Nuclear treaty comes into force

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Written by northsouth

Category: Defence & Security

Published: 22 January 2021

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LONDON - An international treaty banning all nuclear weapons comes into force today. The agreement, which has been signed by 51 countries, is essentially symbolic because the world’s nuclear powers have not signed up.

However, it will be legally binding on the smaller nations that have endorsed it.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament says polling found that 77% of the UK public supports a “total ban on all nuclear weapons globally”.

The first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in more than two decades, came into force just after midnight on Friday, hailed by the UN Secretary-General as “an important step towards a world free of nuclear weapons”.

António Guterres said that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) also represents a “strong demonstration of support for multilateral approaches to nuclear disarmament” overall.

‘Tragic testimonies’ of survivors

In a video message and statement, the UN chief commended the States that have ratified the Treaty and welcomed the “instrumental role of civil society in advancing the TPNW’s negotiation and entry into force”.

“The survivors of nuclear explosions and nuclear tests offered tragic testimonies and were a moral force behind the Treaty. Entry into force is a tribute to their enduring advocacy”, he said.

Mr. Guterres said he was looking forward to guiding the UN’s response according the Treaty, including preparations for the first official Meeting of States Parties.

Growing dangers

“Nuclear weapons pose growing dangers and the world needs urgent action to ensure their elimination and prevent the catastrophic human and environmental consequences any use would cause”, said the UN chief.

“The elimination of nuclear weapons remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations. The Secretary-General calls on all States to work together to realize this ambition to advance common security and collective safety.”

The TPNW secured the 50 ratifications it needed to then enter into force, at the end of last October. The campaigners who had steered momentum towards Friday’s milestone moment, described it then as “a new chapter for nuclear disarmament”.

The accord was approved initially by 122 nations at the UN General Assembly in 2017, but it was civil society groups led by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) which had put in the “decades of activism” to secure the number of countries required to make it a reality.

Nuclear powers silent

So far however, the main nuclear powers of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France, have not signed the accord.

It declares that countries ratifying it must “never under any circumstances develop, test, produce, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

In a statement released last October by the civil society and campaign umbrella group ICAN – which won the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in 2017 – it said that once the treaty comes into force, all States’ parties will need to follow through on their promises, and abide by its prohibitions.

Far-right terrorism growing in the West

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Written by northsouth

Category: Defence & Security

Published: 26 November 2020

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - Global deaths from terrorism have fallen for a fifth consecutive year, according to the 2020 Global Terrorism Index, but in the past decade a new threat has been emerging, with far-right attacks increasing significantly in many regions.

The report, which was compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and released on Wednesday, summarises global trends in terrorism and ranks countries in order of those most affected in terms of both casualties and economic costs in 2019.

Steve Killelea, executive chairman of IEP, said the latest report revealed some surprising but positive news, including a 15 per cent drop in terrorism globally last year and a 59 per cent decrease since 2014.

This was partly due to the collapse of Islamic State territories and the subsequent de-escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

"More countries have improved this year than [in any other year] since the inception of the index — 103 countries improved compared to only 35 which deteriorated," Mr Killelea told the ABC.

"That's really good news."

"But still, we understand about 13,800 people died in terrorist attacks in 2019 so, although it seems to be declining at the moment, it's still a serious issue."

The global economic impact of terrorism also fell by 25 per cent in 2019 to $US16.4 billion ($22.28 billion).

Australia ranked 74 out of 163 nations listed in order of those most affected by terrorism.

Mr Killelea said only two terrorist attacks were recorded in Australia in 2019, including an attack on a dairy farm by animal liberationists.

"Neither of those attacks resulted in any injury, so if you look at it from an Australian perspective, compared to globally, we're not in too bad a position."

The highest-ranked countries were Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria, Somalia and Yemen.

Since the inception of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) in 2012, the top 10 countries have always been developing nations and almost always nations suffering internal conflicts.

"Less than 1 per cent of all deaths through terrorism happen in advanced Western economies," Mr Killelea said.

Thomas Morgan, senior research fellow at IEP, said there was often a "misconception" that terrorism predominantly occurred in Western nations.

"There is a misconception based in the coverage levels in the media … but also because 96 per cent of terrorism occurred in the context of an ongoing conflict," he said.

He said because they happened in the context of war, they received less attention than attacks elsewhere.

Mr Morgan feared the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic could have an impact on both the level and the types of terrorism that would happen in the coming years.

