The International Security Network (ISN) published an article by BASIC's program support officer, Rachel Staley, on the possibility and desirability of nuclear abolition. The article concludes that while abolition may seem an arduous task, few governments would deny the link between non-proliferation and disarmament; if support for non-proliferation is there, there is an obligation to support global nuclear disarmament.
Analysis
UN First Committee and NATO Defence Ministers meeting
The United Nations General Assembly First Committee opens today in New York, the UN forum for disarmament and international security affairs. Its month-long session contains an ambitious program of work, including discussion on nuclear weapons and other WMDs, in the weaponisation of space, conventional weapons, regional disarmament and security, and disarmament machinery (conventions and treaties).
Missile Defense in New York
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York this week to discuss a range of NATO-Russian security issues. Missile defense is expected to dominate the agenda, and the prospects for breakthrough appear dim.
Iran news update: Israel raises the temperature
A flurry of media reports in the past week have sounded the alarm over purported advancements in Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme and Israel’s willingness to launch a first strike to prevent Iran obtaining a bomb. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak have raised the stakes in the full knowledge that the U.S. is less than three months from a presidential election.
Book review of “The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir”
In The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir, Seyed Hossein Mousavian gives us a rich history of Iran’s nuclear programme and describes his own attempts to achieve a “grand bargain” with the West. He offers a combination of text book and personal accounts but, more importantly, a political analysis of the behavior of all actors involved both past and present.
NATO’s DDPR: What to Expect and What Needs to Be Done After Chicago
NOTE: This post follows up on the front page article published in Arms Control Today, May 2, 2012
Daryl Kimball at the NATO Shadow Summit
Daryl Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association, discusses tactical nuclear weapons and NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements at the Shadow NATO Summit hosted by BASIC, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Elliott School of International Affairs, NATO Watch, and Strategy International in Washington, DC on May 14 and 15, 2012.
Harry Heintzelman at the Shadow NATO Summit
Mr. Harry Heintzelman, IV, Deputy Director of the Office of Euro Atlantic Security Affairs in the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance in the US State Department, discusses US tactical nuclear weapons in Europe and NATO’s nuclear weapon sharing arrangements at the Shadow NATO Summit hosted by BASIC, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Elliott School of International Affairs, NATO Watch, and Strategy International in Washington, DC on May 14 and 15, 2012.