Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities
How do we build a more responsible global nuclear order?
BASIC’s mission is to safeguard humanity and Earth’s ecosystem from nuclear risks and interconnected security risks, for generations to come.
The Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities seeks to achieve this mission by clarifying and tightening the normative regime of restraint and responsibility around nuclear weapons and technologies, creating spaces for distrust reduction, and thereby shaping state policies and practices of risk reduction and disarmament. To do so, the Programme works at the national, regional, and multilateral levels, using its flagship Nuclear Responsibilities Approach and third-party facilitated dialogue process.
The Nuclear Responsibilities programme has been co-created by BASIC and the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security (ICCS) at the University of Birmingham.
The core principles that drive our work on the Programme are:
- Inclusivity
- Co-creation and Co-development
- Empathy
- Active Listening
- Neutrality
- Nonviolent Communication
- Collective Problem-solving
The Nuclear Responsibilities Approach (co-created by BASIC and the ICCS) is a way of reframing how we think, talk, and write about nuclear weapons: one that puts a meaningful exploration of responsibility at the centre of our mindsets, our dialogues and our publications. In doing so, the Approach aims to provide an alternative vocabulary and model for exchange that can stimulate new thinking and research, and stimulate a new kind of dialogue to reduce distrust and nuclear risks.
At the national level, the Nuclear Responsibilities Approach offers new conceptual tools to shape internal debates and deliberations over nuclear weapons policy and planning. We contend that developing robust and ethical policies and practices in relation to nuclear weapons starts with a rigorous, bottom-up assessment of nuclear responsibilities. Over the past few years, we have been working with local partners to run national nuclear responsibilities roundtables with the UK, India, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia, and Brazil.
At the regional level, the Approach has fostered constructive dialogue on shared nuclear responsibilities to reduce nuclear risk in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Over the past few years, we facilitated several track 2/1.5 dialogues, including India-Pakistan bilateral dialogues as well as multilateral dialogues with representatives from the wider Asia-Pacific region. The Programme also publishes extensive reports and commentaries on nuclear risk reduction in South Asia, including a compendium of essays of Indian and Pakistani scholars and journalists on bilateral crisis communication mechanisms.
At the international level, the Approach is offered as a collective guiding principle that can help transcend the chronic blame game at the heart of international nuclear politics that stymies dialogue, cooperation, and trust.
We are grateful for the generous support of the Counter Proliferation and Arms Control Centre (CPACC) at the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth & Development Office.
Since 2021, the Programme has collaborated with the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research (CSSPR) at the University of Lahore and the Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies (IPCS) in New Delhi.
Meet the Team:
Dr Chiara Cervasio: Programme Manager
Mhairi McClafferty: Policy Fellow
Eva-Nour Repussard: Policy Fellow
Alice Spilman: Policy Fellow
Programme Board:
Sebastian Brixey-Williams: Executive Director of BASIC
Professor Nicholas J. Wheeler: Non-Resident Senior Fellow at BASIC, Professor of International Relations at the University of Birmingham
With thanks to our funders at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the University of Birmingham.
Analysis and Publications for this Programme
Read our work on the responsibilities of states around nuclear weapons below
Report: The Nuclear Responsibilities Primer: Exploring Perspectives on Nuclear Responsibilities within the Non-Proliferation Regime
This primer explores how Nuclear Weapon States and Non-Nuclear Weapon States have invoked the concept of “responsibility” in the context of the NPT, analysing its evolving use to address security challenges, foster shared norms, and promote collaborative efforts for nuclear risk reduction amidst rising threats and strained global relations.
Reflections from BASIC’s Trip to Islamabad
In October 2024, BASIC Policy Fellows visited Islamabad to engage with esteemed institutions on crisis management in South Asia and the impact of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDTs) on security.
Applying the Nuclear Responsibilities Approach to Sino-US Arms Control Dialogues
Syed Ali Zia Jaffery, Deputy Director at CSSPR, writes on Applying the Nuclear Responsibilities Approach to Sino-US Arms Control Dialogues.
Report: Crisis Prevention and Management in South Asia: Mutual Confidence, Risk, and Responsibility
‘Crisis Prevention and Management in South Asia: Mutual Confidence, Risk, and Responsibility’ emerged from a series of dialogues with the Indian and Pakistani nuclear policy communities at the Track 2 / 1.5 level held by the BASIC-ICCS Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities in 2023-2024.
Video: Compendium Discussion: Crisis Communications: Indian and Pakistani Perspectives on Responsible Practices
On Wednesday 23rd August, the BASIC-ICCS Nuclear Responsibilities Programme, in collaboration with the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research (CSSPR) and the Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies (IPCS), hosted a virtual roundtable discussion of the Compendium ‘Crisis Communications: Indian and Pakistani Perspectives on Responsible Practices’.
Event: Compendium Discussion: Crisis Communications: Indian and Pakistani Perspectives on Responsible Practices
On Wednesday 23rd August at 11am BST/UK time, 3pm PKT/Pakistan time, and 3:30pm IST/India time, the BASIC-ICCS Nuclear Responsibilities Programme will host a virtual roundtable discussion of the compendium ‘Crisis Communications: Indian and Pakistani Perspectives on Responsible Practices’.
Compendium: Crisis Communications: Indian and Pakistani Perspectives on Responsible Practices
‘Crisis Communications: Indian and Pakistani Perspectives on Responsible Practices’ is a compendium of essays written by Indian and Pakistani nuclear policy experts and journalists that explore how the two countries can communicate in ways that help prevent crisis escalation at different levels of interaction. Edited by Rabia Akhtar, Chiara Cervasio, Ruhee Neog, Alice Spilman, and Nicholas J. Wheeler.
Report: Exploring Nuclear Risk Reduction Pathways in Southern Asia through Nuclear Responsibilities
In March 2023, BASIC and the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security (ICCS) at the University of Birmingham organised ‘Nuclear Responsibilities and Nuclear Crises in Southern Asia: Preventing Escalation through a Responsibility-Based Regime in the Asia-Pacific’. Read the report here.
Report: Nuclear Responsibilities at Sea
In November 2022, BASIC and ICCS organised ‘Nuclear Responsibilities at Sea: Exploring Policy Proposals for Maritime Risk Reduction in the Asia Pacific’. Read the report and the policy proposals that emerged from the dialogue.
Developing Nuclear Responsibilities from a Legal Perspective: The Experience of Pakistan
Mubashar Rizvi reflects on the Nuclear Responsibilities Approach through an exploration of two domestic legislative instruments through which Pakistan derives some of its nuclear responsibilities.
Nuclear Responsibilities and Pakistan: Understanding Sensibilities for Future Engagement
Ali Mustafa discusses how the Nuclear Responsibilities framework is a welcome addition to the nuclear discourse in Pakistan – however, meaningful future engagement on responsibilities requires understanding Pakistani sensibilities.
The Responsibility of Making the Global Nuclear Order More Secure: Thinking Beyond Conventional Risk Reduction
In this piece, Muhammad Shareh Qazi discusses how Nuclear Responsibilities can help strengthening global nuclear risk reduction.
Active Programmes
BASIC believes in making progress on nuclear disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation through multiple complementary approaches. We continuously develop our programmes – streams of research – through sustained engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, collectively searching for the art of the possible.
Our current programmes are listed below. View the current programmes page by clicking here.