"Between 2011 and 2019, riots and violent demonstrations in the West increased by 277 per cent," he said.

"There are serious concerns that the deteriorating economic conditions will lead to more people becoming alienated and susceptible to extremist propaganda."

Far-right attacks up by 250 per cent over five years

Of all Western nations, the United States ranked the highest at number 29, with 53 attacks and 39 deaths last year.

But those figures revealed a new trend developing in terrorism. Of those deaths, 34 were attributed to far-right extremists.

Mr Killelea said far-right groups including neo-Nazis, ultra-nationalists and white supremacists were responsible for a total of 89 deaths in 2019.

"Admittedly it's only low numbers, but we have a 250 per cent increase in attacks by the far-right in the last five years," he said.

But 51 of those deaths occurred in a single incident when a gunman opened fire in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The report said over the past 50 years, there had been 13 far-right terrorist attacks that had each killed more than 10 people, compared to 24 Islamist attacks, and three linked to other ideologies.

But as attacks by Islamic State (IS) continue to decline, the balance is slowing shifting.

Mr Killelea said while the rise of the jihadist was a new phenomenon that peaked in 2014 and had since been declining, in the days of the Cold War "terrorism was related around left and right terrorism groups".

Keeping the downward curve

Mr Killelea said the main factors that had contributed to the decrease in terrorism were the territorial defeat of IS and the easing of conflicts within Syria and Iraq.

In fact, the Middle East region recorded its lowest number of deaths since 2003.

But IS is far from gone. The group and its affiliates still claimed responsibility for attacks in 27 countries last year.

"They are a long way from a spent force," Mr Killelea said, adding a shift in IS's "centre of gravity" into sub-Saharan Africa caused a spike in terrorism deaths in seven nations.

However, it was the Taliban that remained the world's deadliest terrorist group, according to the report.

Mr Killelea said because 96 per cent of all deaths from terrorism occur in war zones, "we need to reduce the number of conflicts around the globe" if we want to maintain this downwards trend.

Elsewhere, he said "reducing the influence" of terrorist organisations was the key.

"To break these influences, three major initiatives are needed — to break their media coverage and online social networks, disrupt their funding and lessen the number of sympathisers," he said.

"These three things play off each other, so any effective government policy would need to address all three."

Global Terrorism Index

2020 Key Findings

- Deaths from terrorism fell for the fifth consecutive year in
2019 to 13,826 deaths, representing a 15 per cent decrease
from the prior year.

- The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Russia and
Eurasia, South America and South Asia regions all recorded
falls in deaths from terrorism of at least 20 per cent.

- Although terrorism has fallen in most regions, it has
become more widespread in others. Seven of the ten
countries with the largest increase in terrorism were in subSaharan Africa.

- Burkina Faso had the largest increase in terrorism, where
deaths increased by 590 per cent to 593. This was followed
by Sri Lanka where terrorism deaths increased from one in
2018 to 266 in 2019.

- Afghanistan remains the country with the highest impact
from terrorism. However, terrorism deaths in the country
declined in 2019 for the first time in three years.

SIPRI 2021 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development

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Written by northsouth

Category: Events

Published: 25 March 2021

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STOCKHOLM - SIPRI’s 2021 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development will be held on the theme ‘Promoting Peace in the Age of Compound Risk’.

It will take place from 4-7 may 2021.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has reinforced or compounded conflict, human rights violations, disinformation efforts, gender inequality and societal fractures. The emerging post-pandemic world risks being more violent and less democratic. Geopolitical tensions and unilateral action have increased, while the need for collective action has become clearer than ever. Multilateral solutions are key, as highlighted through the United Nations’ 75th anniversary and in the pandemic response, but so too are locally grounded solutions and interconnections between the two.

The 2021 Stockholm Forum will explore novel approaches and solutions to promoting peace in the age of compound political, social, economic and environmental risks reinforced by COVID-19. Participants will share lessons learned from across organizations, sectors, countries and from history with a particular focus on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe as a regional platform for conflict resolution and on the challenges and opportunities that new technologies present for peacebuilding. The discussion will bring together the political, security, technology, health and peacebuilding communities, and place the issue of improved collective action at its centre.

For each of the days of the 2021 Forum, the format will combine open high-level policy debates with invitation-only sessions on key thematic and country issues. The Forum will use digital technology and partners to foster open exchange with the wider peacebuilding community through hybrid and online sessions.

The Stockholm Forum is co-hosted by SIPRI and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.