International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation

ECOMIR Award to David Krieger and Reiner Braun

David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and Reiner Braun, member of the International Network of Scientists and Engineers for Global Responsibility received the ECOMIR Peace and Environmental Prize 2006.

ECOMIR is awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the city of Moscow, the Russian Duma, and Lomonossow University to honor scientific and practical contributions towards "protecting life on planet earth," for science and research in sustainable development and for commitment to peace and the environment.

In his award speech, Prof. Valery Petrosyan — head of the jury — pointed out that Reiner Braun was mainly honored for his work at the Max Planck Institute during the 2005 Einstein Year. The book “Einstein — Peace now! Visions and Ideas”, published by Wiley-VCH and edited by the two prizewinners, as well as the Einstein exhibition “Albert Einstein — Chief Engineer of the Universe” were chosen for combining scientific peace research, current challenges to peace, and the relevant historical background.

“Einstein — PeaceNow!” contains articles from a host of Nobel laureates, prominent scientists, and authors committed to peace issues and justice as varied as Joseph Rotblat and Mikhail Gorbachev, Jack Steinberger and Hartmut Graßl, Hanan Ashrawi and Jakob von Uexküll, Felicia Langer and Alla Yaroshinskaya, and many others. The book contains an Appendix with an interview about Einstein and several documents.

R. Braun and D. Krieger (eds.), Einstein — Peace Now! Visions and Ideas. Wiley- VCH, Weinheim, 2005, 305 pages, ISBN 3-527-40604-2, Euro 29,90.

Faslane 365

The Faslane 365 Demand: Trident must be taken out of deployment and the government should make a timetable for dismantling the weapons, together with a commitment not to develop any new nuclear weapons.

Faslane 365 is an audacious civil resistance initiative to apply critical public pressure for the disarmament of Britan’s nuclear weapons.

Building on the success of previous mass blockades of the Trident nuclear base at Faslane (near Glasgow in Scotland), Faslane 365 organizes a year-long continuous blockade at Faslane in Scotland from October 1, 2006, to September 30, 2007. To make this happen, groups and organizations from Scotland, England, Wales, and beyond are invited to come and shut down the base for at least a twoday period each during the year.

The purpose of Faslane 365 is twofold: to bring people to witness and impede the nuclear base where Britain’s nuclear weapons are deployed, and enable them to demonstrate the range of serious concerns — from human rights to climate change — that people in the real world consider to be the vital challenges for the 21st century.

Become part of this unique opportunity to make a vital difference! There will be plenty of help and support, including non-violence workshops, and a detailed briefing pack.

For more information, check www.faslane.365 or send mail to info [at] faslane3645.org.

Civil Society Review of the Final WMDC Report

The Civil Society Review of the Report of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC) is a project of the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy, Western States Legal Foundation, and Reaching Critical Will/Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, in partnership with the Arms Control Association.

In addition to a comprehensive analysis of the report, the project provides background information, context, and further resources related to the report and the topics it covers.

Civil society organizations with expertise in non-proliferation and disarmament will release an in-depth analysis in March 2007.

The mandate of the WMDC is to investigate ways of reducing the dangers posed by nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons. The WMDC released its report on June 1, 2006, at United Nations headquarters in New York (see Weapons of Terror by Henrik Salander on page 55 of this INESAP Information Bulletin).

The WMDC report offers an important opportunity to raise public awareness about the urgent need to work for the global elimination of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Civil society organizations will make every effort to maximize this opportunity.

For more information, check www.wmdreport.org or call +1-212 818 18 61.

The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent

by The Secretary of State for Defence and The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs By Command of Her Majesty

At the 2005 General Election in the United Kingdom, the Labour manifesto made a commitment to retain the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent. Even with an extension to their lives, the Vanguard class submarines are likely to start leaving service from the early 2020s. The British Ministry of Defence estimates that it will take around 17 years to design, manufacture, and commission a replacement submarine. So, they argue, there is a need to take decisions now on whether to retain this capability in the longer term.

After broad NGO protest about a lack of public debate on this issue, on 20th July 2006, the Leader of the British House of Commons, Jack Straw, announced that “we should involve the House fully in a decision as important as the renewal of our nuclear deterrent and in practical terms it is inevitable that there will therefore be a chance for the House to express its view on that important matter in a vote.”

To facilitate this debate, the British government issued the White Paper on The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent in December 2006.

One months earlier, the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament issued an Alternative White Paper. Safer Britain, Safer World. The decision not to replace Trident to secure a full public and parliamentarian debate on this crucial issue. The Alternative White Paper (8 pages, November 2006) can be downloaded at www.cnduk.org/pages/altwhitepaper.pdf.

With a Foreword by Prime Minister Tony Blair, December 2006, 40 pages, The Stationary Office, ID 5476717 11/06; www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/ AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/ PolicyStrategyandPlanning/DefenceWhite Paper2006Cm6994.htm.

Missile Control?

UNIDIR

Issue 1, 2007, of Disarmament Forum, the quarterly journal of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, addresses security, arms control, non-proliferation, and disarmament issues related to missiles in order to assess the current situation and investigate future prospects for control. Following two United Nations panels of governmental experts on missiles in 2002 and 2004 (the latter of which failed to adopt a consensus report) and an expert study conveyed by the UN Secretary-General to the General Assembly in 2006, a third panel of governmental experts is due to be convened later this year. This issue of Disarmament Forum is conceived with a view to providing food for thought both for that panel, and for the journal’s broader readership: Missiles matter by Christophe Carle; Missiles in conflict: the issue of missiles in all its complexity by Jürgen Scheffran; Lessons from regional approaches to managing missiles by Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu; Missile control agreements: a general approach to monitoring and verification by Michael Vannoni and Kent Biringer; Connecting paradigms: MANPADS in the national and human security debates by James Bevan; The final frontier: missile defence in space? by Bruno Gruselle.

