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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No.40/2000 |
Dateline: December 21, 2000 |
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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 homepage: http://inesglobal.org
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner
SEASONAL GREETINGS TO ALL OF YOU !!!
CONTENTS of WNII No. 40/2000
Canada: Science for Peace Media Release on Bush-NMD http://scienceforpeace.sa.utoronto.ca
Toronto, December 18 - The election of George W. Bush as U.S. President means the deeply flawed and globally destabilizing National Missile Defence Scheme is no longer on hold. "That in itself is bad news for peace," says Mel Watkins of Science for Peace and Chair of the Committee against the National Missile Defence (NMD)*. "Worse," adds Watkins, who is also a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, "for Bush, the NMD is the revival of the Reagan Administration's absurd and dangerous Star Wars, and is part of a grand plan for U.S. dominance of space." Watkins wants the Canadian government to say an unambiguous No to the NMD. "It's the first big test of the government's foreign policy since Mr. Axworthy left the Cabinet. The world will judge us badly if we get this one wrong." Carolyn Langdon, Executive Coordinator, Science for Peace [abridged].
* The Committee Against the NMD includes representatives from Science for Peace, Greenpeace, Voice of Women, Physicians for Global Survival, Lawyers for Social Responsibility, Peacefund and other peace organizations.
Campaign proposals by INESAP member B. Nassar (slightly edited)
Dear Friends, Already Bush had informed us that he favored a more ambitious anti- missile defense system than the one proposed by Clinton, and he promised to deploy his more robust system "at the earliest possible date." His chosen Secretary of State, Powell, has said that the Bush Administration would make NMD an essential part of US strategic policy. In addition many of Bush advisers and entourage are among those who oppose ratification of CTBT and are making special efforts to produce mini-nukes which will be used in many regions to defend US investments and interests particularly in the South. These dangers should prompt NGOs to identify the appropriate tactics and strategy to defeat them and immediately act accordingly. With this in mind, I suggest the launching of the following campaigns:
Unless we achieve the targets of these campaigns, US reliance on nuclear weapons will be very much entrenched and other NWSs [Nuclear Weapon States; the ed.] will be obliged to follow suit. Consequently, more difficulties will impede the holding of the international governmental Conference, which may be accepted by US and other NWSs and possibly will be held three or four years in the future. I also suggested the holding of an urgent meeting of Abolition 2000 ACC together with representatives of US NGOs network to discuss and suggest to other NGOs ways and means to ensure the success of these international campaigns (tactics and strategy). It goes without saying that the proposed meeting can suggest other priorities and that other NGOs can initiate its own activities but a collective discussion is very much needed
Already, Middle Power Initiative will hold meetings in Washington, Moscow and possibly London with the participation of NGOs together with the representatives of governments, and the question of Bush nuclear policy will be high on the agenda. Of vital importance is to integrate this initiative with other actions within an international campaign and according to a plan which should take into consideration various possibilities, including the possible deployment of US NMD TMD or the possible US and Russia's agreement on a certain interpretation of ABM Treaty which will allow such a deployment. We should remember that the deployment of Pershing and other medium-range missiles by US and the former Soviet Union had prompted NGOs to continue their courageous struggle until both countries dismantled them.
In regard to the question of the international governmental conference, I am inclined to agree with Rob Green's opinion, who said, "following the success of the 2000 NPT review, there seems to be a consensus that such a Conference ... should be pursued if the NPT process does not deliver on the undertakings of 2000." In the meantime we shall think and rethink and continue thinking in order to reach an agreement on this issue. One point should be emphasized in this context: activities must be continuously undertaken for the implementation of what had been approved by all parties to NPT at the review conference. In the light of these practical activities (including the implementation of our program of actions to influence the policy of the Bush Administration) we shall be able to take the correct decision.
Best regards, Bahig Nassar; Coordinator; Arab Coordination Centre of NGOs
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/ ==========================================================
Abolition 2000 Grassroots Newsletter December 2000 (Vol. II Number 8)
The latest Grassroots Newsletter of the Abolition 2000 Network has the following contents:
U.S. and Soviet/Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces
"Arms Control Today" published current estimates of the US and Russian inventory of nuclear warheads, comparing these numbers to estimates made in September, 1990, before START I went into effect. According to these numbers, the US has reduced its warhead inventory from 10,563 to 7,519, and Russia from 10,271 to 6,464. The Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union, has 396 warheads, while Belarus and Kazakhstan have none: http://www.armscontrol.org/ACT/dec00/factfiledec00.html
PR China Nuclear Force Modernization
The Carnegie Endowment published a nonproliferation analysis which argues that while the PRC is slowly modernizing its strategic nuclear forces, PRC doctrine emphasizes the maintenance of a "limited nuclear deterrent" and there is no evidence to suggest either an acceleration of the program or any near-term threat to the US. The analysis states that the design and deployment of PRC nuclear forces is shaped by two key concerns: the survival of a second-strike capability and the potential deployment of missile defense systems: http://www.ceip.org/files/nonprolif/analysis121200china.asp
2000 Carnegie International Non-Proliferation Conference Proceedings
The proceedings of the 2000 Carnegie International Non-Proliferation Conference: "New Challenges in Asia and America," which took place in Washington, DC on March 16-17, 2000, are now available at: http://www.ceip.org/files/projects/npp/pdf/NPPConferenceProceedings.PDF
Foreign and military policy under the Bush presidency
I have compiled the following articles which you can obtain as an rtf-formatted email attachment:
T. Damjanov Editor, WNII
New NATO Report on arms control policy and related issues
In December, NATO released its "Report on Options for Confidence and Security Building Measures (CSBMs), Verification, Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament". You can receive this document as an rtf-formatted email attachment either in English or in French ("Rapport sur les Options pour les Mesures de Confiance et de Securitè (MDCS), la Verification, la Non-Proliferation, la Maitrise des Armaments et le Desarmament") from the WNII editor.
"The State of the World's Children, 2001"
UNICEF just released "The State of the World's Children, 2001." To see basic indicators by country, visit: http://www.unicef.org/sowc01/toc.htm Scroll down to "Statistical tables" and click on "Basic Indicators" or any other category. "Basic Indicators" contains under-5 mortality rates and every category lists a State's under-5 mortality rank. Categories: 1. Basic indicators 2. Nutrition 3. Health 4. Education 5. Demographic indicators 6. Economic indicators 7. Women 8. Rate of progress
Searchable Database of NGOs in consultative status to the UN
The following website gives you free access to a searchable database of NGOs in consultative status to the UN: http://www.unog.ch/ESS_Mission_services/ngo/ngo2.asp
"Trust & Verify" No. 94/November 2000
The latest issue of "Trust & Verify", published by the London-based "Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC)," carries the following:
"Trust & Verify" can be ordered from:
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
Problems of Individual Emergence http://www.cict.demon.co.uk/confproblof.html
For more details, mailto:
Health effects of the Chernobyl accident : results of 15-year follow-up studies
For more details, mailto:
No new or changed email or web addresses in this issue. All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
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