#Non-Proliferation

[trendynewsnow]

Ukraine's Nuclear Dilemma: Security, NATO, and the Budapest Memorandum

Ukraine’s Security Dilemma: A Nuclear Option? In a recent discussion with the European Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a controversial statement suggesting that Ukraine’s only alternative to NATO membership might involve pursuing nuclear weapons. He remarked, “Who gave up nuclear weapons? All of them? … Ukraine. Who is fighting today? Ukraine.” This statement reverberated…

[midwesternkim]

A new wave of Imperialism

"for my friends everything, for my enemies the law" this the western policy when it comes to human rights. I am of the opinion that every country with nuclear weapons is in violation of Article 3 of the UDHR. Why? because nuclear weapons are a threat to the security of persons around the world. Should nuclear war occur, the loss of life would be unprecedented, this is why I am fundamentally opposed to nuclear weapons.

But this article is interesting because two of the three countries trying to censure Iran for enriching uranium have nuclear weapons. Why should Iran abide by the nuclear arms deal signed in 2015 when the United States under Trump backed out? Clearly the criticism is pointed in the wrong direction. Why should the people of Iran be under constant threat of nuclear attacks while us in the West are not? If we want to say that human rights are for all, we should mean it.

[airwavesdotblog]

Deadly Russian Missile Strike on Odesa: Escalation and International Outcry

A Russian missile strike targeted civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, resulting in at least 20 fatalities and numerous injuries. This attack marks the deadliest assault on the Black Sea port city since the commencement of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The incident unfolded as follows: Initial Strike: Around 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), Russia fired a missile…

[nucleartestsday]

[1st meeting] First session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will hold its first session from 31 July to 11 August 2023 at the Vienna International Centre in Vienna, Austria. This will be the first of three planned sessions that will be held prior to the 2026 Review Conference.

[peoples-media]

Ukraine Strikes Back: Significant Territorial Gains Made in Ongoing Conflict with Russia

In a significant turn of events, Ukraine has announced the recapture of approximately 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of its territory during the 68th week of Russia’s invasion. This progress marks a crucial milestone in Ukraine’s long-planned counterattack, which is now gaining momentum and posing a challenge to the Russian forces. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed…

[redpenship]

tails is a maoist. perhaps even one with third worldist characteristics

[tanadrin]

the SHWEP host does that really annoying thing where he tries to give ancient philosophers credit for anticipating modern developments, like comparing the Stoic idea of sympatheia to quantum entanglement, and like... okay, even if you have the qualitative understanding of quantum entanglement correct (which I doubt; what little of quantum entanglement and I understand and less of stoicism makes them sound like very different ideas), even a passing similarity can’t paper over the fact that there’s a strict mathematical formalism underlying the model of any quantum behavior, which is entirely absent from ancient philosophical ideas like stoicism

and i think--especially if you are an academic who studies philosophy and doesn’t actually know that much about or have much direct exposure to physics--it’s easy for a layman to make the mistake of assuming that the big idea behind something like quantum physics is the important part, and the formalism is, like, an ancillary set of details you need to figure out the answer only to specific technical questions.

now, i’m just a small town english major, but from where i’m sitting it looks to me like important part, the thing that makes physics, well, physics, the whole point of working within that system of knowledge as opposed to another one, is the mathematical formalism; the mathematical formalism, in other words, is the big idea, and the qualitative description is an attempt (frequently flawed) to simplify and analogize that formalism until you can convey at least something approaching its meaning to people who lack the training to engage with the formalism directly. attempting to engage with the ideas behind quantum mechanics without doing anything involving the mathematical formalism is just... not physics. it’s not even close. so unless and until they find a papyrus in some archeological site in egypt with an ancient greek version of the hamiltonian of an electron scrawled on the back, i’m gonna say the ancients did not in fact anticipate any of the significant developments of 20th century physics

[protoslacker]

The world quietly becomes more dangerous as the post Cold War great power promises fail, and it’s not getting harder to build a nuke. A post-Budapest proliferation world could be terrifying, especially as it is pushed into political chaos by Russia, the Middle East, and most of all, Climate Change. It is exactly the world everyone has wanted to prevent since the Trinity test. The old cold warriors aren’t supplying Ukraine out of the kindness of their hearts, but out of the cold calculus of the deal with the Devil we all made in New Mexico.

Quinn Norton at Emptywheel. Ukraine, Russia, and the Long Shadow of Nuclear Proliferation

[thetruearchmagos]

Right, got some reading to do in my spare time!

[man-and-atom]

The Bulletin finally acknowledges two key points :

The decision to use nuclear weapons, like the decision to build nuclear weapons, is a political decision. Neither of them is an automatic process, triggered by some deterministic course of events — there are numerous countries with far greater scientific, technical, and industrial capabilities than North Korea, which have not chosen to build nuclear weapons. And the people who make those political decisions (especially those who choose to start wars) are not machines whose behavior is determined by simple sets of rules with consequences that can easily be modeled.

The concentration on nuclear war as the ultimate catastrophe, and on nuclear disarmament and non–proliferation, has led to a neglect of the danger of war as such, and with it, of conventional disarmament and conciliation. Meanwhile, the Russian invasion of Crimea, in defiance of solemn pledges to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine’s renunciation of nuclear weapons, and the near total–lack of action by the other powers to enforce those pledges and uphold their own, has led directly to the current conflict. At this point, all commitments made by the nuclear weapons states in the name of non–proliferation must seem extremely suspect. That is over and above the way that the USA, in particular, has for decades been in open breach of its obligations under the Non–Proliferation Treaty to assist the Non–Weapons States in the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

What the Bulletin does not say, is that the response of the world must be two–fold. Firstly, measures military and otherwise to support Ukraine against Russian aggression must be greatly increased. Europe is still sending more money to Russia in payment for fossil fuels every month, than to Ukraine as military and economic assistance. And secondly, the commitment to the peaceful uses of atomic energy must be renewed and redoubled. Only atomic hope is powerful enough to help us escape atomic fear.

Thanks to @mgrgfan for the link.

[byeaf]

LETS KEEP GIVING A DAMN ABOUT LIFE ON EARTH!!!

If you aren't familiarized yet about FFT, it basically calls out the hushing about fossil fuels in existing environmental treaties worldwide. It calls out for the final stop on the fossil fuel industry, that has silenced science and stopped climate positive initiatives (public transit, electric sovereignty)

Read and endorse:

fossilfueltreaty.org

[sunfishsiestalah]

Recommended games to play if you enjoy Oppenheimer (2023):

[filosofablogger]

78 Years Ago - 6 August 1945

[jilyandbambi]

As a History nerd, I really fucking enjoyed it too. The Manhattan Project is, objectively, one of the most incredible stories to come out of 20th century history, and involves some of the most fascinating, larger than life figures. I'm just impressed at how Nolan was able to fit it all into a cohesive narrative.

I don't really have much to add to OP's post. Just, Oppenheimer was great and told a really complicated story about a complicated man in a complicated time in a way that was honest and nuanced, without sugar coating the moral impact (in my opinion, as someone who has studied the time period and knows the whole historical nitty-gritty re: Oppenheimer & the Manhattan Project)

I really liked Oppenheimer. I know it's not for everyone, but as someone who is interested in STEM and STEM history, especially pertaining to physics, this movie pushed all of the right buttons for me. I think it did a good job at showing just how flawed and utterly human many of these mythologized historical figures were in real life, and how the Manhattan Project was riddled with internal and external political factors from even before its conception.

I also appreciated just how utterly fucking powerful and eldritch they made the bomb. Obviously a significant portion of the movie is dedicated to the creation of the bomb, but it's often sort of a looming figure in the background. It's the increasing number of marbles in the jar, it's the steady theoretical and experimental progress, it's the dropping of dates for those who know the historical timeline of events. And when it's finally revealed, it's Fucking Terrifying. You pretty much never see the full mushroom cloud in frame; it's always a small portion of it or the flash of light shining on our characters. And the sinking feeling you get when the screen is lit up and you just know, you're anticipating that deafening blast from the shockwave because sound travels slower than light. And you feel guilty in a way because you have the privilege of knowing what's coming, while in your mind you know the victims of such devices had no idea before they were either vaporized on the spot or severly traumatized. It conveys so well the perspective of the scientists on the project, that you've challenged god and, although maybe not surpassing it, made something equally as terrifying.

Character-wise, I don't really have much to say. I do like that the latter third of the movie slowed down a lot to focus on the accusations made against Oppenheimer, which helped to flesh out a range of characters who were sort of just set pieces to Oppenheimer himself before the interviews. And despite my previous statement about breaking down the idolization of historical figures, I was indeed excited like a Marvel fan whenever one of my physics blorbos showed up on screen. "Holy shit it's Niels Bohr!!" "omg Edward Lorentz my scrunkly wunkly!!!" "ITS BONGO GUY OMG BONGO GUY I KNOW HIM" like yeah a lot of them turned out to be Not Great People in their personal lives but I can acknowledge that while also geeking out at their recognition in mainstream media.

All in all, very good movie. I intend to watch it with my mom when I get the chance.

[nucleartestsday]

See how the next generation envisions a world free of nuclear testing.

Experience the powerful work of CTBTO Youth Group (CYG) members for the Global Art Campaign. These parallel exhibits will be held in Vienna and New York, showcasing the winning submissions that vividly illustrate the contrast between a world with nuclear weapons tests and one without.

Vienna Exhibit

Dates: 29 August – 6 September Location: Rotunda, Vienna International Centre (VIC)

New York Exhibit

Dates: 3 – 6 September Location: Corridor Neck 1B, United Nations Headquarters

The exhibits feature a diverse range of creative expressions, including visual art, music, poetry, and performance. Free admission is available to staff of international organizations, delegates, and those with access to the VIC and UN HQ in New York.

Don't miss this opportunity to see how the next generation envisions a world free of nuclear testing.