Activities Report
1 July - 30 September 2009
An Update for BASIC Council, Advisors, Patrons,
Donors and Partners
Also available in pdf.
Looking Ahead
Following up on BASIC's last reception at
Brian Eno's studio in April 2008 we are involved in hosting
a conference and then a high-profile event on 3rd December
2009 to challenge the cynical and sceptical viewpoint that
nuclear weapons and hostility between states is inevitable.
1) Day Conference at RUSI
In collaboration with the Royal United Services institute
(RUSI) and the United Nations Association (UK) we are planning
a day-long policy conference involving senior policy-makers,
military, politicians, and think-tankers to discuss Britain's
role in establishing the momentum for global nuclear disarmament.
2) Evening event — Visions for a New Century
In collaboration with Brian Eno and Ploughshares,
we are planning a major high-profile event that celebrates
the belated birth of a new century and to encourage political
leaders to continue down the path towards nuclear disarmament.
The idea is to capture some of the buzz we witnessed during
last year's Presidential campaign —the hope and the optimism.
We believe that ultimately nuclear disarmament will only be
possible if governments change the way they relate to each
other. We think that this would best be achieved by focusing
on an optimistic future for the new century —that the
21st century hasn't really had a chance to emerge yet (possibly
because of a jump backwards during the Bush years) and only
now are possibilities starting to emerge. Working closely
with Brian Eno we have alighted on the theme —Visions
for the New Century —and intend to have a variety of
performances, comedy, speeches, film clips and video-messages
along this theme.
Programme Activities
UK Parliamentarians Urge Action on Nuclear Nonproliferation
and Disarmament during high-level meetings in Washington
In partnership with the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group
(APPG) on Global Security and Non-proliferation, BASIC organized
a high-level visit of UK Parliamentarians to Washington, DC
from 8-11 September 2009. The cross-party delegation included:
- Rt. Hon. Des Browne, MP (Labour), Former Foreign
Defence Secretary
- Lord Hannay of Chiswick (Crossbench)
- Dr. David Lidington, MP (Conservative)
- Tony Lloyd, MP (Labour)
- Chloe Dalton, Special Advisor to Rt. Hon. William
Hague, MP (Conservative and Shadow Foreign Secretary)
They discussed nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation
opportunities with the following Senators: Sen. Robert
Bennett (Republican-Utah), Sen. Jim DeMint (Republican-South
Carolina); Sen. Jon Kyl (Republican-Arizona), and Sen.
Jeff Merkley (Democrat-Oregon). The delegation also met
with professional staff members from the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee representing both Senators John Kerry and Richard
Lugar.
The delegation also visited officials in the Executive branch:
including Ellen Tauscher, Under Secretary for Arms
Control and International Security; Amb. Susan Burk,
Special Representative of the President for Nuclear Non-Proliferation;
Robert Einhorn, Special Advisor for Nonproliferation
and Arms Control, Michèle Flournoy, Under Secretary
of Defense for Policy; Julianne Smith, Principal Director,
Europe/NATO, Office of the Secretary of Defense, International
Security Affairs, Pentagon; Gary Samore, Special Assistant
to the President and White House Coordinator for Arms Control
and Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism, National Security
Council; Brian McKeon, Deputy National Security Advisor
to the Vice President; and Jon Wolfsthal, Special Advisor
to the Vice President for WMD and Nonproliferation Issues.
In preparation for the meetings, BASIC organized an experts
briefing for the delegation, held at the Union
of Concerned Scientists (UCS), with representatives from
the Center for
Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the Federation
of American Scientists, The
Brookings Institution, and UCS.
In cooperation with the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace on 9 September, BASIC
co-hosted an event in which the delegation headlined: British
Parliamentarian Perspectives on Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation.
A summary with audio and video are available on the Carnegie
Endowment's website.
The delegation met with numerous other experts in the field
and was hosted by the British Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission,
Dominick Chilcott, for a reception at the beginning of the
visit.
US Nuclear Posture Review and NATO
BASIC co-organized with the New
America Foundation (NAF) an off-the-record meeting on
the US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and extended deterrence
within the context of NATO's Strategic Concept Review. Jan
Lodal (recent President of the Atlantic Council of the
United States and a former senior Defense Department and White
House official) and Arnold Kanter (former Under Secretary
of State for Political Affairs) started off the meeting with
brief presentations. The event was held on 16 September at
NAF in Washington, DC and was attended by diplomats from NATO
embassies and other experts on the issue.
