The Middle East has been left out of the P5+1's negotiations with Iran, and the GCC states want in. At a conference on nuclear non-proliferation in the Gulf, participants raised concerns of double standards for Iran and Israel. Gulf states view military action against Iran as a last resort, but also see the Iranian threat as a global one. Anne Penketh reports.
Content Type
International Cooperation in Nuclear Security
Commenting on the Nuclear Security Summit II, Paul Ingram told Uranium Investing News: “Obama’s creation of an approach that pulls states into common objectives on this agenda is no small feat given the weeks of diplomatic wrangling and finger pointing that characterizes the diplomacy around the more established nuclear non-proliferation treaty process. However, such progress was incremental, and fell way short of what would be needed to meaningfully tackle threats to nuclear security.”
Hopes rising for Mideast WMD meeting
Amid rising optimism about the prospects for convening a 2012 conference on establishing a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East, Finnish diplomat Jaakko Laajava is to deliver his first briefing to states-parties to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in Vienna next month on his efforts to pull the meeting together. Anne Penketh reports on where things stand in the April edition of Arms Control Today.
Review of the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit
The 2012 Nuclear Security Summit held in Seoul from March 26-27, welcomed 50 countries in reaffirming their commitment to strengthening security on nuclear materials to prevent loss, misuse and theft in order to reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism.
Prospects for progress on Iran’s nuclear file
The stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme is fraught with danger, with Israel and U.S. presidential candidates urging tougher action. Military action poses an inherent risk to the global non-proliferation regime, in particular if it were unilateral action by Israel, a non-NPT state acting to punish a member-state for apparently transgressing it.
Reflecting on Obama’s vision
This Thursday is three years since President Obama delivered his Prague speech, bringing nuclear non-proliferation back on the agenda with his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.
Romney’s Foreign Policy Fantasies: “Breathtaking Weakness?”
BASIC Board Member William Hartung wrote an opinion piece for Talking Points Memo (TPM) on the Obama Administration's engagement with Russia on arms control, notably New START, and what should be the focus between the two Presidential candidates on arms control in the 2012 US election.
Study counts cost of Trident
The latest report to come from BASIC's Trident Commission by Keith Hartley was written about in Worldwide Nicosia Business Review. The article stresses how the Commission's final report will have an effect on the debate in the UK and the final decision in 2016.