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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No. 8/2002 |
Dateline: March 13, 2002 |
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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:
WNII is archived at: http://inesglobal.org/archive.htm
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 an "L"]
CONTENTS of WNII No. 8/2002
From the editor: Apologies for delay
Dear WNII readers, My apologies for the delay of mailing this WNII issue: I had been too ill to do anything at all for a couple of days.
Yours, Tobias Damjanov
New Zealand: Engineers for Social Responsibility (ESR) Newsletter February 2002 (Vol. 18/No. 1) http://www.esr.org.nz
The latest ESR Newsletter carries the following main articles:
Newsletter Editor: Neil Mander < >
USA: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), The Sunflower, No. 58, March 2002
Back issues: http://www.wagingpeace.org/sf/backissues.html Events are listed at: http://www.wagingpeace.org/calendar/events_current.html
The March 2002 issue of The Sunflower covers the following:
To read "The Sunflower", please send an email to Carah Lynn Ong, Director of Research and Publications: < > or goto: http://www.wagingpeace.org/sf/index.html (The newsletter is also available in pdf format online)
SPECIAL SECTION ON THE US MISSILE DEFENCE POLICY
Space Weapons Ban: New section on MBMD.org
Carah Lynn Ong, Director of Research and Publications of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), writes:
I have set up a new section on the MBMD website related to the Space Weapons Ban (go to: http://www.mbmd.org and click on Space Weapons Ban in the left-hand menu bar). Please visit the site and feel free to send me an email with ideas and suggestions to add treaties, documents, articles, etc. related to space and space weapons.
Carah Lynn Ong < >
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
US Nuclear Posture Review: Revealed Nuclear Policies Are a Sign of Bad Faith To Rest of the World (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 11 March 2002)
On 9 March, reports surfaced in major US media that the US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) released on 9 January contains contingency plans for using nuclear weapons against seven states: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, North Korea, Russia and China. It also reportedly contains plans to develop and deploy new "earth-penetrating" nuclear weapons and to accelerate the time it would take to resume full-scale nuclear testing. Using nuclear weapons against other states or developing new nuclear weapons would directly violate US obligations to pursue the elimination of nuclear weapons under Article VI of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
At the 2000 NPT Review Conference, the US, along with the other state parties to the treaty, committed themselves to an "unequivocal undertaking" to eliminate nuclear weapons and to a diminishing role for nuclear weapons in security policies. Even if the US does not pursue the plans outlined in the NPR, as Secretary of State Colin Powell and other top military and government officials are claiming, the provocative rhetoric could unravel the non-proliferation regime.
"The fact that the US is developing contingency plans to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states will certainly be viewed as a sign of bad faith by most of the world and will do serious damage to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," said David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation."
Weapons of mass destruction and missile proliferation do pose a legitimate threat not only to US security, but also to international security. However, unilateral US threats to use nuclear weapons, in conjunction with developing and deploying missile defenses, as a means of countering these threats is likely to provoke rather than prevent proliferation. A much better option would be for the US to take the lead on negotiations for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has issued an international appeal that has now been signed by over 100 prominent individuals, including 38 Nobel Laureates. The Appeal to End the Nuclear Weapons Threat to Humanity and All Life calls upon the US and other nuclear weapons states to take the following practical steps as a means to preserve the non-proliferation regime and achieve the complete elimination of nuclear weapons:
* De-alert all nuclear weapons and de-couple all nuclear warheads from their delivery vehicles.
* Reaffirm commitments to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
* Commence good faith negotiations to achieve a Nuclear Weapons Convention requiring the phased elimination of all nuclear weapons, with provisions for effective verification and enforcement. * Declare policies of No First Use of nuclear weapons against other nuclear weapons states and policies of No Use against non-nuclear weapons states. * Reallocate resources from the tens of billions of dollars currently being spent for maintaining nuclear arsenals to improving human health, education and welfare throughout the world.
The full text of the Appeal and list of prominent signers is available on the website of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation at http://www.wagingpeace.org
NOTE from the Editor:
I am currently compiling a WNII Special Edition on the US Nuclear Posture Review which would contain major articles and statements regarding the recent developments. If you wish to receive this Special Edition, send me a short email message. Then, you'll get it as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
T. Damjanov
2002 Abolition 2000 Annual Meeting
This year's Annual Meeting of the Abolition 2000 Network will be held at New York on 13 April during the NPT PrepCom at the United Nations (8-19 April).
For details, please contact: < >
NGO Presentation to NPT PrepCom: Recommendations (from Giji Gya and Merav Datan)
Dear Colleagues,
We are calling for your input into an NGO presentation on recommendations for the NPT PrepCom meeting, which will take place April 8-19, 2002 at the UN in New York. Merav Datan (IPPNW/PSR UN office) and Giji Gya (MAPW Australia) are co-convening this presentation.
