Paul Ingram was quoted in this GSN article on the secrecy surrounding the U.S.-UK Mutual Defense Agreement:
“With the deepening of technical collaboration that shapes the procurement decisions here in London over nuclear weapons program, in a manner that stretches or breaks Article 1 of the [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty], it is high time we took this relationship and its consequences for international security seriously.”
TacNukes News summarizes recent developments and resources covering tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Europe. In this edition of TacNukes News, the political and security environment relevant to making progress on tactical nuclear weapons arms control continued to deteriorate as Russia-U.S. relations worsened and the Ukraine crisis showed no signs of winding down.
BASIC's Executive Director, Paul Ingram was quoted in an article about the Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) signed between US and UK officials.
Here's what he said: “With the deepening of technical collaboration that shapes the procurement decisions here in London over nuclear weapons programmes, in a manner that stretches or breaks Article 1 of the NPT, it is high time we took this relationship and its consequences for international security seriously.”
Tomorrow the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will host a hearing on the P5+1 negotiations with Iran. Witnesses will include Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and the U.S.’ lead negotiator on the Iran nuclear talks, and David Cohen, the Treasury Department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Last weekend the six-month deadline (July 20th) for the interim Joint Plan of Action passed without a final deal being reached.
On 1 July 2014 Elaine Grossman covers the launch of the Trident Commission's concluding report in this article for Defense One. In it, she quotes BASIC's executive director Paul Ingram as saying: “In the end, it comes down to a calculation which involves the value of nuclear weapons in national security strategy against the contributions of strengthening global nonproliferation norms…Britain does have a leadership role which it cannot wash its hands of.
What will it take for negotiating parties to reach a lasting deal over Iran's nuclear programme–and what does it mean for the non-proliferation regime?
Research Fellow at the National Defence University, Leo Michel, wrote an op-ed for the LA Times ahead of the Scottish referendum on independence and the implications on the future of the British nuclear forces and NATO. Michel cites the Trident Commission in his article.
Read the full article here: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0725-michel-scotland-independence-nuclear-fo-20140725-story.html
This newsletter is published by BASIC.
TacNukes News No. 6 and earlier editions were jointly published in cooperation with the Arms Control Association and the Institute for Peace Research and Security at the University of Hamburg. BASIC currently works with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) under a joint project funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
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