India Can Be Nuclear Suppliers' Credible Partner
Nuclear Abolition NewsViewpoint | IDSA
By RAJIV NAYAN*
NEW DELHI - Some of the Nuclear Suppliers Group members are expressing unnecessary apprehensions regarding India’s membership. Unlike China, India has a track record of complying with obligations of any treaty or agreement it signs.
U.S.-Russia Rift Could Impact Upcoming Nuke Talks
Nuclear Abolition News | IPS 
By THALIF DEEN
- The growing political rift between the United States and Russia triggered by the granting of temporary asylum to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is now holed up in Moscow, is threatening to further undermine relations between the two superpowers at the United Nations. [P] ARABIC | BAHASA | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE | SPANISH
Ex-Envoy’s Account Clarifies Iran’s 2003 Nuclear Decision
Nuclear Abolition News | IPS
By GARETH PORTER
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Newly published recollections by the former French ambassador to Iran suggest that Iran was not running a covert nuclear weapons programme that it then decided to halt in late 2003, as concluded by U.S. intelligence in 2007. [P] ARABIC | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF
North Korea and a Nuclear Weapons Ban
Nuclear Abolition NewsEssay | IDN
By FREDERICK N. MATTIS*
ANNAPOLIS, USA (IDN) - To abolish nuclear weapons, North Korea and all states would have to join the ban before its entry into force, for three reasons. First, the nuclear ban (or abolition) treaty, often called a Nuclear Weapons Convention, would not create true abolition unless all states are parties to it. Second, current nuclear powers in all likelihood would not join unless the ban when enacted is truly global. (There already exists the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has been joined by all but nine states as “non-nuclear weapon” parties.) Third, unanimity of accession by states would give the ban unprecedented geopolitical force for ongoing compliance by states - desirable in itself, and a crucial incentive for today’s nuclear weapon possessors to actually renounce their arsenals.
Israel Resumes Threats Against Iran as Experts Urge Patience
Nuclear Abolition News | IPS
By JIM LOBE
- As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resumed his threats to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, 29 former senior U.S. experts and foreign diplomats urged President Barack Obama to show greater flexibility in anticipated negotiations following the inauguration of President-elect Hassan Rouhani.
“While it will take time to secure an agreement to resolve all concerns, diplomacy will only succeed if we are prepared to leverage existing sanctions and other incentives in exchange for reciprocal Iranian concessions,” according to the letter.
It was signed by, among others, former U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs Thomas Pickering and Bruno Pelleau, the former deputy director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). [P] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF
Obama Magic is Gone – Caution Outweighs Zeal
Nuclear Abolition News | IDN
By RAMESH JAURA*
BERLIN (IDN) - President Barack Obama’s commitment four years ago “to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” reverberated across the globe generating hope that humankind will not be annihilated by a sheer flash of light. On June 19 in Berlin he sought to build on the iconic Prague speech. But there was no magic filling the air. [P] JAPANESE TEXT PDF
Nuclear Deterrence Works in Indo-Pak Ties
Nuclear Abolition News | IDN
By A. VINOD KUMAR*
NEW DELHI (IDN | IDSA) - For over two decades, a dominant section of western analysts harped on the volatilities of the India and Pakistan nuclear dyad, often overselling the ‘South Asia as a nuclear flashpoint’ axiom, and portending a potential nuclear flare-up in every major stand-off between the two countries. The turbulence in the sub-continent propelled such presages, with one crisis after another billowing towards serious confrontations, but eventually easing out on all occasions.
U.N. Downplays Health Effects of Nuclear Radiation
Nuclear Abolition News | IPS
By GEORGE GAO
- The United Nations has come under criticism from medical experts and members of civil society for what these critics consider inaccurate statements about the effects of lingering radioactivity on local populations.
Scientists and doctors met with top U.N. officials last week to discuss the effects of radioactivity in Japan and Ukraine, and the U.N. has enlisted several of its agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), to address the matter. [P] BAHASA | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF
Tangible Actions Needed Now For Nuke Abolition
Nuclear Abolition NewsViewpoint
By HIROTSUGU TERASAKI*
TOKYO - President Obama’s speech in Berlin on June 19 is a welcome reaffirmation of his commitment to achieving a world free from nuclear weapons. The readiness he expresses to pursue further reductions in the US and Russian nuclear arsenals represents a concrete step toward this goal.
Obama Renews Push For Nuclear Arms Control
Nuclear Abolition News | IPS
- Reactions have been mixed to President Barack Obama’s call for greater nuclear arms reductions in the United States and Russia, made during his speech in Berlin on June 19, 2013.
“We may no longer live in fear of global annihilation, but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe,” Obama stated. “We may strike blows against terrorist networks, but if we ignore the instability and intolerance that fuels extremism, our own freedom will eventually be endangered.” [P] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF
