Margaret Thatcher died Monday, and on Wednesday Parliament is recalled for members to pay their respects. The funeral will be next Wednesday, 17th April, and will be a spectacle watched by millions. Thatcher left a lasting legacy that sent ripples way beyond the shores of Britain, not least in her approach to the Cold War at the time.
Nuclear Non-proliferation in the Gulf Roundtable Report
This is a themed report arising out of a BASIC roundtable event in Istanbul on March 25th and 26th, a few weeks before the 2013 Preparatory Committee in Geneva. Involving participants from all over the region, including GCC states, Iran, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, as well as the United States, UK and Germany, this meeting discussed the health of the non-proliferation regime as it affected the Gulf region and placed today’s debates in a longer-term context.
The U.S. Nuclear Deterrent: An International Perspective
BASIC's Executive Director reflects upon the Nuclear Deterrence Summit, which included a BASIC event on “European Perspectives on Nuclear Deterrence in the 21st Century” on February 20, 2013. This brief paper includes summaries of views expressed by a number of international participants at the conference, with a focus on transatlantic relations.
Reagan’s chief arms control negotiator dies, 92
Leading U.S. statesman, Ambassador Max Kampelman died last Friday. He has been credited with shaping US policy in the arena of human rights relations with the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, and as helping to create the diplomatic conditions that preceded the end of the Cold War.
Lib Dem leadership in government stakes out its ground ahead of Trident Alternatives Review
Interviewed in today's Guardian, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander outlined his Liberal Democrat perspective on Trident renewal.
This Week – Looking to the Year Ahead
This week there is much wrangling within the media about the likely appointment of former Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. As a politician apparently immune to the usual herd instinct and the pressures of the lobbyists, such lobbyists are attempting to block the possible appointment. Some whisper the principal reason lies in his belief that a military attack on Iran would be a mistake.
Announcements made on the Helsinki ‘2012 Conference’
The long-awaited announcements on the delay to the Helsinki ‘2012 Conference’ on a nuclear and other WMD free zone in the Middle East came out over the weekend from the co-sponsors.
What will be the fate of the Helsinki Conference?
An announcement is widely expected this week that the intergovernmental conference in Helsinki, on the establishment of a nuclear and WMD-free Zone in the Middle East, will be postponed.