Nuke Conference Achieves Deal; US May Backtrack on Mideast Conference

“The Review Conference snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.” said BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh, quoted in The Huffington Post.

British last-minute contribution to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference

The new British government\’s announcement today of a total limit of 225 nuclear warheads is to be welcomed as a next step in the transparency and disarmament process, said Paul Ingram, Executive Director of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC).

NPT Review Conference president moves towards the endgame

Day 17: The NPT Review Conference president, Libran Cabactulan, has moved towards the endgame by submitting a draft final document which contains both a treaty review and a forward-looking action plan covering all three pillars of the treaty (disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy).

Middle East nuclear weapons free zone subject of panel discussion at the NPT Review Conference

Anne Penketh, BASIC Program Director, backed Egypt's proposals for a Middle East international conference to work towards a Middle East nuclear weapons free zone at a side event on the margins of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.

The May 21 event was hosted by Greenpeace whose Israeli representative, Sharon Dolev, described how she has been trying to raise awareness for nuclear disarmament in Israel, where discussion of that country's presumed nuclear arsenal of up to 200 weapons remains taboo.

Disarmament timeline could be deal-breaker at NPT Review Conference

Day 14: There is widespread dismay at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference where the latest draft on the treaty's disarmament pillar has excised all references to a timetable for the nuclear weapons states to disarm.

Security Council draft resolution on Iran overshadows NPT Review Conference

Day 12: Two dramatic interventions could influence the outcome of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference.

One was the presentation of the Non-Aligned Movement's suggested wholesale amendments to the committee focusing on the non-proliferation pillar of the NPT.

Lines Drawn at NPT Review Conference

Day 10: The scene has been set for the negotiations at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference following the release of the draft documents from the main committees which summarise discussions of the past two weeks and lay down an action plan for the future.

The following areas are some of those which will be hotly debated in the final two weeks of the Review Conference:

Constructive atmosphere after conclusion of General Debate at NPT Review Conference

Day 4: Delegates to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have wrapped up the general debate on Day 4 of the Review Conference so it is possible to take stock after states staked out their positions in public.