Nuclear Abolition News and Analysis

Nuclear Iran Unlikely to Tilt Regional Power Balance – Report

Nuclear Abolition News | IPS

By JIM LOBE and JOE HITCHON

WASHINGTON (IPS) - A nuclear-armed Iran would not pose a fundamental threat to the United States and its regional allies like Israel and the Gulf Arab monarchies, according to a new report released here on May 17 by the Rand Corporation.

Entitled “Iran After the Bomb: How Would a Nuclear-Armed Tehran Behave?“, the report asserts that the acquisition by Tehran of nuclear weapons would above all be intended to deter an attack by hostile powers, presumably including Israel and the United States, rather than for aggressive purposes. [P] ARABIC

U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arsenals Cling to Bygone Era

Nuclear Abolition News | IPS

By GEORGE GAO

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - In the late 19th century, Russian playwright Anton Chekhov famously touted one golden rule for dramatic productions: if you show your audience a loaded gun in the first act, that gun must go off by the last.

But Chekhov’s storytelling trope is troubling if applied to the world’s weapons technology today, which include an estimated 17,300 nukes – used primarily by nations as props to leverage international power. [P]

Nuclear Iran Can Be Contained and Deterred: Report

Nuclear Abolition News | IPS

By JIM LOBE

WASHINGTON (IPS) - While preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is preferable, the United States could successfully contain a nuclear Iran, according to a new report released here Monday by the Center for a New American Security, an influential think tank close to the administration of President Barack Obama.

The report, “If All Else Fails: The Challenges of Containing a Nuclear-Armed Iran,” outlines a detailed “containment strategy” designed to deter Tehran’s use of a nuclear bomb or its transfer to non-state actors, and persuade other regional states not to develop their own nuclear arms capabilities. [P] ARABIC | GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

Tackling Nuclear Proliferation At Its Roots

Nuclear Abolition NewsEssay | IDN

By IAN ANTHONY AND LINA GRIP*

Making nuclear weapons requires access to materials – highly enriched uranium or plutonium – that do not exist in nature in a weapons-usable form. To constitute a threat, natural uranium needs to go through a challenging and time-consuming process of transformation as it moves through the nuclear fuel cycle.

STOCKHOLM (IDN) - The effort to cap the number of nuclear armed states in the world has largely focused on limiting the spread of the industrial items and processes needed for the stages of the fuel cycle that can turn uranium or plutonium into forms that could be used to make a nuclear weapon: enrichment or reprocessing.

UN Accused of Playing Down Nuke Disarmament Conference

Nuclear Abolition News | IPS Group of 77 countries as of 2008

By THALIF DEEN

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is one of the most vociferous advocates of a world free of nuclear weapons. “Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are not utopian ideals,” he says. “They are critical to global peace and security.” [P] ARABIC | GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

'Don't Take Arabs' NPT Membership for Granted'

Nuclear Abolition NewsViewpoint | IDN Mohamed Kadry Said | Credit: facebook.com/mohamedkadry.said

By BAHER KAMAL*

CAIRO (IDN) - Not that nuclear issues are an actual source of concern to Egyptian citizens. They are deeply worried about their present and immediate future now that inter-religious violence is on the rise, triggering a dangerous, growing insecurity amidst an overwhelming popular discontent with President Mohamed Morsi's regime. Simply put, there is too much frustration and deception here to think of nukes.

Nevertheless, it is also a fact that the governments of Arabs countries in general, and in the Gulf region in particular – following reported U.S. political pressures – have lately been expressing increasing fear of Iran's nuclear programme and therefore focusing, again, on nukes. [P] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

Youth Holds Out Hope For Banning Nukes

Nuclear Abolition NewsAnalysis | IDN

By RAMESH JAURA*

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) - If it were up to the youth, all nuclear weapons in global arsenals would be declared inhumane and a comprehensive treaty banning these would be put in place.

This is the upshot of an international survey released at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) during a milestone conference. [P] ARABIC TEXT VERSION PDF | GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | NORWEGIAN | SPANISH

74 NPT States Iissue Humanitarian Appeal For Abolition

Nuclear Abolition News | IPPNW Image: Gas masks | Credit: ICAN

By JOHN LORETZ

GENEVA (IPPNW) - The number of countries demanding the elimination of nuclear weapons as a humanitarian imperative grew to 74 today, when South Africa read a joint statement on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons on behalf of that many delegations to the 2013 Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee in Geneva.

Nukes Indefensible on Humanitarian Grounds

Nuclear Abolition NewsViewpoint | IDN

By HIROTSUGU TERASAKI*

TOKYO (IDN) - It is a cause of grave concern that there are an increasing number of regions under tension and exposed to the threat of nuclear weapons; namely, the Middle East, South Asia and Northeast Asia. Today, there are more countries that seem to be adhering to the doctrine of nuclear deterrence and/or extended deterrence than during the Cold War era.

This reminds me of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s warning to the world, “Unfortunately, the doctrine of nuclear deterrence has proven to be contagious. This has made non-proliferation more difficult, which in turn raises new risks that nuclear weapons will be used.” It is critical that all of us share an awareness that humanity is standing at an important tipping point today.

Civil Society Raises Pressure Over NPT

Nuclear Abolition News | IPS Image credit: ICAN

By RAVI KANTH DEVARAKONDA

GENEVA (IPS) - As parties to the treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) begin their second preparatory conference in Geneva on Monday, representatives of civil society and several countries have decided to bring the festering nuclear issue and its potential humanitarian consequences to the centre stage. [P] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE | SPANISH

From Non-Proliferation to a Total Ban on Nukes

Photo: Tim Wright | Credit: Pressenza - Jana Jedličková. Nuclear Abolition NewsViewpoint | IDN

By TIM WRIGHT*

MELBOURNE (IDN) - At the beginning of March, the Norwegian government hosted a landmark conference in Oslo on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and the inability of relief agencies to respond effectively in the event of a nuclear attack. More than 120 governments, the Red Cross and several UN agencies participated. Their message came through loud and clear: the only way to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again is to outlaw and eliminate them without further delay. [P] GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

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