The renewal of the “independent British nuclear deterrent” has met remarkably little debate in the UK. Except in Scotland, that is. This week the leader of the Scottish National party and first minister in Edinburgh, Alex Salmond, went head-to-head with Alistair Darling, the Labour leader of the ‘Better Together’ campaign, for a second live debate over next month’s referendum on Scottish independence.
Programmes
Would Scotland’s nationalists disarm Trident?
The renewal of the “independent British nuclear deterrent” has met remarkably little debate in the UK. Except in Scotland, that is. This week the leader of the Scottish National party and first minister in Edinburgh, Alex Salmond, went head-to-head with Alistair Darling, the Labour leader of the ‘Better Together’ campaign, for a second live debate over next month’s referendum on Scottish independence.
Knowledge, Accessibility and Awareness of Nuclear Weapons
In the early 1980s, a number of educators and organizations sought to bring a highly controversial issue back into American classrooms: nuclear weapons. Unlike their parents’ generation, students would not be learning how to “duck and cover” in the event of a nuclear attack but would discuss the choices involved in averting nuclear warfare.
Did Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki Save Lives?
An article written by Ward Wilson, a seniron fellow at BASIC was published in the Diplomat. The article talks about the utility of nuclear weapons and the rationale for keeping them.
Do not let the Helsinki conference on a Mideast WMD-Free Zone fall off the “to-do” list
If Russia, the UK, and the US – as the co-conveners of the Helsinki conference on a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East – had a priority list of foreign policy agenda items, convening such a conference would likely be hidden somewhere on pages 4 or 5 of a double-sided document, printed in 11 pt. Calibri font. Even among key stakeholders, the mounting crises in the region might reduce the diplomatic impetus for convening the conference, at least within the intended deadline of “as soon as possible” and certainly before the 2015 NPT Review Conference.
UK Stays Silent on Nuclear-Arms Pact Extension with United States
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 No. 10
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.
UK-US sign secret new deal on nuclear weapons
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.”