Is the rules-based international order credible if its rules do not apply equally to all nations? The question has come to the fore yet again following the war involving Iran, Israel and the US.
The antagonists claim rules-based justification. Israel evokes self-defence allowed under the UN Charter, because Iran uses armed proxies, annihilatory rhetoric and, allegedly, hankers for nuclear weapons.
Iran denies aggressive nuclear intentions. The sceptics ask why it then purifies uranium almost to weaponisation thresholds in hidden locations. Meanwhile, does not the same international law that allows the US to militarily defend its Israeli ally, permit Iran to aid its ally, Palestine, to counter its dispossession that is consequential to failed international law?
That is how rules constructed by the victors of the Second World War are confused and abused. They promise peace and prosperity but on terms that leave many behind, while entrenching unfair power inequalities. Inevitably, historically aggrieved nations became discontented as their post-colonial self-consciousness evolves.
To appreciate how this reflects in the nuclear issue requires going back to Germany’s 1938 discovery of nuclear fission and attempted Nazi weaponisation. The Allied reaction culminated in the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The world changed forever.
Researchers coerced by the Nazis – many of them Jewish – were grabbed by the Allies to kickstart their own nuclear enterprises. A Cold War race for “super weapons” led the Soviet Union to match US capabilities by 1949. The UK, fearing loss of great-power status, acquired nuclear weapons in 1952. French prestige necessitated catching up in 1960 by collaborating with a young Israel to “access international Jewish scientists”.
China’s fear of the US’s “atomic blackmail” during the 1950s Korean War triggered it to go thermonuclear in 1964 by trading its uranium for Soviet nuclear technology.
Perhaps it is not coincidental that the original nuclear powers are also the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the veto-wielding arbiters of the rules-based order. The fear, mistrust and paranoia on which it was founded has also paralysed it.
Once the original nuclear powers had developed their core arsenals, the rules-based system kicked in to stop others, condemning non-nuclear states to permanent second-class status. They were obliged to accede to the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons – or NPT – to get crucial investments and technologies for development.
A hundred-and-ninety countries are party to the NPT, including Iran but not Israel. Rules require policing and the UN produced the International Atomic Energy Agency. It was born in 1957 in the Rose Garden of the White House in expectation that it would remain connected to its birthplace, although headquartered in Vienna. Despite that, the IAEA does an honest and impartial job tracking and alerting the world on nuclear developments.
But its laudable mandate to promote peaceful uses of the atom can be at cross-purposes with its role as a “safeguards inspectorate” to verify misuse or diversion of nuclear materials. This requires state co-operation as the IAEA can’t detect “undeclared” materials and activities. The loophole allowed western allies to attack Iraq in 2003, although the IAEA found no evidence for weapons of mass destruction there.
Meanwhile, Israeli innovation of international law created a precedent for “preventive war” against potential WMD possession, by destroying an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, a Syrian one in 2007, and damaging Iran’s facilities in 2010. The latest Israeli and American attacks on Iran are a consequence of gaps in the international order that allow discretion to the powerful to exercise judgment.
Such thinking drives insecure countries to extraordinary lengths to get nuclear “insurance”. Border wars with China compelled India to go nuclear in 1974, spurring rival Pakistan to do the same in 1998.
India never joined the NPT because it objects to international agreements that lessen its status in the world order. Why should sovereign India not develop nuclear capabilities if great powers do? An argument that Iran echoes and which may force its NPT departure, especially due to the recent war.
Without India, Pakistan did not join NPT either. When the US earlier kept nuclear missiles in South Korea, North Korea embarked on its own programme, confirming nuclear capability in 2005 after NPT withdrawal in 2003. Perhaps Ukraine is now regretting returning its nuclear arsenal to Russia following the 1992 Soviet break-up.
Another six nations host nuclear weapons as members of their respective military blocs – Belarus (Collective Security Treaty Organisation) and Belgium, Germany, Italy, Germany, Netherlands (Nato). Spillover fears from the Russia-Ukraine war have increased pressure on frontline Baltic states to host Nato nuclear weapons.
Fear is said to have propelled Israeli policy, too, following wars against its Arab neighbours. It is believed to have worked surreptitiously since 1967 to generate a stock of 90 nuclear warheads.
In short, the world’s nine nuclear states hold more than 12,330 warheads, 90 per cent of which are almost equally split between Russia and the US. A visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki is enlightening to appreciate the consequences of potential deployment. One of today’s weapons dropped on a big city would cause incalculable destruction with an estimated 600,000 fatalities and millions of long-term affected.
