Okinawa Governor Refuses to Host Prohibited U.S. Nuclear Missiles

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Governor Denny Tamaki of Okinawa district has rejected the U.S. plans to base on the island missiles capable of threatening China – apparently as part of President Donald Trump’s move to challenge Beijing and upgrade the importance of Taiwan, 500 kilometres away from the island. If a plan for Okinawa to host such missiles were to develop, Tamaki said: “I can easily imagine fierce opposition from Okinawa residents.” [2020–06-27 | 08] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | RUSSIAN

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Combating the Threat of Nuclear Weapons Needs ‘Responsible’ Media

 Viewpoint by Dr J. Enkhsaikhan

The writer is former Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the United Nations, and Chairman of Blue Banner NGO. 

ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – The first half of 2020 has demonstrated once again that the world has indeed become closely interconnected and that cooperation of states and other stakeholders is imperative to deal with the current three existential threats that know no borders: the existence of weapons of mass destruction, the climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. [2020–06-26 | 07] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | NORWEGIAN

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Let Them Eat Weapons: Trump’s Bizarre Arms Race

Viewpoint by Lawrence Wittner, IPPNW *

Image: A common hypersonic glide body launched from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, on March 19, 2020, during a flight experiment. (Courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

NEW YORK (IDN) – In late May of this year, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for arms control bragged before a Washington think tank that the US government was prepared to outspend Russia and China to win a new nuclear arms race.  “The president has made clear that we have a tried and true practice here,” he remarked.  “We know how to win these races and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion.”  [2020–06-18]

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Time to Act on Dr King’s Call to Tackle Evils of Racism, Economic Exploitation, and War

Viewpoint by Alice Slater

Photo: Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking against the Vietnam War, St. Paul Campus, the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, April 27, 1967. CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.

The writer serves on the Board of ‘World Beyond War’, and represents the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation at the United Nations.

NEW YORK (IDN) –The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) just issued its 2020 Yearbook, reporting on developments in armaments, disarmament, and international security. In light of the drumbeat of frightening news about growing hostility between the dominant nuclear-armed states vying for power, SIPRI describes a bleak outlook for arms control. [2020–06-15 | 06] HINDI |  ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SPANISH

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How Covid-19 Is Impacting Multilateral Disarmament and Arms Control

By Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) High Representative

Image credit: UNODA

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since my previous update on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the work of disarmament, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs has continued working to fulfil its mandates while supporting the Member States as they respond to the rapidly evolving global health emergency. [2020–06-06]

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The Future of Arms Control Hangs in the Balance After US Quits Open Skies Treaty

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

Photo: A USAF Boeing OC-135B Open Skies. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

MOSCOW (IDN) – President Donald Trump’s surprise decision to withdraw from the 1992 Open Skies Treaty has posed unprecedented challenges, generated extensive debates among Russian politicians and experts. Equally worried are leaders in Europe and Asia.

Trump administration notified international partners on May 21 that the US was pulling out of a treaty that permits 30 plus nations to conduct unarmed, observation flights over each other’s territory. [2020–05-31]

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Eminent Persons Warn Against Any Demonstration Nuclear Test Explosion

By Reinhard Jacobsen

Image: More than 300 International Monitoring System (IMS) facilities certified out of the 337 the CTBTO has planned are already in operation. Credit: CTBTO.

VIENNA (IDN) – Members of the CTBTO Group of Eminent Persons (GEM) have expressed “deep concern about credible press reports” that senior U.S. officials have discussed the possibility of conducting “a demonstration nuclear test explosion”. [2020–05-30 | 05] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE | SPANISH

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Multilateralism, The Covid-19 Pandemic and The NPT Review Conference

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

Ambassador, former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

Collage: Images from Internet of multilateralism, coronavirus and nuclear testing.

NEW YORK (IDN) – On April 24, the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was observed at the United Nations. At the occasion, Secretary-general António Guterres called for a “networked multilateralism, strengthening coordination among all global multilateral organizations” with the regional multilateral organizations making their vital contributions. His advice is both warranted and timely. [2020–05-28]

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‘Abolition 2000’ Warns Against Resumption of Nuclear Testing

By Radwan Jakeem

Photo: Nuclear test carried out on 18 April 1953 at the Nevada test site. Source: UN News.

NEW YORK (IDN) – “Resumption of nuclear explosive testing is absolutely unacceptable. Even discussing nuclear testing again is dangerously destabilizing,” the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons has warned. Such testing would, in any case, be in contravention of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBTO), signed by the United States, yet pending entry-into-force, the Abolition 2000 adds in a statement emerging from its annual general meeting (AGM). [2020–05-25]

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NPT’s 50th Anniversary Encourages 17 Signatories To Remind Five Nuclear-Weapons States of Their Commitments

By UN Bureau

Photo: Every five years since it entered into force in 1970, the states parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) have held a conference to review its operation and to come to agreement on detailed language assessing the treaty’s various provisions. Credit: Dean Calma CC: BY-SA

NEW YORK (IDN) – The upcoming 2020 Review Conference of a landmark international treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, presents “a timely opportunity for the States Parties to undertake a comprehensive review and assessment” of its current status, says the Joint Communiqué issued on May 19 by 17 States Party to the NPT. [2020–05-24]

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• 2. Mayors for Peace Say the Danger of Nuclear War Is Real and Growing
• 3. Middle East Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone, Long Elusive, is Making Progress, say Experts
• 4. Die Eliminierung von Interkontinentalraketen würde die Chancen eines globalen nuklearen Holocaust erheblich verringern
• 5. Elimination of ICBMs Would Greatly Reduce the Chances of a Global Nuclear Holocaust