The G7 Hiroshima Summit, the Ukraine Crisis and No First Use of Nuclear Weapons
Viewpoint by Daisaku Ikeda
The following is the text of the statement by peacebuilder and Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda, who is president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Source: Soka Gakkai.
TOKYO, 27 April 2023 (IDN) — The Ukraine crisis, which in addition to bringing devastation to the people of that country has had severe impacts on a global scale—even giving rise to the specter of nuclear weapons use—has entered its second year. Against this backdrop and amid urgent calls for resolution, the G7 Summit of leading industrial nations will be held in Hiroshima, Japan, from May 19 to 21.
Daniel Ellsberg—A Profound Voice Against the Doomsday Machine
By Judith Ehrlich*BERKELEY, California, USA, 27 April 2023 (IDN) — The current Daniel Ellsberg Week celebrates the achievements and inspirational spirit of the most significant whistleblower of the 20th century. Daniel Ellsberg’s recent announcement of a terminal diagnosis broke my heart, but his remarkable response gave me great hope.
UN Impotent as North Korean Nuclear Caravan Moves On
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, 22 April 2023 (IDN) — A 2.0 updated version of an old Middle Eastern proverb reads: The dogs bark, but the North Korean nuclear caravan continues to move on.The intercontinental ballistic missiles arrive non-stop from an apparent North Korean assembly line. Every launch is followed by widespread criticisms.
It’s High Time the US Signed a Peace Treaty with North Korea
By Alice Slater*
NEW YORK, 21 April 2023 (IDN) — It is far beyond hypocrisy for the US and its allies to condemn North Korea for testing a long-range missile when the US boasts about its Air Force Global Strike Command of more than 33,700 Airmen and civilians responsible for the nation’s three intercontinental ballistic missile wings capable of delivering nuclear weapons. [P 03] CHINESE | GERMAN | JAPANESE | RUSSIAN
Nuclear War or Negotiations with North Korea?
By Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden, 20 April 2023 (IDN) — Of all the rogues, there is no question that Kim Jong-Un and his odious regime in North Korea are the furthest advanced in threatening the outside world with nuclear weapons.Yet an honest administration in Washington has to ask itself how much the U.S. has been responsible for bringing about this state of affairs, one that threatened to escalate fast with North Korea announcing in October 2002 it was enriching uranium to build a nuclear weapon and now later in that year in effect abrogating the landmark 1994 agreement.
Ellsberg Has Foiled Those Who Want Him Confined to the Past
By Norman Solomon*
SAN FRANCISCO, 11 April 2023 (IDN) — In just a few words—“those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future”—George Orwell summed up why narratives about history can be crucial. And so, ever since the final helicopter liftoff from the U.S. Embassy’s roof in Saigon on 30 April 1975, the retrospective meaning of the Vietnam War has been a matter of intense dispute.
North Korea Accused of Funding its Missile Programmes with Crypto Currency
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, 10 April 2023 (IDN) — The United States and its two closest Asian allies—Japan and South Korea—have accused the North Koreans of illegally financing its ballistic missile programmes.In a hard-hitting statement released on April 7, the three countries reiterate with concern that overseas IT workers of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) “continue using forged identities and nationalities to evade UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions and earn income abroad that funds the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs”.
G7 Hiroshima Summit: Opportunity to Rethink National Security
Adopting a No First Use Policy is Equally ImportantViewpoint by Anna Ikeda*NEW YORK, 10 April 2023 (IDN) — The current war in Ukraine has shown that nuclear deterrence is deeply flawed. It relies on the assumption of “rational actors” in power and credibility of threats, which we know are far from reality, especially in times of conflicts.
The Toxic Legacy of the Nuclear Age
By Alice Slater
*This article was published in the Spring 2023 Edition of Peace Planet Newsand is being republished with the author’s permission.NEW YORK, 5 April 2023 (IDN) — Recent alarming reports state that the UK is prepared to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium ammunition in the ongoing slaughter in Ukraine. These lethally toxic carcinogens are known to cause illness and death, not only for the victims of war but for the perpetrators as well. Victims who have suffered genetic damage pass it on to their children, who are often born with terrible malformations and illnesses.
Putin’s Nuclear Sabre-Rattling in Belarus Triggers a WW III Warning
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, 4 April 2023 (IDN) — As Russian nuclear threats keep escalating following the invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, President Vladimir Putin issued a new warning on March 26: that he plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a close political, economic and military ally of Moscow. [P 02] | GERMAN | JAPANESE | RUSSIAN
Whom Should We Blame for A Nuclear War Between India and Pakistan?
By Jonathan Power
*LUND, Sweden, 4 April 2023 (IDN) — If nuclear war does break out between India and Pakistan, they will only have themselves to blame. Since the early 1970s, they have been walking along the unmarked path that leads to nuclear holocaust and enough people both within and without, have told them how to turn back. Even today if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were as serious as they say they are about avoiding nuclear war, they could sit down for two hours and sort the whole thing out. It is not that complicated.
Japan Urged to Push Nuclear Disarmament Principle at G7 Hiroshima Summit
By Kalinga SeneviratneSYDNEY | TOKYO, 3 April 2023 (IDN) — Addressing a live-streamed conference held at Soka University in Tokyo on 29 March in preparation for the G7 summit in May, which Japan hosts, Takashi Ariyoshi, Deputy Secretary General of the G7 Hiroshima Summit Secretariat said that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had put high priority to include nuclear disarmament in the agenda of the summit. [P 01] ARABIC | JAPANESE | NORWEGIAN | PORTUGUESE | SPANISH
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