Top level officials from the five recognised NPT nuclear weapon states – United States, Russia, China, UK and France – meet on Thursday and Friday in Paris this week. This is the second dedicated meeting they have had to exchange information and to discuss as a group measures to facilitate transparency, reductions in numbers, and other disarmament measures (the first was in London, September 2009). The challenges to achieving agreement, both real and presumed, are sufficiently huge that expectations are low for any substantial breakthrough.
Content Type
Iran: The Green Movement and the Nuclear Issue
“International attempts to punish Iran for pursuing nuclear fuel production simply strengthen the legitimacy of the government’s stance to defy those attempts, as well as the very legitimacy of the government itself.” Paul Ingram, BASIC’s executive director said.
UK launch of Countdown to Zero
Countdown to Zero is being launched in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2011. The film will screen simultaneously at venues across the United Kingdom and Ireland and then link up live to London’s BAFTA for a high-profile panel discussion.
Global Zero
This month is witnessing a flurry of conferences on nuclear disarmament. Global Zero has a ‘summit’ conference in London on Wednesday and Thursday this week, to educate and energize in support of abolishing nuclear weapons. It coincides with the UK launch of ‘Countdown to Zero’
Roundtable on NATO’s Nuclear Posture and Burden Sharing Arrangements: an Italian Perspective
BASIC held a roundtable in Rome on June 15, 2011 in cooperation with the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI). The roundtable explored Italian perspectives on the future of NATO\’s nuclear posture and burden sharing. It also looked at Italy\’s position on the current debate about tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Europe.
The main points raised at the roundtable were as follows:
APRIL 2011
BASIC held the fourth of its roundtables this last 12 months, on NATO’s nuclear policy, under the grant from the Hewlett Foundation on April 28th. This time it was in non-NATO Helsinki, in collaboration with the Peace Union of Finland and the Foreign Ministry. Gathering participants from Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Netherlands and Britain, we discussed the deterrence review, relations with Russia and the prospects for NATO contributing more actively to the agenda of global nuclear disarmament.
UK launch of Countdown to Zero
UK Premiere of Countdown to Zero
From the makers of An Inconvenient Truth, comes a film about our nuclear threat. Get ready for the most important film of the year and join audiences across the UK and Ireland taking part in Demand Zero Day, June 21st.
Paul Ingram reports from Tehran
I’m in Tehran for BASIC in the middle of the second annual two day international conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation laid on by IPIS, the Foreign Ministry’s think tank.