Uphold the nuclear weapons test moratorium

The Trump administration is considering renewing nuclear weapons testing (1), a move that could increase the risk of another nuclear arms race as well as an inadvertent or intentional nuclear war. Following in the long tradition of scientists opposing nuclear weapons due to their harmful effects on both humanity and the planet (2), we ask the U.S. government to desist from plans to conduct nuclear tests. During the Cold War, the United States conducted 1030 nuclear weapons tests, more than all other nuclear-armed nations combined (3). In 1996, the United States signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), agreeing not to conduct a nuclear weapons test of any yield (4). The United States has not yet ratified the CTBT but did spearhead the 2016 adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2310, which calls upon all countries to uphold the object and purpose of the CTBT by not conducting nuclear tests (5). Eight of the nine nuclear-armed states, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, have observed a moratorium on nuclear testing since 1998 (3, 4). The ninth, North Korea, responding to international pressure, stopped testing warhead detonations (as opposed to missile flights) in 2017 (6). If the United States ratified the CTBT, joining the 168 countries who have already done so (4), there is a good chance that the other holdout countries would ratify the treaty as well (7)

Uphold the nuclear weapons test moratorium

The Trump administration is considering renewing nuclear weapons testing (1), a move that could increase the risk of another nuclear arms race as well as an inadvertent or intentional nuclear war. Following in the long tradition of scientists opposing nuclear weapons due to their harmful effects on both humanity and the planet (2), we ask the U.S. government to desist from plans to conduct nuclear tests. During the Cold War, the United States conducted 1030 nuclear weapons tests, more than all other nuclear-armed nations combined (3). In 1996, the United States signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), agreeing not to conduct a nuclear weapons test of any yield (4). The United States has not yet ratified the CTBT but did spearhead the 2016 adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2310, which calls upon all countries to uphold the object and purpose of the CTBT by not conducting nuclear tests (5). Eight of the nine nuclear-armed states, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, have observed a moratorium on nuclear testing since 1998 (3, 4). The ninth, North Korea, responding to international pressure, stopped testing warhead detonations (as opposed to missile flights) in 2017 (6). If the United States ratified the CTBT, joining the 168 countries who have already done so (4), there is a good chance that the other holdout countries would ratify the treaty as well (7)

One Revolution or Two? The Iranian Revolution and the Islamic Republic

The bicentennial of the French Revolution happens to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. While the first has been widely regarded as the quintessential social and transformative revolution, the second is problematical both theoretically and politically. Whereas the October Revolution was in many ways the vanguard revolution par excellence, the Iranian Revolution appears retrograde. In the Marxist view, revolution is an essential part of the forward march of history, a progressive step creating new social-productive relations as well as a new political system, consciousness and values. In this context, how might events in Iran be termed 'revolutionary'? Precisely what kind of a revolution transpired between 1977 and 1979 (and afterward)? Surely clerical rule cannot be regarded as progressive? In what sense, then, can we regard the Iranian Revolution as a step forward in the struggle for emancipation of the Iranian working classes? Clearly the Iranian Revolution presents itself as an anomaly

Comments on Warren Wagar's "Toward a Praxis of World Integration"

There is much in Warren Wagar's paper with which I agree. He questions the viability of a multiculturalist politics, draws our attention to the problematical nature of many movements that world-system theory would deem "antisystemic," and rejects "a purely relativistic multiculturalism." Similarly, I have addressed the deficiencies of political cultural movements based on various claims of identity (sec Moghadam, 1994), argued against a "mindless cultural relativism" (Moghadam, 1989), and described a secular intellectualism in the Middle East (Moghadam, 1990). I would agree with Wagar that the "ideology of a Left Enlightenment" holds the best promise for the future--but up to a point. I would also be much in favour of a World Party-but with some qualifications. There are gaps in Wagar's scenario. His rejection of all contemporary social movements as equally incapable of helping to effect a progressive trans formative politics (global democratic socialism) is both politically and methodologically flawed

GENDER AND GLOBALIZATION: FEMALE LABOR AND WOMEN'S MOBILIZATION

This paper casts a gender perspective on globalization to illuminate the contradictory effects on women workers and on women's activism. The scope of the paper is global. The sources of data are UN publications, country-based data and newsletters from women's organizations as well as the author's fieldwork. The paper begins by examining the various dimensions of globalization-economic, political and cultural, with a focus on their contradictory social-gender effects. These include inequalities in the global economy and the continued hegemony of the core, the feminization of labor, the withering away of the developmentalist/welfarist state, the rise of identity politics and other forms of particularism, the spread of concepts of human rights and women's rights, and the proliferation of women's organizations and transnational feminist networks. I argue that, although globalization has had dire economic effects, the process has created a new constituency-working women and organizing women who may herald a potent anti-systemic movement. World-systems theory, social movement theory, and development studies should take account of female labor and of oppositional transnational feminist networks

In vitro study of the effects of dihydropyrano coumarins isolated from Ferulago macrocarpa on DNA by spectroscopic and molecular modeling methods

Background and objectives: Coumarins have potential anticancer effects. Ferulago macrocarpa (Fenzl) Boiss, is a perennial herb which has shown to have several dihydropyranocoumarins like grandivittin (GRA) and dihydrofuranocoumarins such as prantschimgin (PRA). Previously the antibacterial, cytotoxic and antioxidant effect of GRA and PRA have been reported. Understanding that how GRA and PRA bind to ct- DNA, can show the mechanism of antibacterial, cytotoxic effects. Methods: F. macrocarpa fruits were collected and dried. Acetone extract of the plant was prepared and defatted. Several coumarins were purified using normal column and high performance liquid chromatographic methods. The structures were determined with NMR analysis. The electrochemical behavior of GRA and PRA was studied by cyclic voltammetry, fluorescence, UV-Vis, FT-IR spectroscopy and molecular modeling methods. Results: The cathodic peaks I and II may corresponded to the reduction of the alkene groups at the electrode surface, respectively. The peak III may be resulted from the opening and oxidation of the furan ring moiety. The complex stability constant, binding site size, diffusion coefficients of free and bounded of GRA-DNA and PRA-DNA complex were obtained by CV, DP and UV-Vis at 25 ºC. Conclusion: The binding of GRA and PRA with ct-DNA caused significance changes in electrochemical and spectral characteristics of GRA and PRA and confirming that the interaction mode of GRA and PRA with ct-DNA is major groove with binding site size of 1