The NGO presentations will probably take place on April 10, and it is not necessary to be in New York in order to have input.
The purpose of this presentation is to make concrete recommendations not covered by the other presentations (see below). Issues to be considered include sustainable energy, de-alerting and security assurances.
There are 14 presentations in all. This presentation is NOT to cover in detail: Defining security/ political context; Rule of law; Religious/moral statement; Indigenous perspective; CTBT; US-Russian reductions and ABM; missiles and missile defences; Regional- Middle East; Regional- South Asia; Regional-North-East Asia; Reporting; Verification/ Irreversibility; Tactical Nukes- old and new; Fissile Materials- security; health and environment; article IV. These are being covered separately by other presentations.
If you would like more information about the NGO presentations to the NPT visit http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/npt/ngostate2002.html for a full list of themes, convenors, and details about the drafting process.
The final presentation must only be 8 minutes in length and the draft is due on March 25th for finalisation. It will then be circulated for comments and the final presentation is due on April 3rd.
Direct relevance to strengthening the NPT should be emphasized, as should unique NGO expertise. We especially welcome concrete and concise text that you propose to include. This is an inclusive process. And the statements will not solely reflect the views of the convenor, but of all NGOs who contribute input.
We have set up an email list to facilitate discussion. To subscribe, send an email to
We hope that you can participate.
Regards,
Giji Gya < > Merav Datan < >
Recommendation: Secretariat for the NPT
The US-based Global Security Institute (GSI) has put forward a proposal to the forthcoming NPT PrepCom asking the Parties to the NPT to consider setting up a permanent secretariat for the NPT based at the United Nations.
The full wording of the GSI proposal is available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
Also, you might find the proposal at the GSI homepage (I haven't checked that yet): http://www.gsinstitute.org
The NPT and the British American Security Information Council (BASIC)
BASIC is offering a few short articles on challenges and concerns for nuclear arms control and non-proliferation. Also, BASIC will be attending the forthcoming PrepCom and posting key documents and analysis on its web site during the two week period. For the latest news and information, visit: http://www.basicint.org/nuclear/prepcom2002/nuk_02prepcom_indx.htm
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
27th Annual AAAS Colloquium on Science and Technology Policy
Title: "Science and Technology in a Vulnerable World: Rethinking Our Roles"
For more details, visit: http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rd/colloqu.htm
2002 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy
For more details, visit: http://www.ieee-security.org/TC/SP02/sp02index.html
War, Virtual War, and the Challenges to Communities
This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference marks the launch of a new project to provide a challenging forum for the examination and evaluation of the nature, purpose and experience of war, and its impacts on all aspects of communities across the world. Viewing war as a multi-layered phenomenon, the conference series will seek to explore the historical, legal, social, religious, economic, and political contexts of conflicts, and assess the place of art, journalism, literature, music, the media and the internet in representation and interpretation of the experience of warfare.
In particular papers, workshops, reports, and presentations are invited on any of the following themes;
* The sources, origins, and causes of war; why and how do wars begin?
* The "control" of warfare; how is and should warfare be conducted? What are the limits of conflict? Are there any prohibitions in fighting a war? Security issues; protection issues; borders and boundaries.
* The nature of warfare; strategy and strategic thought; changes and the implications of changes in the ways wars are fought; the influence and effect of technologies; changes in the nature and role of military personnel; information and information warfare.
* Types of warfare - land, sea, air, space, chemical, biological; guerrilla warfare; "total" warfare; genocide, ethnic cleansing; terrorism; preemptive war; scorched earth; war crimes; crimes against humanity.
* The extent of war; blockades, sanctions, defence expenditure and the impact on social and public policy.
* The "ethics" of war; just war; deterrence; defence and self-defence; the influence of nationalism; the place of human rights; societies and the military; increases in moral sensibilities - qualms about carpet bombing, collateral damage; the important role of religion, the church, and the intellectual elite in multi-ethnic conflict.
* The experience of war; art, literature, music, poetry, and the theatre; the role of the media - journalism, radio, television, the internet; propaganda; representing the realities of war versus "national interest" - images of the heroism, glory, tacit and explicit justifications of war.
* The prevention of war; the role of conflict resolution; avoiding war; peace-keeping; the role and importance of law and international legal order; the rise and impact of non-violent movements.
Papers will be considered on related themes. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 5th April 2002. Full draft papers should be submitted by Tuesday 18th June 2002.
For more details, contact: Dr Rob Fisher: < > http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wvw1.htm
All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
New email: INES Council member Dr Q. Isa Daudpota
INES Council member Dr Q. Isa Daudpota (Pakistan) has the following new email address: < >
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