Russia will hold its presidential election on Sunday and Vladimir Putin is expected to move from his current role as Prime Minister back to the presidential helm, for at least the next six years. Ahead of the election, he has ramped up the rhetoric on strengthening Russia’s strategic posture, and has posed Russia as still being the only true global counterweight to U.S. military power.
Strategic Dialogues
A Visit to Moscow: Disarmament, Arms Control, the Role of Nuclear Weapons, and NATO-Russia Strategic Dialogue
From 28-30 November 2011, BASIC executive director Paul Ingram travelled to Moscow and participated in several meetings on nuclear arms control with a focus on tactical nuclear weapons, in order to reach out to Russian officials and parliamentarians to discuss next steps in arms control and disarmament.
This Week – Do we really need Russia to Tango?
This Tuesday will mark the 20th anniversary of President George H.W. Bush’s announcement of the U.S. Presidential Nuclear Initiative (PNI). The U.S. PNI was a unilateral measure taken to reduce nuclear deployments with a focus on tactical nuclear weapons, in expectation of reciprocity from the Soviet Union.
A South Asian Nuclear Reconciliation?
South Asia is often cited as the most intractable bilateral nuclear dispute on the planet. Even setting aside the divisive issue of Kashmir, the dispute between India and Pakistan has the added complexity that it involves at root the very identity of the two states.
Nations Weigh Taking Fissile Material Talks Outside Disarmament Forum
Independent and informal talks are pursued by nations on the fissile material cutoff treaty in attempts to smooth the way for negotiations at the International Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland
Next steps in nuclear negotiations: briefing on Capitol Hill
BASIC held a small, private briefing for Hill staff and non-proliferation experts on March 31, 2011. The meeting covered: negotiating with Russia on next steps in nuclear arms control after New START, the prospects for bringing into force the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and the capabilities associated with the CTBT to monitor test explosions.
New START Treaty hanging in Senate limbo
“The administration doesn’t want the whole thing to be reopened when they’ve already gone through 20 briefings, they’ve already answered 900 questions for the record,”Anne Penketh, BASIC's program director in Washington, told the Epoch Times.
Read the full article here: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/46462/