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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No.23/2001 |
Dateline: June 9, 2001 |
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This is the weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:
INES homepages: http://inesglobal.org http://www.inesglobal.com/
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner [Please note that the first "1" in q18 is the number one, while the last "l" is a "L"]
CONTENTS of WNII No. 23/2001
MEMBERSHIP AND PROJECTS' NEWS"
USA: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), The Sunflower, No. 49, June 2001 Back issues: http://www.wagingpeace.org/sf/backissues.html Events are listed at: http://www.wagingpeace.org/calendar/events_current.html
The June issue of The Sunflower covers the following:
USA: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)
New at IEER's webpages: Law and the Nuclear Establishment ("Science for Democratic Action" [combined issue of "Science for Democratic Action" and "Energy & Security"] Volume 9, Number 3, May 2001): http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/vol_9/9-3/index.html which contains the following articles and features:
The previous issue of "Science for Democratic Action" carries the article "Nuclear Defense and Offense: An Analysis of US Policy" by IEER President Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D.: http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/vol_8/8-2/defoff.html
SPECIAL SECTION
ON THE US MISSILE DEFENCE POLICY
ABM Treaty Dropped By NATO Amid Changing Circumstances
Written by Christine Kucia of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC), this article of 31 May analyses the recently held Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council and in particular its Final Communiqué (see also WNII 22/00:B2 "NATO refuses to endorse Bush missile defense plan"). It is available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
For further information:
Beyond National Missile Defense, Bush Team Envisions Space Weaponization
This is the title of one of the latest articles by Karl Grossman published in the newsletter of the Economists Allied for Arms Reduction. You can find at: http://www.ecaar.org/Library/News/grossmanspaceweapons.html
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news
Scientists Want Nuclear Arsenal Cut (Source: Associated Press, 5 June 2001)
As President Bush prepares for summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 16 American scientists and security experts are urging him to sharply reduce the U.S. nuclear arsenal to a total of 1,000 warheads. The proposal would amount to a cut of more than 90 percent of the roughly 10,500 nuclear warheads aimed at 20,000 Russian targets.
The cutback, urged by the Federation of American Scientists, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists in a just-released report entitled "Toward True Security: A US Nuclear Posture for the Next Decade", would include the elimination of 1,670 tactical nuclear warheads that remained after former President George H.W. Bush deactivated almost all the weapons in the category in 1991. (&)
At a news conference, Richard L. Garwin of the Council on Foreign Relations said deploying a few interceptors near Grand Forks, N.D., or in Turkey as a shield against attack from Iran, might enhance U.S. security. Tom Collina, director of global security at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the ultimate goal of the three groups is the prohibition of nuclear weapons. The report's 10-year plan, Collina said, is a step in that direction.
For a PDF version of the full report, go to: http://www.ucsusa.org/index.html
Canadian request re reports within the NPT framework
The Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (CNANW) is seeking to contact anyone who has begun to consider what might be the format for the reports described in Practical Step 12 of the 13 Practical Steps agreed to during the May 2000 NPT Review Conference. That step reads:
"Regular reports, within the framework of the NPT strengthened review process, by all States parties on the implementation of Article VI and paragraph 4(c) of the 1995 Decision on "Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament", and recalling the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 8 July 1996."
If you are working on this, would you kindly contact directly Bev Delong, Chairperson, CNANW: < >
"The Matrix of Deterrence"
US nuclear arms control agreements and reviews in the 1990s were largely determined by the nuclear war planning priorities developed by the US Strategic Command, according to a study from the Nautilus Institute. The study, which is entitled "The Matrix of Deterrence," is based on analysis of six force structure studies and briefings conducted by US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) between 1991 and 1996. The documents were declassified and released under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.
Opinion papers for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the RING have produced a series of short briefing papers on key issues to be addressed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, available at: http://www.iied.org/wssd/pubs.html
They outline current realities and present challenges to governments and others to act. The following topics are addressed:
The following will be added shortly:
New publications (Source: Linkages Journal Vol. 6 No. 6/1 June 01)
The Illusion of Progress: Unsustainable Development in International Law and Policy (Earthscan, 2001).
