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Photo: Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury. Credit: International House, Sydney.

Sowing the Seeds of the Culture of Peace

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

Following are extensive excerpts from the keynote address by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations at the Gala Culminating Event of the year-round Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the International House (IH) of the University of Sydney on 2 December 2017.*

SYDNEY - It is a distinct honor to be invited as the keynote speaker of the gala culminating event of the year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the International House of the prestigious University of Sydney. I am particularly delighted as this International House – and for that matter all I-Houses in other universities – is a place where students can learn to relate to other people from other parts of the world, respectfully debate differences in values and cultures, learn more about world issues, and really begin to become true global citizens. It is wonderful for me to stand in front of all these flags decorating the podium – looks like the mini-United Nations – there, of course, are 193 flags of countries.

Photo (left to right): The Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair Berit Reiss-Andersen; ICAN campaigner Setsuko Thurlow who survived the bombing of Hiroshima as a 13-year-old; ICAN Executive Director Beatrice Fihn. Credit: ICAN

In Just Ten Years ICAN Makes It To Nobel Peace Prize

By Alice Slater*

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – In Oslo on December 10, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and was accepted on behalf of the Campaign by its executive director, Beatrice Fihn, and by Setsuko Thurlow, an ICAN campaigner and survivor of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing.

Both spoke for the thousands of campaigners in over 400 organizations and more than 100 countries around the world who succeeded this fall in working with friendly governments to move a majority of states at the United Nations to adopt a treaty to prohibit to ban nuclear weapons, making their possession, use, or threat of use unlawful.

Photo: The scale of destruction in Aleppo is massive and heavy equipment is urgently needed to remove debris. Credit: UNHCR/Bassam Diab

Focus on Prevention As Conflicts Become More Intractable

By António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Following are extensive excerpts from UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks at open debate of the Security Council on 'Addressing complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security' on December 20, 2017 during Japan's presidency of the Council for the month. – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) – I would like to make three main points today. First, we are seeing not only a quantitative but also a qualitative change in threats to international peace and security. The perils of nuclear weapons are again front and centre, with tensions higher than they have been since the end of the Cold War.

Photo: The U.S. nuclear warheads are stored in some 21 locations, which include 13 U.S. states and 5 European countries. Credit: worldatlas.com

The Doomsday Machine by a Damascene Convert

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The nuclear weapon missile business is contradictory, full of missteps, highly dangerous and prepared in its madness (Mutually Assured Destruction, aka MAD, they used to call it in Cold War days) to plunge the world into a nuclear war that will reduce most of the world to dust.

A new book, “The Doomsday Machine” by Daniel Ellsberg tells the whole nuclear bomb story in detail. No one has done it better. The only rival is the movie, “Dr Strangelove”, that got the essentials right without being privy to much of the Ellsberg’s knowledge.

Photo: Dutch appeal court has ruled in favour of Mirjam van Reisen, professor and human rights activist in a case filed by Bahibi, the center of the Eritrean intelligence in the Netherlands. Credit: Tilburg University.

Dutch Court Rules Against 'Center of the Eritrean Intelligence Network'

By Martin Plaut*

AMSTERDAM (IDN-INPS) – In 2015, Dutch professor and human rights advocate Mirjam van Reisen was interviewed by Dutch radio station 'BNR Nieuwsradio' about people with ties to the Eritrean regime being employed as interpreters at the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).

Van Reisen is professor at the Tilburg University and Leiden University.

Photo: Setsuko Thurlow delivering her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Credit. Norwegian Nobel Committee.

'Listen To Our Testimony. Heed Our Warning'

By Setsuko Thurlow

Setsuko Thurlow is a Japanese-Canadian nuclear disarmament campaigner who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. She is a leading figure in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. Thurlow accepted the prize on behalf of the campaign at a ceremony in Oslo on 10 December 2017, together with Beatrice Fihn, the executive director of ICAN. Following are extensive excerpts from her Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech. – The Editor

OSLO (IDN) – It is a great privilege to accept this award, together with Beatrice, on behalf of all the remarkable human beings who form the ICAN movement. You each give me such tremendous hope that we can – and will – bring the era of nuclear weapons to an end.

Photo: Ambassador Galo Yepez, Director of NGOs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of the Republic of Ecuador, addressing on behalf of the Group of 77 and China the High-Level Opening Ceremony of the Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo 2017 on 27 November in Antalya, Turkey. Credit: UNOSSC

South-South Cooperation Complements North-South Coaction

By Ambassador Galo Yepez

Ambassador Galo Yepez is Director of NGOs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of the Republic of Ecuador. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China at the High-Level Opening Ceremony of the Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo 2017 on 27 November in Antalya, Turkey. Read our report on the Expo. – The Editor.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) - The Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo this year highlights the South-South Cooperation in the Era of Economic, Social and Environmental Transformation. In this regard I have to emphasize that South-South cooperation is a manifestation of solidarity among peoples and countries of the South that contributes to their national well-being, national and collective self-reliance and the attainment of the 2030 Agenda.

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addresses reporters during a joint statement to the media with European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini, in Brussels, Belgium on December 5, 2017. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Iran Deal 'Key Strategic Priority' for Global Security, Mogherini Tells Tillerson

By Kelsey Davenport

Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. This article was first published in their blog with the caption 'Tillerson, Mogherini Meet Ahead of Key JCPOA Deadlines'. – The Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini reiterated to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the EU would work with the United States to address shared issues related to Iran, "on the basis of continued U.S. implementation of the nuclear deal" and outside of the agreement itself.

Mogherini and Tillerson discussed the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) during a Dec. 5 bilateral meeting in Brussels.

Photo: Roman siege and destruction of Jerusalem (David Roberts,1850). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Trump's Damning Move Raises the Stakes Over Jerusalem

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - Poets as diverse as William Blake and Yehuda Amichai have sung the praises of the heavenly Jerusalem, a land without strife or rancour, war or bitterness, envy, acquisitiveness or hatred.

Until last week and President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s de facto capital, Israel, Fatah, Hamas and their common interlocutor, the U.S., had the historic opportunity to take a giant step towards making the present day Jerusalem acquire, at least in some of its aspects, the earthly prototype of the heavenly Jerusalem.

hoto: ICAN, represented by Setsuko Thurlow and Beatrice Fihn, receives the Nobel Peace Prize Medal and Diploma from Berit Reiss-Andersen of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, during the award ceremony in Oslo. Copyright: Nobel Media AB 2017.

Nobel Peace Prize for ICAN Puts Pressure on Norway to Sign the UN Treaty

By Nina Berglund

The writer is editor and publisher of Norway's news site, newsinenglish.no. This report, which originally appeared with the headline Peace Prize puts squeeze on Norway, is being reproduced courtesy of the news site. – The Editor

OSLO (IDN-INPS) - Nobel Peace Prize Day in Oslo dawned with clear and sunny skies on Sunday, but not everyone was celebrating. The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award this year’s Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) challenges Norwegian leaders to finally support a ban themselves, and now pressure is building on them to do so.