bomb Question Hangs Fire

Trump Scrapped Security Council Endorsed Nuclear Deal

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – There’s never been a full-scale war between two nuclear-armed states. If Iran one day did cross the nuclear threshold the same deterrence will apply. No one rational would want to provoke their own incineration. Columbia university professor, Kenneth Waltz, the distinguished theorist on the conduct of war, wrote in Foreign Affairs that with Israel possessing over 200 nuclear weapons (which the U.S. refuses to publicly admit) Iran having a bomb would bring stability.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 23 July 2019

Photo credit: sustainabledevelopment.un.org

Significant Work Awaits US Cities to Achieve SDGs

By Caroline Mwanga with SDSN News

NEW YORK (IDN) – The 2019 US Cities Sustainable Development Report by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s United States Network (SDSN USA) finds that there will be significant work to do across the board if the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 (SDGs) are to be achieved by 2030. This is the SDSN’s third city-level report ranking 105 US cities on progress towards realizing SDGs.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 09 July 2019

Photo: President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on 30 June 2019, as the two leaders meet at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

What After the Trump-Kim Meeting at the Demilitarized Zone?

Viewpoint by Kelsey Davenport

The author is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. This article is being reproduced from the Association’s Website.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN| INPS) – U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un met at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea June 30 and agreed to restart negotiations on denuclearization and peacebuilding in the region. Trump was in South Korea for talks with President Moon Jae-in and had planned to visit the DMZ, but his invitation to Kim to meet at the border was publicly announced in a last-minute tweet June 28.