Getting to Zero Update

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) officially entered into force on February 5, 2011, and Russian and American leaders expressed their expectations for another, more challenging round, of arms control negotiations. BASIC has established a new high-level Trident Commission to examine the decisions around the United Kingdom’s nuclear weapons system.

Russia ratifies New START

The Russian parliament completed on January 26 its process of advice and consent for ratifying the New START nuclear arms treaty, and President Dmitry Medvedev signed the ratification bill on January 28.

Both houses of the Russian parliament were required to approve of the treaty. The Duma (lower house) provided its final approval on January 25, by a vote of 350-96, with one abstention. The 137 members of the Federation Council (upper house) voted unanimously for the treaty a day later.

This Week – State of the Union: an opportunity to take the next step

President Barack Obama has a golden opportunity in his State of the Union address tomorrow to advance his disarmament agenda by highlighting the benefits to U.S. security in the entry into force of the global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. This requires the new Senate to ratify it.

Podcast – Paul Ingram with French and Norwegian Ambassadors

Reflecting on the 2010 NPT Review Conference and future prospects, UK Amb John Duncan, for Multilateral Arms Control & Disarmament, interviews Amb Steffan Konstad, Dir Gen for Security Policy, Paul Ingram, BASIC's exectutive director, and Amb Eric Danon, French delegation leader to the NPT in 2010. The recording was made at Wilton Park in December 2010 and is shown on on the FCO website.

Select John Duncan's first podcast from: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/fco-websites/podcasts/

Getting to Zero Update

BASIC has been engaged with two major developments in nuclear weapons policy: U.S. ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), and the results of NATO’s summit in Lisbon, including the release of its new Strategic Concept. See below for BASIC’s press releases and for more information on these topics, please scroll down to the sections on Commitments to Arms Control and Disarmament, and Missile Defense.

U.S. Senate approves New START nuclear treaty

“The ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is a significant political victory for the global disarmament agenda and efforts to secure the world from nuclear dangers,” said Pa

Barack Obama’s lame-duck wins let him enjoy his turkey

“Nuclear disarmament is one of the things that Obama really cares about, and he decided to stake his personal credibility on this vote,”…..”I wouldn't rule out the administration testing the water next year to see whether they can get the votes in the Senate to ratify the global test ban treaty, which would provide a crucial push towards it coming into force.”

NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2010

We approach the end of 2010 on the verge of a vote in the U.S. Senate on the new START treaty, brought to the floor on December 15th, and for a possible vote as early as tomorrow, December 22nd. Its ratification is significant for verification measures, as well as for the global nuclear disarmament agenda if only because it lays an important foundation stone for future initiatives between the United States and Russia, and helps to open the way for the Administration to bring the test ban treaty to the Senate.