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Disarmament: The forgotten issue

The world should seek inspiration from past successes and aim to for global disarmament by 2020. It can be done, says Dan Plesch. From openDemocracy.

By Dan Plesch for openDemocracy (20/12/07)

"Peace on Earth" is a seasonal wish at this time of year. It also one of the themes in Stanley Kubrick's excoriating satire of militaristic madness, Dr Strangelove. But whether the message is taken sincerely or cynically, it is no fantasy. For peace on earth - in the form of world disarmament - is practical by 2020. This article suggests how.

Disarmament has virtually disappeared from the political agenda. In the west it has become the word that dare not speak its name. In particular, the media and establishment politics in the United States and the Britain ignore it. Yet disarmament is arguably as important to sustainable human survival as global warming or world poverty - in some ways even more so.

The urgency of the problem of armaments is clear in almost every news bulletin: massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the fear of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists, Star Wars deployments in Poland and Britain (and Vladimir Putin's warnings of their risks), the destruction caused by cluster-bombs and small arms - these are only a few of countless examples.

Between them, the United States and Russia possess 5,000 missiles that really are ready to fire in "45 minutes." Such a scale of threat would in any other period have placed disarmament at the centre of international politics - as it was since the end of the "great war" in 1918 until the mid-1990s. US presidents from John F Kennedy to Ronald Reagan were judged in large part on their achievements in the field of arms control and disarmament.

In the last decade, however, the marginalization of disarmament has been led by the same ultra-conservative forces in the US that propelled George W Bush into the presidency.

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The Right Way to End India's 'Nuclear Apartheid'

Embassy, December 19th, 2007

OP-ED

Canada's exemplary record as a steadfast advocate of global nuclear disarmament faces a moment of truth.

A new deal to re-open global nuclear co-operation with India is nearing completion. Following the landmark framing agreement between the United States and India in July 2005, the world has watched as those two countries slowly fleshed out the details: in exchange for regaining access to global nuclear fuel and technology, India would separate its military and civilian nuclear programs and place the latter under international safeguards through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Canada will soon be called upon to formally support exempting India from Nuclear Suppliers Group restrictions on nuclear trade with countries lacking "full-scope" IAEA safeguards on all their nuclear facilities.

Recently, nationalistic opposition by India's left-wing parties has obstructed its government from completing its part of the deal. But those parties have now allowed the government to commence negotiations with the IAEA on a formal agreement to monitor India's civilian nuclear sector. When that agreement is finalized, the matter will then go to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a non-treaty body operating on consensus to co-ordinate controls over global trade in nuclear materials. If the NSG grants an exemption for India, one last U.S. Congressional vote would finalize the deal–and open the doors to all countries seeking nuclear sales in India. Read More

V.O.A Reports: Iran, North Korea, Pakistan Top 2007 Nuclear Issues

A surprising U.S. intelligence report on Iran's nuclear ambitions, a decision by North Korea to dismantle its weapons program and concern over stability in Pakistan were all major news stories during 2007 and dominated discussion regarding nuclear issues during the past year. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details in this report from Washington.

A general view shows the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, in southern Iran (File)

In early December a new assessment that represented the consensus view of all 16 American intelligence agencies concluded that Iran had probably halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program, as of mid-2007, remained frozen.

The report represented a sharp reversal of an estimate issued by the same spy agencies in 2005, which said Iran was believed to be working to develop nuclear weapons. Read More

Russian nuclear fuel lands in Iran

TEHRAN -- After years of delay, Russia announced Monday that it had delivered its first shipment of nuclear fuel to a reactor in southern Iran, a move Washington had long tried to delay to pressure Tehran not to pursue its own enrichment program.

Delivery of the nuclear fuel rods will ensure that the $1-billion power plant being built by Russia's state-owned Atomstroyexport in the port city of Bushehr will be up and running by next year, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told state television.

He cast Russia's decision as evidence that Iran had convinced other countries that it was pursuing nuclear power only for peaceful purposes. Read More

Business Secretary John Hutton says UK must have a mix of energy sources, including nuclear.

Britain's gas and electricity supplies could be at the mercy of unstable governments or politically motivated investors unless the UK achieves energy independence, John Hutton, the Business and Enterprise Secretary, has warned.

	Nuclear waste storage at Sellafield

In a major speech yesterday, Mr Hutton laid bare why he thinks Britain must overhaul its energy industry to ensure security of future needs.

The speech comes just weeks before the Government is due to announce whether to give the go-ahead for a programme to build new nuclear power stations.

Although Mr Hutton said no final decision had been made, the tone of his speech suggests he is starting to lay the groundwork for what will be a controversial announcement that Britain is to become more dependent on nuclear power for its energy needs.

Mr Hutton said: "Climate change and soaring energy demand are combining to create a perfect storm during the next half century. A storm in which access to secure and competitively priced energy is like to become the major political headache in capitals across the world. Read More

PAKISTAN'S military vowed a strong response to any international attempt to seize its atomic arsenal.

The security of Pakistan's estimated 50 nuclear warheads has been under global scrutiny since President Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency on November 3 citing Islamist violence and political turmoil.

But the chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs of staff, General Tariq Majid, blasted reports by "vested and hostile elements in the international media" about the security of its nuclear weapons. Read full article