What to do with a vision of zero

The tantalising ideal of a world entirely free of nukes is hoving back into view. It’s a goal that disciplines minds, even if you never quite attain it


Nuclear disarmament
Nov 13th 2008: A WORLD without nuclear weapons is a vision as old as the nuclear age. The makers of the bombs that exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 fretted a lot about the ultimate consequences for mankind of their devilish ingenuity. Now anti-nuclear campaigners are hoping that “Yes, we can!” will do more for their cause than older slogans like “Ban the bomb!” ever did. For on the stump, Barack Obama, America’s president-elect, promised to make the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide a “central element” of America’s nuclear policy.

He will not be the first American president to dream of nuclear disarmament; that unlikely peacenik Ronald Reagan did so too in his day, to the consternation of allies at home and abroad. The reality, in any event, is not one that America can will on its own. Yet Mr Obama has tapped into a new seam of dissatisfaction with the world’s nuclear order. Might getting to zero soon be a less forlorn prospect? More >>>

Britain lifts India nuclear ban

November 10 2008 -The UK Government has announced the lifting of a ban on exporting sensitive nuclear technology to India. Firms had up until last month been banned from supplying equipment and material on the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) "trigger list" to India.

But the government says that items intended for civilian nuclear projects can now be exported. The NSG agreed in September to lift a ban that had denied India access to the international nuclear market.

Last month the US and India signed a civilian nuclear co-operation accord to end 34 years of US sanctions. Shortly before that, France - the world's second largest producer of nuclear energy after the US - signed an agreement with India which paved the way for the sale of French nuclear reactors to Delhi. More >>>

Iran slams Obama's tough language on nuclear arms

TEHRAN, Iran: November 8, 2008 - Iran criticized President-elect Barack Obama for the first time Saturday, saying the world needs more than cosmetic changes in American foreign policy.

The criticism from Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani followed Obama's comment Friday that it is "unacceptable" for Iran to develop nuclear weapons and there should be a concerted international effort to prevent it.

"Obama can understand that strategic changes in (American) policy are required, not just cosmetic changes," Larijani told state television.

"This is a step in the wrong direction," he added. "If Americans want to change their situation in the region, they need to send good signals."

Iran has denied allegations that its nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons. More >>>

What India wants from the new president

NEW DELHI: 6 Nov 2008, Barack Obama enters the White House riding the crest of history. The sense of promise —of restoring America's primacy in the world — will by and large be welcomed in India.

Certainly, in large parts of the world, Obama will be a welcome change after eight years of George Bush, whose efforts to change the world as he found it had some disastrous consequences.

Obama will be a breath of fresh air in almost every part of the world. And to the extent, there is a growing convergence between the two democracies. India can only hope to benefit from a rejuvenated US leadership. Why, then, is India keeping her fingers crossed? More >>>

To the victor the spoils — a world full of problems

November 5, 2008 - The problems that will confront the new president beyond the United States make a nonsense of the metaphor of an in-tray. That suggests bureaucratic neatness, a stack of problems waiting for attention that can be dispatched one after the other.

Instead, he will inherit a worldwide map of problems that demand more time, military commitment and money than America can possibly deploy. It is wrong to lay all of those problems at the door of George W. Bush. Many were there before his presidency – Iran, North Korea, the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock, to name just three.

But it is still true that the new president will take on a challenge different in nature from recent predecessors. The US is engaged in two live wars, and Afghanistan is getting worse just as Iraq gets better. More than that, he takes over at a point when US leadership is questioned. In the US’s foreign policy, it has suffered the greatest blow since Vietnam to its reputation for military success and its claim to legitimacy. In economic policy, its recent decisions and even its principles of economic organisation have been challenged.

Around the world, people expect the new president to change this. The expectations are impossibly high.
More >>>

Nuclear deal with US no hurdle for importing Iranian gas: Pranab

TEHRAN: 3 Nov, 2008: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said in Tehran that India's nuclear deal with the United States will in no way adversely impact a project to import Iranian gas via Pakistan.

"There will be no impact of Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement on Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline," said Mukherjee to a joint press conference in Tehran along with Iranian Minister of Economy and Finance Shamsuddin Hoseyni.

"India's requirement of energy is quite substantial and we are to locate various sources including civil nuclear cooperation with countries like USA, France, Russia or any other country that is willing to cooperate with India in civil nuclear cooperation," said Mukherjee. More >>>

Louise Frechette Appointed to Advisory Board of International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

WATERLOO, CANADA, Oct 31, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Louise Frechette, Chair of the Centre for International Governance Innovation's Nuclear Energy Futures Project, has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND).

ICNND, established by the governments of Australia and Japan, aims to reinvigorate the global effort against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Commission and its members are working to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by seeking to shape a global consensus in the lead up to the 2010 NPT Review Conference.

Mme. Frechette joins an eminent group of individuals who have agreed to serve on the ICNND Board, including Henry Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State from 1973-1977, and Sam Nunn, U.S. Senator from 1972-97 and current co-Chairman and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. More >>>