Programmes

BASIC response to ‘Retiring Trident’

Today Centre Forum published the report ‘Retiring Trident: An alternative proposal for UK nuclear deterrence’ by Toby Fenwick. This report is an important and timely contribution to the debate on options facing an incoming government. BASIC does not endorse this option specifically, though the paper is well argued and an excellent response to those who assert that like-for-like replacement of Trident is the only credible nuclear weapons option for the United Kingdom.

The sustainability of the P5 process and expectations for London

The United Kingdom will play host this week to the United States, France, China and Russia for a meeting of the “P5 Process”. This is the last meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nuclear weapon states (NWS) prior to the NPT Review Conference this April. These states have been meeting for five years and the pressure is on to demonstrate concrete evidence that a multilateral approach can achieve some progress in meeting disarmament obligations. But is the “P5 Process” sustainable, and if so, what should we realistically expect from the London meeting?