In this opinion brief, Julie Rønbeck reflects on the Norwegian conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, which was held March 4-5. She also reviews the broader context for the event and civil society involvement.
Rethinking Nuclear Weapons
The U.S. Nuclear Deterrent: An International Perspective
BASIC's Executive Director reflects upon the Nuclear Deterrence Summit, which included a BASIC event on “European Perspectives on Nuclear Deterrence in the 21st Century” on February 20, 2013. This brief paper includes summaries of views expressed by a number of international participants at the conference, with a focus on transatlantic relations.
Cuban Missile Crisis 50th Anniversary
50 years ago this week, the world held its breath, waiting to see if nuclear armageddon would be averted, as the Cuban Missile Crisis reached its climax.
Evidence Submitted by Ward Wilson
JUNE 2012
Ward Wilson uses historical accounts to present the argument that nuclear deterrence does not work. In fact, Wilson argues that it has failed a number of times, and some of those failures have come close to war. Wilson writes, “Nuclear weapons are niether as capable of influencing military conflicts nor as effective at political persuasion as was once though. Nuclear deterrence appears to be seriously flawed: it is far more prone to failure than proponents of nuclear weapons would have us believe.”
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Nuclear weapons budget battles
Knives are out in the initial skirmishes over the fiscal 2013 funding for the nuclear weapons complex in the U.S., as a key appropriations committee meets this week.
The Partnership
Book review of “The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and Their Quest to Ban the Bomb” by Philip Taubman. At the height of the Cold War, eliminating nuclear weapons was seen as the province of dreadlocked hippies, peaceniks, and other “flower children” of the 1960s. It was a perspective that perversely marginalized the arms control agenda, just when it was needed the most.
Changing the narrative on U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe
A couple of events in Washington this week arising from a new report will focus attention anew on the presence of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, as NATO foreign and defence ministers prepare to meet in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of next month’s NATO summit.
A Thorn in Their Side
A Thorn in their Side: The Hilda Murrell Murder? by Commander Robert Green. This book could have been a crime novel except the plot was too complicated for a fictional writer to dream up and, unlike most crime novels, the murder is not solved nor are the real perpetrators apprehended. But it comes very close.