Military Confrontation with Russia in Kaliningrad Is Dangerous

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

Photo: Local residents in Kaliningrad at "Immortal regiment", carrying portraits of their ancestors who fought in World War II, on Victory Day in Kaliningrad, 9 May 2017. CC BY-SA 4.0

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – “What idiocy”, exclaims Jack Matlock on Facebook. Matlock is one of my “Facebook Friends” because I judge his knowledge of Russia as second to none, having been under President Ronald Reagan the White House’s senior advisor on the Soviet Union and, later, his ambassador to Moscow. [2019-09-24]

Nuclear Free World Concerns Everyone – Learning from Karipbek Kuyukov

By Ilya Kursenko *

Photo: Karipbek Kuyukov is an artist and nuclear non-proliferation activist born without arms as a result of his parents exposure to radiation from nuclear weapons testing. He has devoted his life and art to making sure that no one else suffers the devastating effects of nuclear weapons testing. Credit: CTBTO.

MOSCOW (IDN) – Nuclear weapons do not seem to cause as much concern to people today as these did to our parents who grew up during the Cold War with the awareness of the fragility of peace. But when one understands what arms race implies or meets those who have been its victims, one realises that the horrors of the previous century should not be perpetrated in the age we are living. [2019-09-15] JAPANESE 

Concerns About Military Build-up in Iceland

By Lowana Veal

Photo: Protest in Reykjavik organised by peace, LGBTQ and women’s groups during U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence on September 4, 2019. Credit: Lowana Veal | IDN-INPS.

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – It was widely believed that the U.S. military left Iceland in 2006 when they abandoned the base adjoining Iceland’s international airport at Keflavik on the southwest tip of the island.

But recent developments, in particular the visit of U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence to Iceland in early September and perhaps a previous visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February 2019, reveal other motives. [2019-09-14 |16] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SWEDISH

Special UN Meeting Calls for Entry into Force of Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

By J Nastranis

Photo: CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo addressing UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on 9 September 2019 to commemorate and promote the International Day against Nuclear Tests (29 August). Credit: CTBTO

NEW YORK (IDN) – Ten years ago, on December 2, 2009, the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared August 29 the International Day against Nuclear Tests by unanimously adopting resolution 64/35. The resolution was initiated by the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with a large number of sponsors and cosponsors with a view to commemorating the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site on August 29, 1991. [2019-09-13 | 15] ARABIC | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

Russian Weapons Accident Raises Nuclear Concerns

By Greg Webb

Photo: Officials examine a radionuclide detector stationed on the roof of the Vienna International Centre, home of CTBTO headquarters. Russia has deployed seven such detectors on its territory as part of the CTBTO's monitoring system, but some stopped transmitting information after a Russian weapons accident on August 8. Credit: CTBTO

The writer is editor of Arms Control Today, the Arms Control Association’s flagship publication.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – An accidental explosion on Russia’s White Sea coast has triggered questions about the Kremlin’s strategic weapons development efforts and concerns that Russia may have shut down sensors to deny information to international observers. [2019-09-13]

Continuing Upsurge in Costs of U.S. Nuclear Warheads

Viewpoint by Kingston Reif

Photo credit: U.S: National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

The writer is the Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Association. This article was first published in Arms Control Today (ACT).

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – The estimated cost of sustaining U.S. nuclear warheads and their supporting infrastructure continues to rise, according to the Energy Department’s latest annual report on the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan. [2019-09-09]

UN Denies Endorsement of India in Nuclear Suppliers Group

By Shanta Roy

Image credit: Defence Squad | YouTube

NEW YORK (IDN) – India, Pakistan and Israel, three countries armed with nuclear weapons, are not recognized as nuclear weapon states by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – a “privilege” bestowed only on the world’s five major nuclear powers: the U.S., UK, Russia, France and China, which are also members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) [2019-09-05 | 14] GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

It Is Time to Close and Lock the Door on Nuclear Testing

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball *

Photo: Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test in eastern Kazakhstan near the secret town of Semipalatinsk on August 29, 1949. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | INPS-IDN August 2019

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – Everybody knows that nuclear weapons have been used twice in wartime and with terrible consequences. Often overlooked, however, is the large-scale, postwar use of nuclear weapons: At least eight countries have conducted 2,056 nuclear test explosions, most of which were far larger than the bombs that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States alone has detonated more than 1,030 nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, underwater, and underground. [2019-09-02]

Kazakhstan Honours Advocates of a Nuclear-Free World

By Ramesh Jaura with reports from Katsuhiro Asagiri

Photo (left to right): Ms Zerbo, her husband Nazarbayev Prize laureate CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo, Kazakh President Tokayev, First President Nazarbayev, Ms Yukika Amano, widow of late IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, Nazarbayev Prize laureate and his brother Mari Amano. Credit: akorda.kz.

BERLIN | NUR-SULTAN (IDN) – Kazakhstan, widely acknowledged as a leader in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, has availed of this year’s International Day against Nuclear Tests to honour two eminent advocates of a world free of nuclear weapons. The Central Asian republic was one-time holder of the world's fourth nuclear arsenal as a part of the Soviet Union, defunct since 1991, [2019-08-31 | 13] | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

Kazakh Capital Hosts Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Delegates

By Ramesh Jaura

Photo (L-R): The ATOM Project Honorary Ambassador Karipbek Kuyukov, Kazakh Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerzhan Ashikbayev and UNODA Deputy High Representative Thomas Markram. Photo credit: inform.kz.

BERLIN | NUR-SULTAN (IDN) – Representatives of five Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs) and Mongolia have been exploring ways of inter-zonal cooperation and further coordination at a seminar in the Kazakh capital, co-organized by the Government of Kazakhstan and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). [2019-08-31]