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), disarmament forum, issue 1/2007, 66 pages, ISSN 1020- 7287; available at www.unidir.org.

Space Law: Current Problems and Perspectives for Future Regulation

by Marietta Benkö and Kai Uwe Schrogl (eds.)

This book has an interdisciplinary approach and consists of 16 contributions written by a team of distinguished scholars and experienced practitioners in the legal, technical, as well as in the political field. The contributions in this book reflect on the growing diversification of space law and are divided in two parts. The first part provides a look at the current developments in international space law and regulation and the second part investigates future perspectives of this process.

In a recent review, Birgit Wagner wrote: “This book traces these developments in a thus far unusual clarity. In addition the authors do not stop at this point but also provide in every contribution some constructive and imaginative views on how to tackle future problems.”

N.B. The book contains an article by the editors of the INESAP Information Bulletin, Regina Hagen and Jürgen Scheffran: International Space Law and Space Security — Expectations and Criteria for a Sustainable and Peaceful Use of Outer Space.

Volume 2, Essential Air and Space Law (EASL), Eleven International Publishing, Utrecht, 2005, 310 pages, ISBN 90- 77596-11-9, hardcover, Euro 120.

Space Security 2006

by Spacesecurity.org

The Space Security Index is the first and only annual, comprehensive, and integrated assessment of space security. Based on eight indicators of space security, it provides background information and in-depth analysis on key trends and developments in the space field. The project seeks to provide a policy-neutral fact base of trends and developments in space security based on primary, open source research. It also includes an annual assessment of the status of space security based on a consultative process engaging a broad range of stakeholders.

The objective of the Space Security Index is to facilitate dialogue on space security challenges and potential responses by providing the necessary facts and focus to inform an important debate.

The Space Security Index is a research partnership between several academic, governmental, and non-governmental organizations, who together make up the consortium, Spacesecurity.org. For the current and past Space Security Index issues, briefing notes, and a directory of Space Actors around the world, including civil, military, and commercial, see www.spacesecurity.org/publications.htm.

Spacesecurity.org, Canada, July 2006, 220 pages, ISBN 1-895722-53-5, PDF file available at www. spacesecurity.org.

European Military Space Capabilities. A Primer

by Theresa Hitchens and Tomas Valasek

Theresa Hitchens, director of the Washington- based Center for Defense Information, and Tomas Valasek, former director of the World Security Institute's Brussels office, provide a unique look at Europe's burgeoning military space programs in their latest publication on European security and space policy.

Traditionally a region that concentrates on civil and commercial space applications, this comprehensive guide shows how Europe’s collective and national space projects with military capabilities have grown considerably over the years. Dedicated military systems such as the optical Helios and the synthetic-aperture radar SARLupe, dual-use assets like Pleiades, TopSat, and SPOT, but also ostensibly civilian and commercial systems like TerraSAR-X, Rapid Eye, Skynet, and many others are described. The new European navigational satellite system Galileo and GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) are particularly interesting cases: originally designed for civilian use, both system now acquire considerable military importance in the European Union.

The World Security Insitutes, Center for Defense Information, Washington, D.C., March 2006, 68 page, ISBN 1-932019- 28-6, US$ 25.

Nuclear Power: Myth and Reality

by Heinrich Böll Stiftung (ed.)

The fresh worldwide debate about nuclear energy has been rekindled after decades of silent ageing of the nuclear industry. The insatiable energy hunger of the fast growing economies of the East like China and India, rising oil prices, uncertainties about the quantity (“peak oil”) and security of energy supplies (e.g. of natural gas from Russia), and the climate change are used as arguments for nuclear energy.

But there seems to be more hype than facts to this “nuclear renaissance.” In reality, the percentage of electricity generated from nuclear power is quickly shrinking. Even the new power plants currently under construction in Asia and one in Europe (Finland) cannot stem the tide.

Nuclear Power: Myth and Reality presents a series of thematic papers on safety, nuclear fuels, proliferation economics, and climate change, taking a fresh look and providing new information and up-to-date analysis on the main questions surrounding the nuclear energy.

The book is also available in German under the title of Mythos Atomkraft (380 Seiten, ISBN: 3- 927760-51-X, Euro 6, www.boell.de).

Heinrich Böll Foundation Regional Office for Southern Africa, co-published by WISE, 2006, 356 pages, ISBN 0-620- 36255-3.

Deadly Arsenals. Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Threats

by Joseph Cirincione, Jon B. Wolfsthal, and Miriam Rajkumar

Deadly Arsenals provides the most upto- date and comprehensive assessment available on global proliferation dangers, with a critical assessment of international enforcement efforts. An invaluable resource for academics, policy makers, students, and the media, this atlas includes strategic and historical analysis; maps, charts, and graphs of the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and missile delivery systems; descriptions of the weapons and regimes — and policies to control them; and data on countries that have, want, or have given up these deadly weapons.

The new edition addresses the recent, dramatic developments in Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and the nuclear black market, analyzing strategic and policy implications.

The book contains 14 concise country maps, maps showing the nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and ballistic missile status, plus a separate folder-map on the proliferation status in 2005.

Graphs, tables, and documents, complement this overview.

Second Edition, revised and expanded, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C., 2005, 490 pages, ISBN 0-87003-216-X, US$ 29,95.