The following talking points are provided to assist discussion of theatre* nuclear weapons (TNW) and the challenges they pose to European security writ large, not simply to NATO.
NATO Incapable of Change on Nuclear Sharing
Analysis
Geneva talks: a fresh opportunity for Iran & E3+3 (P5+1)
The latest installment of the negotiations between Iran and the E3+3 (P5+1: United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia, France, and Germany) will resume on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva. Negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program are now into their 10th year, and each year brings about more disappointment and more anxiety over concerns of nuclear proliferation.
The importance of seeing and grasping opportunities
The annual month-long meeting of the General Assembly’s First Committee, responsible for issues of international peace and security, begins today in New York. Two issues have been on the media’s agenda: disarming Syria of its chemical weapons and the next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the E3+3. Both involve a degree of optimism, perhaps even an excitement around the possibilities, rarely seen in the U.N. corridors in recent years. Perhaps it is because these openings for progress have been so unexpected.
The importance of seeing and grasping the opportunities
The annual month-long meeting of the General Assembly’s First Committee, responsible for issues of international peace and security, begins today in New York. Two issues have been on the media’s agenda: disarming Syria of its chemical weapons and the next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the E3+3. Both involve a degree of optimism, perhaps even an excitement around the possibilities, rarely seen in the U.N. corridors in recent years. Perhaps it is because these openings for progress have been so unexpected.
Working towards a WMD-free Middle East
Despite notes of caution and a lack of concrete offers, Presidents Obama and Rouhani set the stage for increased engagement at the UN last week. With calls for a WMD-free zone in the Middle East reaffirmed, Israel’s game plan will be central.
The Iran-Russia Relationship & Reviving Nuclear Negotiations
Recent developments in the Middle East look to be further strengthening the relationship between Iran and Russia. The election of relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, holds great promise for the future of the diplomatic approach to Iran’s nuclear programme that the Russians have invested a great deal in, and in which they have supported reduced sanctions.
Theater Nuclear Weapons – A Direct Threat to European Security
BASIC has had a lot to say over the years about U.S. theater nuclear weapons (TNW) in Europe. (I will repeat here, ad nauseam for some, that it is a grave mistake to call such weapons ‘tactical’; any deliberate nuclear explosion must have strategic consequences. ‘Theater’, meanwhile, simply denotes their basing posture and connotes their intended use, from within a military theater of operations.)
Iran, the United States, Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, at the United Nations
World leaders will descend upon New York this week to meet, and deliver their annual remarks to the United Nations General Assembly. The Syrian crisis is sure to take up a fair amount of diplomatic attention at the podium and on the sidelines, but there will also be opportunities for nuclear diplomacy.