
Nuclear Policies Violate Right to Life, Warn Civil Society Organisations
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) — While arms control and disarmament efforts have come to a halt, civil society organisations are insisting that nuclear policies contravene the right to life. “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life,” declares Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). [2022-05-21-05] FRENCH | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

ICAN Successfully Promoting the Nuclear-Weapons Ban in Africa
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) — 2017 Nobel Peace laureate, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and its partner organisations are carrying out activities across Africa to promote adherence to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and to raise awareness of the grave threat that nuclear weapons pose to all humanity. [2022-05-19-04] FRENCH | HINDI | INDONESIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

North Korea Continues to Defy UN with 17 Missile Tests in 2022
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The United Nations, faced with a defiant nuclear-armed Russia in a destructive war with Ukraine now running towards the third month, is fighting an equally unsuccessful confrontation with North Korea which is openly violating multiple Security Council resolutions as it continues launching ballistic missiles threatening neighbouring countries. [2022-05-12-03] ARABIC | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN

Ending the War of Attrition in Ukraine
Viewpoint by Jeffrey D. Sachs
This article was issued by Project Syndicate and is being republished with the author's permission.
NEW YORK (IDN) — Wars often erupt and persist because of the two sides’ miscalculations regarding their relative power. In the case of Ukraine, Russia blundered badly by underestimating the resolve of Ukrainians to fight and the effectiveness of NATO-supplied weaponry. Yet Ukraine and NATO are also overestimating their capacity to defeat Russia on the battlefield. The result is a war of attrition that each side believes it will win, but that both sides will lose. [2022-05-11]

Ukraine Proves UN Cannot Singlehandedly Usher in a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The devastating war in Ukraine—now moving towards the third month—has triggered several threats of the “nuclear option”.
The battle, which began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, is between one of the world’s major nuclear powers and a neighboring non-nuclear country. [2022-04-27-02] CHINESE | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | RUSSIAN | SPANISH

US Urged to Restore the UN-Backed 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal
By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — More than 40 former government officials and leading nuclear non-proliferation experts have expressed strong support for an agreement that returns Iran and the United States to comply with the 2015 nuclear deal. The accord between Iran and the major world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2231. [2022-04-21]

A Staggering Array of US Arms to Ukraine Pales in Comparison with Russia's Nuclear Weapons
By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK (IDN) — As the devastating war in Ukraine continues—with thousands of civilian killings and entire cities reduced to rubble—the United States has accelerated an unprecedented flow of weapons to the besieged nation.
If Ukraine loses the ongoing war, battling one of the world’s major military and nuclear powers, it is certainly not for want of weapons. [2022-04-15]

An Upside to The End of Privacy: It Might Someday Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Viewpoint by Matt Bivens, IPPNW
Dr Matt Bivens, an emergency medicine physician, is the immediate past chair of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility. This article was originally published in The Boston Globe on 7 April 2022.
BOSTON (IDN) — In Stanley Kubrick’s comedic masterpiece “Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” a series of unfortunate events has the world hurtling toward all-out nuclear war. Desperate to prevent this, the US president has the Russian ambassador brought to the White House’s top secret “War Room” for emergency consultations. [2022-04-13]

The End Of (Human) History?
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte
The writer is an Ambassador, former United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affair, and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
NEW YORK (IDN) — Roughly three decades have gone by since the publication of Francis Fukuyama’s essay “The End of History?”. The interrogation mark makes clear that the social scientist and philosopher was not announcing an end to contradiction and conflict among nations. He was mainly asking whether Western liberal democracy could be considered as the final stage of human sociocultural evolution and the final form of governance that would endure. [2022-04-08-01] GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | RUSSIAN

Tuvalu Ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
VIENNA (IDN | CTBTO) — Tuvalu has ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), bringing the total number of Treaty ratifications to 172 and underscoring the Pacific Island state’s commitment to ending all nuclear tests, everywhere. [2022-04-03]