Football, the modern-day opiate of the masses, is a simple passionate game of two teams and one simple, generally zero-sum result. We have a winner and loser; even drawn matches contribute to victory and defeat in the tournament. In attempting to make meaning out of the complexity of regional and sub-regional conflict by reducing it to the binaries of the football pitch, we often make monumental errors.
Content Type
Alternative proliferation methods? The nuclear fuel cycle and hydrodynamic testing
Nuclear security, that is, the protection of nuclear materials, technology, and knowledge, is an ever changing field in which academics, policy makers and industry representatives must be forever vigilant for potential new forms of proliferation and security challenges.
NATO: Slipping Into Confrontation
NATO defense ministers met in Brussels to discuss the Afghanistan withdrawal and Russia’s actions in Crimea and Ukraine. There are calls for stronger security assurances within the alliance, especially from countries near Russia. President Obama has pledged increased US military presence in Europe. However, NATO’s role remains focused on military rather than cooperative security strategies, which heightens tensions with Russia. This approach risks moving towards a competitive relationship rather than fostering mutual security.
Going back to the Six-Party Talks, is there any hope?
North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has given rise to much debate on the security challenges that it brings to the international system. Its deployment of ballistic missiles and testing of nuclear devices (2006, 2009, and 2013) have alarmed states around the world, and posed dangers and threats to the region. In fact, recent activity at North Korea’s nuclear facility has given rise to new concerns about the possibility of a fourth nuclear test.
The Experience of Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones
This report examines nuclear weapon-free zones and the lessons-learned that could be applied to the issue of tactical nuclear weapons currently based in Europe. The report was originally a background paper for the SWP-BASIC workshop on: “Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures in Practice”, Berlin 27-28 March 2014.
Bumps on the road to Helsinki: Will we ever get there?
Eleven months before the 2015 NPT Review Conference is convened, there is still no sign that the Helsinki conference on the establishment of the WMD-free zone in the Middle East will be held. In what seemed to be a glimmer of hope in Geneva on May 14-15, the conference’s facilitator, co-conveners and future state parties to the zone met to discuss the conference’s modalities.
A Glance at the Ukraine Crisis’s Impact on Nuclear Weapons Considerations
This week, eyes are on Ukraine to see whether the presidential election held on Sunday will soon lead to more stability; while many Ukrainians look ahead to the challenge of grappling with the problems that led to the crisis – both internal and external. The crisis intensified dynamics of a deteriorating relationship between NATO and Russia, where prospects had already been bleak for nuclear arms control. The crisis has even led some to call for re-emphasizing the role of nuclear weapons in transatlantic security.
Documentary Film Screening: GARWIN
On June 13th, in conjunction with the Federation of American Scientists and the King\’s College London War Studies Department, BASIC hosted a screening of a feature length documentary about a scientist who shaped history: Dr. Richard Garwin.