BASIC staff in London and Washington also continued to meet
with NATO embassies for private discussions on the NPR, extended
deterrence, and NATO. BASIC's position was also picked up
by the media at the UN for Obama's speech on nuclear disarmament
which coincided with a CTBT conference.
Organisation, Staffing and Fundraising
Anne Penketh has joined BASIC as Program
Director in our office in Washington DC. Anne brings with
her an impressive background
in international journalism and a golden rollerdex of personal
contacts. Previously Diplomatic Editor at The Independent,
Anne has covered disarmament issues for many years with on-the-ground
experience of the U.S., Russian, Iranian and North Korean
dimensions. She covered the Geneva and Reykjavik summits between
Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev in the mid 1980s, was posted
in Moscow in the 1980s, and reported on disarmament and non-proliferation
issues including the standoff over Iraq's WMD and Iran's nuclear
program.
Ian Kearns has also joined BASIC to work
with us part-time to deepen our impact in London. As former
Deputy Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research
(IPPR) and principal author and driver of their recent National
Security Commission, he brings with him deep working relationships
with the policy elite in London both inside and outside of
government. He will be working for both BASIC and the Royal
United Services Institute (RUSI), strengthening the relationship
we already have with this important think tank in our policy
area. He is a regular media commentator with a wealth of government
connections, and frequently consulted by officials on policy
matters of direct relevance to BASIC.
BASIC would like to thank Anna Tomaskovic-Devey,
Michael Pucci and Simon Fuchs for their services as interns
in Washington, DC. The Washington office is currently benefiting
from the efforts of Nicholas Meros, our newest intern, and
Leila Lomba, who has continued to assist with bookkeeping
in Washington.
BASIC in the News
Highlights
BBC Radio Wales, Today Programme —The US-Russia
summit in Moscow and the START replacement treaty, 7 Jul 2009
The Telegraph, Gordon Brown delays Trident
work, 17 Jul 2009
New Scientist, Trident nuclear missile programme
in doubt, 22 Jul 2009
The Independent, The case for Henry Kissinger,
18 Aug 2009.
Bloomberg TV, NATO and its role in future (on the
anniversary of begin of WW2), 1 Sept 09
BBC The World Tonight, Radio interview on Iran nuclear
program, 3 Sept 2009
The Guardian, Rise of new powers puts Anglo-American
relations in shade, 2 Sept 2009
BBC World Tonight (BBC2) TV interview – Iran's nuclear
file, what is the future of sanctions and other attempts to
control the nuclear programme?, 3 Sept 2009
Bloomberg TV, The Iranian nuclear file, 7 Sept 09
The Guardian, Nuclear-free world ultimate aim
of new cross-party pressure group, 8 September 2009
BBC Radio Wales, Brown's (apparent) decision to reduce
from 4 to 3 submarines in the new system, 23 Sept 09
Aljazeera English, UN Security Council and nuclear
disarmament, 23 Sept 09
Financial Times, Hutton spells out Trident
concerns, 24 Sept 2009
Defence Management, Hutton Queries Trident Reduction,
24 Sept 2009
The Guardian, Obama hails historic resolution
to rid world form nuclear weapons, 24 Sept 2009.
Associated Press, TV interview, What is happening
with Iran's secret enrichment facility?, 25 Sept 2009
CNN, Iran fallout scenarios, 25 Sept 2009
CBS, Western Leaders Demand Investigation of Newly
Disclosed Iranian Nuclear Facility, 25 Sept 2009
Info Agency. Iran builds second uranium enrichment
plant, 26 Sept 2009
CNN, Iran's president rejects Obama accusations about
nuclear efforts, 26 Sept 2009
CNN, Iran test-fires long-range missiles, 29 Sept
2009
Articles
The Independent
Publications, Meetings and Submissions
BASIC Papers
Special Report
Getting to Zero Blog
BASIC Email Updates Series
- Getting to Zero (nuclear weapons):
28 July
- Iran (news and comment on the diplomatic
movements over Iran's nuclear programme): 30 July
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BASIC's work is made possible by the generous
support of our donors: the Ploughshares
Fund, the Ford Foundation,
the Joseph Rowntree Charitable
Trust, the Marmott Trust, Polden-Puckham
Charitable Foundation, Rockefeller Family & Associates,
and individual contributors to BASIC. We are grateful to all
of them for their support.
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