Russia and the United States have begun the exchange of information on their nuclear arsenals under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty as they assess next steps on arms control and also try to resolve their differences over missile defense.
Analysis
Middle East unrest complicates quest for WMD-free zone
The recent uprisings in the Middle East have clouded the picture for a planned 2012 conference on establishing a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh writes.
Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear Proliferation
In their fourth The Wall Street Journal OpEd promoting the need for global nuclear disarmament, former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and former Senator Sam Nunn call for nations to begin moving now toward a new, safer and more stable form of deterrence with decreasing nuclear risks and an increasing measure of assured security.
Unrest Complicates 2012 Middle East Meeting
The upheavals sweeping across the Middle East have cast a long shadow over diplomatic negotiations aimed at organizing a conference on establishing a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in that region, according to officials involved in the process.
It will be too late to halt Trident’s replacement if we don’t talk now
Britain's nuclear weapons strategy will be subjected to unprecedented independent scrutiny by a group of senior defence, diplomatic, scientific and political figures who have come together to form BASIC's Trident Commission. BASIC has set up this independent, cross-party commission to examine the United Kingdom’s nuclear weapons policy and the issue of Trident renewal. The Commission will report on evidence received in early 2012.
UK defence minister: case for Trident is ‘thin’
Ian Kearns recently asked a government official what studies had been done into how long it would take and what it would cost to reconstitute the Trident deterrent if it were withdrawn from active deployment.”
The answer: none.
Nuclear weapons case to be examined by Commission
The new Trident Commission would be an “open-minded look at the issue from first principles ..… Should the UK be a nuclear power at all, and if it should, is Trident the only or best way to go about it?” proposed Ian Kearns, research director of BASIC.
U.S. diplomatic cables reveal nuclear proliferation fears
The WikiLeaks cables have revealed that the United States has consistently rebuffed private appeals from the leaders of Arab states and Israel on the need for military action against Iran over its nuclear program, as successive administrations worked on a package of global economic sanctions.
The initial leak of 240 U.S. diplomatic cables from a total 251,000 provided to five newspapers in the UK, US, Germany, France and Spain contained the following information related to nuclear non-proliferation issues:
Iran