This book by Alexander Gillespie critiques "sustainability," questioning what the concept actually means. The author argues that despite the rhetoric of socially and environmentally sustainable development and an ever-increasing number of legislative environmental policies, the real issues such as consumption, population growth and equity are either sidestepped or manipulated in international policy and law. He analyses the main areas of concern, namely economic growth, market structure, trade, aid, debt, security and sovereignty, and suggests that the entire development structure and the underpinnings of the sustainability debate are leading down quite a different path to that intended.
For more information on the book visit: http://www.earthscan.co.uk/asp/bookdetails.asp?key=3311
Common Ground, Common Future: How Ecoagriculture Can Help Feed the World and Save Biodiversity (Future Harvest, IUCN, May 2001).
This report by Jeffrey McNeely and Sara Scherr highlights the fact that half of world's protected nature reserves are heavily farmed due to widespread hunger in the vicinity of biodiversity "hotspots." Noting that environmentalists concerned about wild biodiversity, and agriculturalists focused on producing food, often have worked at cross-purposes, the authors propose a new approach to simultaneously produce food for local people and protect wildlife. They outline six concrete strategies to this end: establishment of habitat networks in non-farmed areas; integration of perennial plants into farming systems; pollution reduction; greater productivity; resource management changes; and establishment of protected areas near farms, ranches and fisheries.
To access the report online visit: http://www.futureharvest.org/pdf/biodiversity_report.pdf
The Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) has released two new working papers that are available online: "
The Status of Natural Resources on the High Seas (WWF and IUCN- World Conservation Union, May 2001).
A new study on the high seas outside national jurisdiction, commissioned by WWF and IUCN and authored by specialists from the Southampton Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom and consultant Charlotte de Fontaubert, has recently been released online. The authors provide both an environmental/scientific perspective as well as considering legal and political implications. They note that the high seas and the fauna in these areas are threatened by unregulated fishing and oil exploration, CO2 dumping, biotechnology, and the exploitation of gas hydrates and hydrothermal vent heat. They highlight particular concerns related to the deep-sea corals in the Atlantic, which have been damaged by industrialized fishing trawlers, and threats to the orange roughy fish populations in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, and whales, dolphins and porpoises. In terms of solutions, the report calls first for an assessment of the resources of the high seas beyond the 200 nautical-mile limit of the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of coastal states. They also support international agreements to regulate the high seas, and suggest the designation of High-Seas Marine Protected Areas to protect marine resources, some of which are not yet well known by humans.
To access the report online visit: http://www.panda.org/resources/publications/water/highseas.pdf
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
Defending the Northeast, the Nation, and America's Allies from Ballistic Missile Attack
Topics to be addressed include proliferation and the missile threat; the ABM Treaty and missile defense; technology options and architectures for missile defense; priorities and programs, timelines, and cost; and allies and coalition partners and missile defense.
For more details, visit: http://www.ifpa.org/vf2001_bott.htm
See also IFPA's National Missile Defense Study: http://www.ifpa.org/pubs/nmd_bott.htm
International Conference on Challenges of a Changing Earth http://www.scionf.igbp.kva.se
The conference will examine the scientific basis needed to understand the complexities of the Kyoto Protocol and seek to define the global carbon debate within a dynamic Earth System and human context.
For more details, contact: < > or < >
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Conference on Detecting Environmental Change: Science and Society http://www.nmw.ac.uk/change2001/
The conference will focus on applications involving the detection and understanding of long-term changes in natural and disturbed environmental systems, and will review methods of environmental change detection across different disciplines.
For more details, contact Catherine E. Stickley: < >
International Conference on Biotechnology and Sustainable Development http://www.egyptbiotech2001.com
The conference will focus on scientific, ethical, and safety issues as well as the regulatory, Intellectual Property Right and trade and economic issues in the biotechnology debate, and highlight a Southern perspective.
For more information contact Ismail Serageldin, Programme Committee Chair: < >
No new or changed addresses.
All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
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