A Tripartite Deal That Could Trigger Proliferation of Nuclear Submarines
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) —The tripartite deal between the UK and the US to provide nuclear submarines (SSNs) to Australia—announced March 13—is threatening to have repercussions worldwide
A joint statement by the three countries (AUKUS) described it as a trilaterally-developed submarine based on the UK’s next-generation design that incorporates technology from all three nations, including cutting-edge U.S. submarine technologies. [2023-03-22-33] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN | THAI
European Parliamentarians Call for Advancing Nuclear Disarmament
By Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN) — European parliamentarians have emphasized the need for taking "concrete steps" towards nuclear disarmament so that it becomes "a priority for the year 2023". This, they said, should be "complementary to stigmatising nuclear weapons and strengthening disarmament treaties such as the TPNW", the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons., which entered into force on 22 January 2021. [2023-03-12-32] ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SWEDISH
Towards Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Global Nuclear Disarmament?
By Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY, 23 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Australia and Indonesia have committed to strengthening the global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime and cooperating in building practical nuclear safeguard capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, even as concerns remain over Australia's push to acquire the nuclear-powered submarines.
An enhanced trilateral security pact, AUKUS, between Australia, the UK and the US signed in September 2021 will enable Australia to become the first non-nuclear country to have nuclear-powered submarines. [2023-02-23-31] INDONESIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF
The NPT Review Cycle in Wartime
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte
The writer is Ambassador and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
“Recalling that States must refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State and that the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security are to be promoted with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources..” (From the Preamble of the NPT) [2023-02-08-30] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | NORWEGIAN
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.) [2023-01-15-29] CHINESE | HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SWEDISH
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. In 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. [2023-01-12-28] ARABIC | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN | RUSSIAN
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. [2023-01-04-27] FRENCH | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SPANISH
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. [2023-01-04-26] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | INDONESIAN
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. [2022-12-30-25] ARABIC | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | TURKISH
The Dismal State of Nuclear Disarmament
Viewpoint by Jacqueline Cabasso
The writer is the Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation.
OAKLAND, California (IDN) — The year 2022 has been a nightmare for nuclear disarmament. The year started out with a mildly reassuring Joint Statement by the five original nuclear-armed states, issued on January 3, 2022, declaring: “The People’s Republic of China, the French Republic, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America consider the avoidance of war between Nuclear-Weapon States and the reduction of strategic risks as our foremost responsibilities. We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” [2022-12-25-24] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | THAI
