Debate and articles on nuclear non-proliferation and strategies for peacebuilding. See also our coverage of the Nobel Women's Initiative.

 

"I protest": challenging the war policies of the United States

After serving in the US Army, and later as a diplomat, Colonel Ann Wright resigned her position in opposition to the US invasion of Iraq, 2003. She explains her opposition to the use of drones, and why any demilitarism plan for the planet must begin with the United States

Sexual violence, access to justice, and human rights

The patriarchal framework of justice which reflects gendered stereotypes, cultural and traditional prejudice has to change. Whilst there is slow progress in implementation, international law is drifting inexorably into recognising the integrated role of human rights in addressing sexual violence, Madeleine Rees analyses how this can be done

Building a culture of love: replacing a culture of violence and death

What unites people's movements from the Arab 'spring' to Occupy, is a new consciousness that a good life, with dignity, freedom, fairness and human security, is their right -  and by the law of love and logic, the right of every man and woman, says laureate Mairead Maguire.

NPT: toothless in the face of real world dangers

The core purpose of the NPT was security and the prevention of nuclear war, but the esoteric diplomacy of the current regime has become too far removed from the dangerous and messy world of today’s nuclear risks and ambitions. Rebecca Johnson reports at the close of the NPT meeting in Geneva

Israel's loopy logic of exoneration

Israel's recent 'update' on military investigations into civilian deaths in Gaza last November is an affirmation of its deficient institutional and legal practice, with the result of continued impunity for its military and political officials.

The NPT’s “unacceptable and continuous failure”: Egypt walks out

On April 29th Egypt’s diplomats walked out of the NPT Conference in protest at the lack of progress in establishing a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, thereby putting the NPT regime on notice. Reporting from Geneva, Rebecca Johnson analyses the reasons

Syria: the life cycle of civil war

A comprehensive understanding of how, why and when opposition groups in civil war engage in civilian governance must have important policy implications for outsiders engaging or toying with engaging in Syria.

NPT and risks to human survival: the inside story

Doctrines, deployments, and the political value attached to "nuclear deterrence" are being challenged at the NPT conference.  As 78 nations co-sponsor a growing "humanitarian initiative", the five NPT nuclear-armed states and some of their "nuclear umbrella" allies like Japan, Australia and Germany are in denial. Rebecca Johnson reports

North Korea and Trident: challenging the nuclear non-proliferation regime

As representatives of 189 governments meet to discuss strengthening the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Kim Jong-un and David Cameron have provided stark reminders of the continuing dangers that nuclear weapons pose to human security. Rebecca Johnson reports from Geneva

A call to engender Turkey’s peace process

Turkey’s agenda for peace aims to overcome the decades-old Kurdish question and raise democratic standards. While welcoming this initiative, Yakin Ertürk questions whether the end of conflict will bring peace to women if gender equality issues are not adequately addressed

The art of survival in post-Saddam Iraq

New forms of violence have risen out of the vacuum of civil conflict in post-Saddam Iraq. Ten years after the Iraq war, this violent legacy is emerging in the work of the country's artists through film, painting and poetry

The fetishists of nuclear power projection have had their day

Those who build, target, deploy and fire nuclear weapons are not supposed to think about the humanitarian consequences. They are not supposed to behave "like women". But a growing number of nuclear free countries are doing just this, and taking the lead in declaring it's time to outlaw these weapons of mass suffering.

Banning nuclear weapons: this time lip service will not be enough

A new grassroots network  launches this week with the twin aims of scrapping Trident and persuading the UK to join other governments in multilateral negotiations to achieve a global treaty banning nuclear weapons. If we get our strategies right, the peace movement can win this one, says Rebecca Johnson. 

The February 15, 2003 protest ten years on: reflections on a decade

The demonstration on February 15, 2003 was the largest protest march in British history, but failed to stop the invasion of Iraq.  A reflection on how the protest, and the war, shaped a decade of politics and culture.

The youth of Shahbagh: A Bengali spring?

Dhaka has been witnessing a youth uprising against Islamism in Bangladesh. The UK is also witnessing daily events in solidarity with demands to end to Islamist politics, and punishment for those responsible for war crimes committed during the Bangladesh War of Liberation in 1971

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