UN Presses for Entry into Force of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

By J Nastranis

Photo: Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi and CTBTO Executive Secretary Dr. Robert Floyd during his visit to Astana, Kazakhstan.

NEW YORK (IDN) — As the race for modernisation of cyber and nuclear technologies gains momentum, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) "the centrepiece of global efforts to eliminate nuclear tests once and for all". A statement delivered on his behalf by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu said this Treaty has the power to protect future generations from the human suffering and environmental catastrophe produced by nuclear tests. [2021-09-09 | 14] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN | SPANISH

A New Online Youth Platform Promotes Nuclear Disarmament

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — Worldwide youth are standing up for peace and nuclear disarmament and taking a wide range of innovative actions. The Youth Working Group of Abolition 2000 global network to eliminate nuclear weapons builds cooperation amongst these youth actions, brings youth voices into key UN and other disarmament processes. The group has launched a new online platform and youth action plan for a nuclear-weapons-free world: Youth Fusion. [2021-09-05 | 13] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | NORWEGIAN | THAI

The Role of Citizen and Science Diplomacy Interactions in Nuclear Disarmament

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The year 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Semey test site, the 76th anniversary of the United Nations, Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, of the first atomic testing Trinity, 51 years of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), 25 years of the The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) which is not entered into force, collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and extension of New START Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) until February 2026. [2021-08-18 |12] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE | RUSSIAN

Japan Should Take the Initiative in Proposing New Security Alternatives to Nuclear Deterrence

Interview with Mr. Tetsuo Saito, Vice Representative, Komei Party

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) — Hiroshima and Nagasaki mark the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on August 6 and 9 for the first time since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) came into force on January 22. The survivors of atomic-bomb (Hibakusha) and various civic groups made active contributions to this historic achievement. [2021-08-06 |11] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN | MALAY

The Study of History Can Avert a New Cold War

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Does America know what a dangerous game its leaders have been playing? Does it know its history? And do the leaders of Europe, who should be a brake on American determination, go along with Washington because they are almost equally ignorant? The fact is none of the present crop of European and American leaders have had time to study much history. [2021-07-27]

Nuclear Games for the Young Coincides with Tokyo Olympics

By Thalif Deen*

NEW YORK (IDN) — The widely-televised Tokyo Olympics, which was inaugurated in the Japanese capital on July 23, wasn’t the only game in town.

Coinciding with the opening ceremony, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), anti-nuclear activists and youth leaders launched “Nuclear Games,” an innovative film and online platform addressing nuclear history and the risks and impacts of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. [2021-07-25 |10] ARABIC | GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

From Crossroads to Godzilla: The Cinematic Legacies of The First Postwar Nuclear Tests

Viewpoint by Timothy Noël Peacock

Photo: The "Baker" explosion, part of Operation Crossroads, a nuclear weapon test by the United States military at Bikini Atoll, Micronesia, on 25 July 1946. Credit: United States Department of Defense (either the U.S. Army or the U.S. Navy), Library of Congress.

Dr Timothy Noël Peacock FRHistS is a Lecturer in History at the University of Glasgow, founder/co-director of the Arts interdisciplinary Games and Gaming Research Lab (GGLab), and a Visiting Fellow at the British Library Eccles Centre. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. [2021-07-24]

UN Determined to Counter Cyber Crime and Ensure Peace and Security

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — As digital advances continue to revolutionize human life, the United Nations has called for remaining "vigilant" about malicious technologies that "could imperil the security of future generations". Currently, there are over 4.6 billion internet users around the world. [2021-07-19 | 09] CHINESE | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

US Should Commit to A No-First-Use Nuclear Policy

Viewpoint by Van Jackson*

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (IDN) — It was one of the most potent lessons of the Cold War—nukes are good for deterring others from using nukes, but not much else. Weapons capable only of spasmodic mass violence are too crude as a credible tool of coercion in most circumstances. [2021-07-10 | 08] HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | THAI

Sixteen States Urge the Nuclear-Weapon States to Take Decisive Steps Towards Disarmament

By Aar Jay Persius

BERLIN (IDN) — "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought." On June 16, at their meeting in Geneva, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin re-affirmed this fundamental truth, famously coined by their predecessors, Reagan and Gorbachev, at the last peak of the cold war, write the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Germany (Heiko Maas), Spain (Arancha González Laya) and Sweden (Ann Linde) in an article published in the German newspaper Rheinische Post on July 5. [2021-07-09 | 07] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SPANISH | SWEDISH