
Run Silent! Run Deep! Sink IAEA Safeguards?
By Tariq Rauf*
VIENNA, 7 March 2023 (IDN) — Coming up to the eighteen-month 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 put up by naval nuclear propulsion to the implementation, efficacy and credibility of the Agency’s nuclear safeguards (verification) system.

One Year On: Is Peace Still Possible in Ukraine?
By Sergio Duarte
The writer is a former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and current President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
NEW YORK, 24 Feb 2023 (IDN) — The states that signed the Charter of the United Nations on June 26 1945, accepted the obligation to act in their relations with one another in accordance with the Principles set in its Article 2, which include refraining from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political Independence of any state and settling their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security are not endangered. [2023-02-24]

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

War in Ukraine and ICBMs: The Untold Story of How They Could Blow Up the World
By Norman Solomon*
SAN FRANCISCO, 22 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, media coverage of the war hasn’t included even the slightest mention of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Yet the war has boosted the chances that ICBMs will set off a global holocaust. [2023-02-22]

US Accuses China & Russia of Shielding North Korea & Endangering the World
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, 21 Feb 2023 (IDN) — The United States implicitly accused Russia and China, two permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), of protecting a belligerent Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) for its continued violations of UNSC resolutions while firing three ballistic missiles this month. [2023-02-21]

Putin's Decision to "Suspend" New START Dangerous
By J C Suresh
TORONTO | WASHINGTON, 21 Feb 2023 (IDN) — The Arms Control Association, an independent, membership-based organization, has strongly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to suspend implementation of the last remaining treaty limiting the world's two largest nuclear arsenals, the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). [2023-02-21]

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 Man Who Saved the World from a Nuclear War
By Glen Milner and Leonard Eiger
The man who saved the world from thermonuclear annihilation in 1962 was born on January 30, 1926. Ground Zero Center published this article.
POULSBO | WASHINGTON, USA (IDN) — At a time when the probability of nuclear war is as nearly as high as it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis, it is crucial that we recall the story of Vasili Arkhipov, a Soviet submarine officer who prevented a Soviet nuclear strike against U.S. surface warships during that very crisis in 1962. [2023-01-30]

As Tensions Rise, WHO Updates its Radiological & Nuclear Emergencies
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The rising nuclear threats over the Russian invasion of Ukraine—and the growing tensions in the Korean Peninsula triggered by a nuclear-armed North Korea—have prompted the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) to update its list of medicines that should be stockpiled for radiological and nuclear emergencies along with policy advice for their appropriate management. [2023-01-29]

Nuclear Weapons and Nationalism: An Incendiary Mix
By Andrew Lichterman*
OAKLAND, California (IDN) — Seventy-seven years ago, the United Nations General Assembly passed its first resolution. The subject the governments represented there thought important enough to be first on their agenda was the establishment of a commission to develop proposals for the control of atomic energy and “for the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction.” [2023-01-26]