A new research resource, compiled by Dr Nick Ritchie, collates sources on the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Humanitarian Initiative.
Nick Ritchie
Researcher
Nick researches and teaches in the areas of international relations and international security at the University of York. His particular focus is on nuclear disarmament, proliferation and arms control and US and UK national security.
After completing his PhD thesis at the University of Bradford in 2007 on the evolution of US nuclear weapons policy after the Cold War, Nick spent four years researching and teaching at Bradford’s Department of Peace Studies before joining York in 2011. He previously worked for five years at the Oxford Research Group, an independent Non-Governmental Organisation working with policy-makers and independent experts on the challenges of global security and nuclear disarmament.
Read Nick Richie’s Content
Discover below Nick’s posts ordered from newest to oldest
Feeding the ‘Monster’: Escalating Capital Costs for the Trident Successor Programme
In October 2015 Jon Thomson, Permanent Under Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, described the Trident Successor programme as a “monster” that kept him up at night, “the biggest project the Ministry of Defence will ever take on” and “an incredibly complicated area in which to try to estimate future costs.”
Eyes wide shut: Commons Defence Committee and UK security policy
It appears self-evident to a key Westminster committee that global insecurity requires a significant upgrade in UK military capability. Self-evident—and wrong.
Response to the Trident Commission Concluding Report
The Commission’s concluding report, published on 1 July 2014, is intended to inform a more considered debate over Britain’s nuclear weapon policy focused on national security, mindful of the politics and the strategic and diplomatic context. This is a direct response to the report and represents the views of the author. BASIC publishes it here as part of an ongoing discussion.
A progressive nuclear weapons policy for the next Labour government
The UK has now embarked on an expensive, long and controversial programme to replace Trident, beginning with a new fleet of ballistic missile submarines to carry the US-designed and built Trident missiles into the 2060s.
It’s crunch time on Trident for Miliband and his party
Nick Ritchie's op-ed in the Guardian highlights the political decisions that need to be made following the release of the government's Trident Alternatives Review. Ritchie refers to his recent co-authored report with Paul Ingram, 'Trident in UK Politics and Public Opinion'.
Read the op-ed on the Guardian's website:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/17/crunch-trident-miliband-labour-statesmanship
Trident in UK Politics and Public Opinion
Nuclear weapons policy looks set to feature as a political issue in the 2015 general election. A broad consensus on UK nuclear weapons policy since of the end of the Cold War amongst the party leaderships of the three main Westminster parties has been disturbed by the debate on whether and, if so, how to replace the current Trident nuclear weapons system.
Op-Ed: David Cameron’s Nuclear Fantasy Land
David Cameron argues for replacing the Trident nuclear system due to future uncertainties and threats from North Korea and Iran. The author criticizes this stance, highlighting the historical context, fragility of nuclear deterrence, and alternative security challenges. They argue that reliance on nuclear weapons is a misguided strategy in a rapidly changing global security environment.
Meet Our Authors
Read more about our main contributors and browse their latest content and publications.
Vinod Kumar
A. Vinod Kumar is Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), and a Visiting Faculty at the Institute of…
Norman Moss
Norman Moss is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He was born in London in 1928 but was raised and educated partly in New York.
Anthony Rinna
Anthony V. Rinna is a Senior Editor with Sino-NK, a research organization dedicated to analyzing Northeast Asia. Formerly trained as an…
Rebecca Cousins
Rebecca Cousins was BASIC’s Programme Director for the Next Gen project. Prior to that, she was a diplomat in the British Foreign and…
Rachel Staley Grant
Rachel Staley Grant joined NTI in August 2016 and serves as the Director of Public Education. Between 2011 and 2016, Staley Grant…
Edmond Seay III
Ted Seay is an independent arms control and disarmament consultant currently based in London. He was assigned to the U.S. Mission to…
Ward Wilson
Ward Wilson Senior Fellow Ward Wilson was senior fellow and director of the Rethinking Nuclear…
Ian Kearns
Dr Ian Kearns is the co-Founder of the European Leadership Network and serves on the ELN’s Board of Directors. Dr Kearns served as…
Anne Penketh
Anne Penketh was BASIC Program Director in Washington from 2009 to 2012. Previously she was a staff journalist with major media…
Tim Street
Tim recently completed his PhD exploring the politics of nuclear disarmament at Warwick University as part of a collaborative…
Lianet Vazquez
Lianet Vazquez was the Herbert Scoville Jr Peace Fellow at BASIC in 2014.
Tabitha Sanders
Tabitha Sanders is one of the organisers of #NatSecGirlSquad, a US initiative to support women working in National Security. She was a…
Nina Sofie Pedersen
Nina Sofie Pedersen is a Researcher at BASIC. Her current responsibilities include researching and developing the Programme on…
John Thomson
Sir John Thomson was a British Diplomat who was High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to the UN. He served as adviser to BASIC.
Chris Lindborg-Pena
Christina Pena was BASIC’s Analyst and Programme Manager.
Ian Davis
Dr Ian Davis is an independent human security and arms control consultant, writer and founding director of NATO Watch…