Debate around the decision facing Britain on the renewal of its Trident nuclear weapon system continues after Financial Times published an Op-Ed by Sir Menzies Campbell, Lib Dem foreign policy grandee and co-chair of the BASIC Trident Commission. The decision to begin the process by engaging in concept studies, and later design was confirmed by Parliament in March 2007. Parliament was assured by ministers at the time that this was not a final decision to build the submarines.
Programmes
Iran Update: Number 159
Talks in Baghdad concluded without making substantive progress, but parties agreed to meet again in Moscow on June 18. The IAEA’s meeting with officials in Tehran to address “possible military dimensions” of the nuclear program showed more promise.
NATO Continues Dangerous Delays over Nuclear Decisions
Paul Ingram's piece on NATO's contradictions on nuclear deployments and delayed decisions on nuclear weapons was featured on the website of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Ingram highlights that NATO members are divided on how they view relations with Russia and “the Alliance is failing to recognize that the Cold War is over, and so it lives with a cancerous contradiction”.
Middle East free of nuclear weapons can become reality
BASIC's program director, Anne Penketh, discusses the security risks in the Middle East and the prospects of a WMD-free zone treaty in the region in this article for The National. She writes, “A WMD-free zone in the Middle East would take years to negotiate, but the alternatives, including possible military action against Iran, are chilling. This is not about only the security of a region, but of the world.”
Hopes Slowly rising as Iran Talks Continue
The IAEA has today been negotiating with Iran on the modalities around tighter nuclear inspections within Iran.
Press Release: NATO declaration on nuclear weapons is missed opportunity: BASIC Executive Director
NATO has missed an opportunity to clear up the divisive issue of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe at its Chicago summit, BASIC Executive Director Paul Ingram said today.
“If the U.S. and its allies aren’t careful, they will find themselves scrambling to control disarmament by default , as the Germans and others take decisions about the future delivery systems of these Cold War relics which they all know serve no military purpose,” said Ingram.
C-SPAN coverage of NATO Shadow Summit
C-SPAN covered the first afternoon of the two-day NATO Shadow Summit in Washington on May 14 and 15, bringing civil society into the conversation a week ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago. The C-SPAN introduction to the event is here:
NATO’s Twin Crises
John Feffer, a panelist at the Shadow NATO Summit III in Washington earlier this month, wrote an article for IPS about the “existential and fiscal crisis” facing NATO. Feffer takes quotes and discussion points from panelists at the Shadow Summit, including Juliane Smith, deputy national security advisor to Vice President Joseph Biden.