Thursday of this week marks the first anniversary of the U.S. Senate’s vote in favor of ratifying the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which established verifiable limits on Russian and U.S. strategic nuclear weapons.
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Damping the powder-keg: Paul Ingram responds to ‘Playing with fire in the Middle East’
BASIC's executive director, Paul Ingram authored this piece for Open Democracy. While the outlook for peace in the Middle East remains bleak, there are several factors in the region that may bring forth a sense of stability. Many states in the region have shown restraint and caution over making extreme military moves that would result in a conflict. Ingram indicates that the Conference on a Zone Free of WMD in the Middle East, due to take place late 2012, may bring major players in the region to the same negotiating table and help stablise relations on proliferation issues.
Wilton Park arms control conference
Some of the world’s leading nuclear arms controllers are meeting at the UK Foreign Office conference centre in Wilton Park, Sussex, this week. As the week progresses, there will be discussions on the state of the nuclear non-proliferation system, the initiatives currently in train after the NPT agreement around an Action Plan in May 2010, and prospects for progress in the current five-year NPT round that culminates in the 2015 Review Conference.
BASIC News: July-November 2011
BASIC has been making fresh tracks to advance dialogue on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including at seminars in Malta and Moscow, and moving the London office to Whitehall.
NATO Needs to Act on Nuclear Policy
NATO foreign ministers meet, less than six months before the summit in Chicago. They have a full agenda, not least the debates over the management of withdrawal from Afghanistan and discussing lessons from the Libya experience.
The Fallout from the British Embassy Attack in Iran
The storming of the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, and the subsequent diplomatic fallout, marks a serious deterioration in the ongoing standoff between Iran and the West and seems sure to set back further diplomatic efforts to address Iran’s nuclear program.
This Week – the Russian bear growls
With parliamentary elections scheduled next Sunday in Russia, the Russian bear is growling. President Dmitry Medvedev struck out last week against the U.S. plans for a missile defense system across Europe, warning that Russia might pull out of the New START treaty, and announcing a series of counter-measures.
This Week – Supercommittee failure looms
It looks as though the U.S. bipartisan supercommittee charged with finding at least .2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade is about to collapse amid recriminations.