That going nuclear has existentialist consequences was the argument for rules-based deterrence during the Cold War. It worked because there were two centralised, disciplined and comparable power blocs.
That is not so in our multipolar world. Arms reduction talks have stalled, and existing nuclear powers are busy modernising their arsenals. There is concern that disgruntled non-state actors could spread terror by stealing nuclear materials to make so-called “dirty bombs”.
Past absolute taboos on nuclear weapon use have been replaced by reckless talk of the battlefield utility of short-range low-yield “tactical” weapons under decentralised command-and-control, including so-called “suitcase nukes” and neutron bombs that maximise radiation while minimising blast effects. The risk of misunderstanding and accident is further increased with nuclear states increasingly shifting doctrine from explicit “no first use” to “deliberate ambiguity”.
Nuclear strike possibilities have been raised in relation to the Russia-Ukraine and India-Pakistan conflicts. Meanwhile, although the Geneva Conventions on international humanitarian law prohibit attacks on nuclear plants because of disproportionate civilian contamination risk, there is a loophole for facilities with dual military use. Israel and the US used that to justify bombing Iranian facilities.
In January, the Doomsday Clock was moved by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has got to that symbolically apoplectic moment since 1947. The implied implosion of nuclear order comes at a most dangerous time, which may mark the beginning of a new World War. That is not fanciful at a time of record numbers of lengthy conflicts merging across multiple geographies, economies and technological dimensions. By transforming into “whole of society” wars of merciless intensity, they trample previous norms with impunity.
Hoping that humanity will peer down the deepening precipice and recoil in horror is not enough. Neither is restoring a nuclear order already contested on grounds of inequity. The construction of a fundamentally different, fairer rules-based international order is ever more urgent. This is not easy. A step-by-step approach is essential with many reversals expected along the way.
The war between Iran on the one side and Israel and the US on the other is a good moment to start on the long haul ahead.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Richard Jewell
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley
Two-and-a-half out of five stars
WWE TLC results
Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles
Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax
Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre
Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match
Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match
Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day
R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
PROVISIONAL FIXTURE LIST
Premier League
Wednesday, June 17 (Kick-offs uae times) Aston Villa v Sheffield United 9pm; Manchester City v Arsenal 11pm
Friday, June 19 Norwich v Southampton 9pm; Tottenham v Manchester United 11pm
Saturday, June 20 Watford v Leicester 3.30pm; Brighton v Arsenal 6pm; West Ham v Wolves 8.30pm; Bournemouth v Crystal Palace 10.45pm
Sunday, June 21 Newcastle v Sheffield United 2pm; Aston Villa v Chelsea 7.30pm; Everton v Liverpool 10pm
Monday, June 22 Manchester City v Burnley 11pm (Sky)
Tuesday, June 23 Southampton v Arsenal 9pm; Tottenham v West Ham 11.15pm
Wednesday, June 24 Manchester United v Sheffield United 9pm; Newcastle v Aston Villa 9pm; Norwich v Everton 9pm; Liverpool v Crystal Palace 11.15pm
Thursday, June 25 Burnley v Watford 9pm; Leicester v Brighton 9pm; Chelsea v Manchester City 11.15pm; Wolves v Bournemouth 11.15pm
Sunday June 28 Aston Villa vs Wolves 3pm; Watford vs Southampton 7.30pm
Monday June 29 Crystal Palace vs Burnley 11pm
Tuesday June 30 Brighton vs Manchester United 9pm; Sheffield United vs Tottenham 11.15pm
Wednesday July 1 Bournemouth vs Newcastle 9pm; Everton vs Leicester 9pm; West Ham vs Chelsea 11.15pm
Thursday July 2 Arsenal vs Norwich 9pm; Manchester City vs Liverpool 11.15pm
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20CarbonSifr%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202022%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Onur%20Elgun%2C%20Mustafa%20Bosca%20and%20Muhammed%20Yildirim%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Climate%20tech%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%241%20million%20raised%20in%20seed%20funding%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Comeback: Elvis And The Story Of The 68 Special
Simon Goddard
Omnibus Press
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – Rally schedule:
Saturday: Super Special Spectator Stage – Yas Marina Circuit – start 3.30pm.
Sunday: Yas Marina Circuit Stage 1 (276.01km)
Monday: Nissan Stage 2 (287.92km)
Tuesday: Al Ain Water Stage 3 (281.38km)
Wednesday: ADNOC Stage 4 (244.49km)
Thursday: Abu Dhabi Aviation Stage 5 (218.57km) Finish: Yas Marina Circuit – 4.30pm.
Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
