The UK Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, argued against the cut in submarines on BBC Radio Scotland last night. He maintained that the UK requires all four submarines to provide a continuous at sea deterrent (CASD); and that to reduce that number reduces the United Kingdom's ability to deploy that deterrent.
Media
Podcast – Paul Ingram with French and Norwegian Ambassadors
Reflecting on the 2010 NPT Review Conference and future prospects, UK Amb John Duncan, for Multilateral Arms Control & Disarmament, interviews Amb Steffan Konstad, Dir Gen for Security Policy, Paul Ingram, BASIC's exectutive director, and Amb Eric Danon, French delegation leader to the NPT in 2010. The recording was made at Wilton Park in December 2010 and is shown on on the FCO website.
Select John Duncan's first podcast from: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/fco-websites/podcasts/
START expiration ends U.S. inspection of Russian nuclear bases
This Washington Post article by Mary Beth Sheridan recounts how the United States has lost the ability to peek into the Russian nuclear arsenal because the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), along with its accompanying verification measures, expired without a replacement in force.
Read the full article:
Middle East nuclear weapons free zone subject of panel discussion at the NPT Review Conference
Anne Penketh, BASIC Program Director, backed Egypt's proposals for a Middle East international conference to work towards a Middle East nuclear weapons free zone at a side event on the margins of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
The May 21 event was hosted by Greenpeace whose Israeli representative, Sharon Dolev, described how she has been trying to raise awareness for nuclear disarmament in Israel, where discussion of that country's presumed nuclear arsenal of up to 200 weapons remains taboo.
Obama cuts US nuclear arsenal – but keeps sights trained on Iran
“Obviously it is to be welcomed that the US will not develop new nuclear warheads despite pressure from the weapons labs, and that President Obama has won the argument over his core policy of limiting the use of nuclear weapons.”
BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh quoted in The Independent on the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review.
Read more:
Britain ready to put Trident on the table
PM announcement at G8 Summit
Gordon Brown announced today in Italy at the G8 Summit his willingness to put Britain\’s nuclear arsenal on the table in negotiations at Obama\’s nuclear summit next March. Paul Ingram, BASIC\’s Executive Director said: “This very concrete offer from the UK is clearly designed to create a spirit of multilateral cooperation between the nuclear weapon states in advance of the NPT Review Conference. It is to be strongly welcomed and we hope that other nuclear weapon states can respond accordingly.”
Former NATO commander calls on Britain to ditch Trident
Britain could lead the world, says US General
Serendipity, indeed
Let us consider serendipity, the aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. As I've previously noted, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade held a hearing on June 27 titled, 'AQ Khan's Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under New Management?' Click here to watch the hearing.