The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted to refer the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) to the full Senate. If the treaty successfully goes through the ratification processes in the United States and Russia, the treaty will cap deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 in both countries and establish a set of mutual inspections that have not had a formal framework since the first START treaty lapsed last December.
Programmes
Update on New START in The Cable
Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has distributed a “discussion draft” of the New START Treaty Resolution of Advice and Consent to Ratification. An article in The Cable reviews reaction to the draft and related political developments in Washington.
To read the article, visit:
Scott Brown and the bombs in the basement
“Unfortunately, the nuclear capability of Israel goes unmentioned in his article, highlighting the Arab contention that the West is guilty of double standards by shielding Israel but punishing Iran.”
Excerpt from article by BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh, written for The Hill’s Congress Blog.
Read the full article:
Time to reassess Trident options amid funding crisis: BASIC report
It is time to reassess options for the replacement of the Trident nuclear missile submarines in the light of indications that the capital cost of doing so could run to 28 billion pounds over the next 10-15 years, according to a new report by the British American Security Information Council (BASIC).
A crisis in financing Britain’s replacement of Trident?
It is time to reassess options for the replacement of the Trident nuclear missile submarines in the light of indications that the capital cost, to be funded from the Defence Ministry's core budget, could run to 28 billion pounds over the next 10-15 years. But Paul Ingram and Nick Ritchie also argue that it would be a mistake to base a decision on cost alone.
Click the “Full article (PDF)” button below to read the report.
Related publication:
Iran Update: Number 145
- Iran reported to be feeling effects of recently-imposed international sanctions
- Energy business with Iran continues despite sanctions
- Nuclear talks still possibility for Autumn
- Military threat
- Bushehr nuc
START expiration ends U.S. inspection of Russian nuclear bases
This Washington Post article by Mary Beth Sheridan recounts how the United States has lost the ability to peek into the Russian nuclear arsenal because the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), along with its accompanying verification measures, expired without a replacement in force.
Read the full article: