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.
Our most recent
Report: Clashes of Perceptions: Bridging Perspectives on Security in Europe
Over the past 18 months, BASIC has undertaken in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Phase 2 Applying as Systematic Approach to NATO-Russia Risk Reduction that aimed at advancing the understanding of workable options for risk reduction and fostering new relationships between NATO and Russia.
Report: Risks and Risk Reduction: A View from the South-eastern Flank
In September 2022, BASIC held a track 1.5 workshop in Sofia to discuss risk and threat assessments in South-eastern and Northern Europe. The workshop is part of the two-year project ‘Phase 2: Applying a Systematic Approach to NATO-Russia Risk Reduction’ that BASIC is undertaking in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Report: Canadian Submarine Recapitalization in the Context of Climate Change
This report argues that climate change will exacerbate the challenges Canada faces in the recapitalisation of the Victoria-class submarine fleet.
Report: Managing Resources and Sea Routes in the Arctic
In this report, Dr Gry Thomasen argues that avoiding or mitigating conflict over resources and the sea routes in the Arctic is crucial for a peaceful Arctic in the future.
Report: Prioritising People in the Arctic
In this report, Dr Chiara Cervasio and Eva-Nour Repussard address existing and emerging threats to human security in the Arctic and investigate the utility of different risk reduction measures in mitigating such risks.
2021 Publications
Summary: The Stepping Stones Approach to Nuclear Disarmament Diplomacy
The Stepping Stones Approach to Nuclear Disarmament Diplomacy Report provides a brief explanation of the core features of the Stepping Stones Approach, written by Paul Ingram, one of the Approach’s designers.
Report: Stepping Stones Approach to Disarmament
Paul Ingram’s new report provides his in depth account of the background to the philosophy underlying the Stepping Stones Approach — and responds to some common questions and criticisms around the SSA.
Contemporary Opportunities for the NPT: Perspectives from the Emerging Voices Network
The Emerging Voices Network presents the policy recommendations from its first policy working cycle.
The Nuclear Responsibilities Toolkit: A Practical Guide for Thinking, Talking and Writing
Publication of the Nuclear Responsibilities Toolkit (2021), a conceptual and practical guide to policy communities who would like to experiment with the Nuclear Responsibilities Approach.
Gender, Think-Tanks and International Affairs: a Toolkit
The Gender, Think-Tanks and International Affairs Toolkit has been jointly developed and published by BASIC,…
2020 Publications
Report: Nuclear Responsibilities – A New Approach for Thinking and Talking about Nuclear Weapons
We seek in this report to suggest ways, and crucially propose a new method, to gradually shift the nature of the contemporary global conversation on nuclear weapons away from one characterised by rights, blame, and suspicion towards one framed by responsibility, empathic cooperation, and even trust.
Pandemic Chronicles: Echos of History in the COVID-19 Response for the Navajo Nation
During the Cold War, hundreds of Navajos developed cancer and respiratory illness as a result…
Chronicles of the Pandemic: Missiles vs. Medical Masks
In the last Pandemic Chronicle, we explored whether we are at war with COVID-19. This…
Chronicles of the Pandemic: Are We Fighting a War Against COVID-19?
Using the language of war allows governments to use extraordinary measures to deal with the…
Report: Exploring the Nuclear Responsibilities Framing in India
On 22nd November 2019, BASIC organised a half-day scoping workshop in New Delhi at the…
Chapter: Prospects for Game-Changers in Detection Technology
We are delighted to share this new short chapter, ‘Prospects for Game-Changers in Detection Technology’,…
Report: Advancing Strategic Risk Reduction in Europe
This report arises from a roundtable on ‘European strategies for strategic risk reduction’ on 1…
Historic Document Release on the 50th Anniversary of the NPT
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on Thursday 5 March 2020,…
2019 Publications
Read our publications from 2019. Our reports cover developments in the Stepping Stones Approach to Nuclear Disarmament, strategic risk reduction, and the Nuclear Responsibilities framing.
Report: Common Security through Nuclear Responsibilities – Perspectives from Geneva
In March 2019, BASIC and ICCS staff held a closed-door roundtable at the Geneva Centre…
Parliamentary Briefing: House of Lords Debate on ‘Rising nuclear risk, disarmament and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’
This parliamentary briefing was issued in advance of the Debate on the report from the International Relations Committee ‘Rising nuclear risk, disarmament and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’, Tuesday, 16th of July 2019. This is an opportunity to consider the ways in which the UK can reduce nuclear risks globally, and engage in meaningful multilateral disarmament processes ahead of the 2020 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
Report: Reducing Nuclear Risks: European perspectives from the 2019 PrepCom
This report arises from a roundtable on ‘Developing European Perspectives on Nuclear Risks’ on 7 May 2019, hosted at the Polish Mission to the UN in New York and under the sponsorship of the Dutch Foreign Ministry during the 2019 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Preparatory Committee.
Report: Re-emerging Nuclear Risks in Europe
The security environment in Europe has deteriorated in recent years, and nuclear risks have re-emerged as a prime concern for European governments.
Report: Stepping Stones to Disarmament – Making Progress in a Polarised International Climate
The Stepping Stones Approach seeks to engage all members of the international community in a cooperative and inclusive process that nudges the nuclear possessor states away from arms racing dynamics and in a more positive direction, with the intention of reducing the salience of nuclear weapons in postures, achieving incremental disarmament and progressively building up the capacity for further steps.
Report: Nuclear Responsibilities in an Interconnected World
This report arises from a one-day roundtable on ‘nuclear responsibilities’ on the 6th March 2019, hosted by the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur.
Report: Reporting on Nuclear Disarmament – Success and Failure in 25 Years of Disarmament Diplomacy
Nuclear disarmament has fallen off the public agenda. Media attention is sporadic and reactive, focusing on short-term trends like summits with North Korea or sanctions on Iran. But the longer-term process of global disarmament rarely features in the news cycle and where there is reference it is treated with disdain as unrealistic. This has serious costs to public engagement and democratic accountability.
Report: A History of the United Kingdom’s WE 177 Nuclear Weapons Programme
This history offers a chronological account of the WE 177 from 1959 through to the decision to provide a third variant of the design for the RAF in the 1970s, and then onto the late 1970s.
2018 Publications
Read our publications from 2018. Our reports from this period include analysis of the implications of the Trump Administration on US nuclear policy, the costs associated with UK Trident submarines, and the Responsibilities programme’s first roundtables.
Phase 2.0 of the Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities
The Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities brings together Nuclear Weapon States and Non-Nuclear Weapon States to foster understanding and dialogue on the responsibilities of states and state leaders around nuclear weapons. Launched in 2016, the Programme is now moving into an exciting second phase – find out more here.
Report: How much does the UK spend on nuclear weapons?
This report draws upon a mixture of publicly available data and estimates in order to outline both the current operating costs of the Trident nuclear weapon system, as well as the estimated costs of the current plans to renew the UK’s nuclear arsenal.
Report: (Dis)Continuous Deterrence: Challenges to Britain’s Nuclear Doctrine
Despite strong rhetorical support on part of the government for Continuous At-Sea Deterrence (CASD), a real risk exists that CASD could be interrupted in the early 2030s.
BASIC Annual Report 2017
2017 was a tough year for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Read our latest Annual Report to find out how we worked towards creating a world free of the risk of nuclear weapons over now the course of 2017.
Report: Blowing up the Budget: The Cost Risk of Trident to UK Defence
BASIC’s new report illustrates in clear detail the cost risk of Trident renewal to the UK’s Defence budget; Dreadnought’s through life costs are likely to be between £110-114bn.
Report: Negative Security Assurances: The Test of Commitment to Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament?
Nuclear armed states already offer some limited and conditional guarantees (NSAs) that they will not threaten nuclear attack on other states that do not have nuclear weapons. This report looks at the opportunities there are in building upon these guarantees.
Report: Foregrounding India’s Nuclear Responsibilities: Nuclear Weapons Possession and Disarmament in South Asia
The wider international milieu should consider the risks posed by the Indo-Pak confrontation because they have both violated the ‘first law’ of nuclear politics: nuclear-armed states do not fight wars with each other.
Briefing: Leading by Example: Reforming UK Nuclear Declaratory Policy
By reforming its nuclear declaratory policy, the UK has an opportunity to demonstrate leadership by example on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation without negatively impacting its established nuclear deterrent posture.
Recent analysis
Understanding the ICJ’s Order on the Allegations of Genocide in Ukrainian Territory (Ukraine v. Russian Federation)
Flávia Salazar Sousa discusses the ruling from the ICJ in the case Ukraine v. Russian Federation on allegations of genocide under the Genocide Convention of 1948.
The Global South: Access to Nuclear Technologies and the Ban Treaty
In this blog piece, Professor Andrew Futter and Dr Olamide Samuel discuss the lack of focus on civilian nuclear energy and the Global South in analyses of the Ban Treaty.
Ukraine, Remote Interventionism, and the Stability-Instability Paradox: The Need to Re-Prioritise Nuclear Risk Reduction
Dr Simone Papale and Dr Chiara Cervasio discuss how Western remote interventionism to counter Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine validates the stability-instability paradox.
The Ukraine Crisis and Europe
The world appears to be looking to the United States to solve the current crisis…
Why Should Asia-Pacific States Implement the Stepping Stones Approach?
In her latest piece for BASIC, Emily Enright discusses the relevance of the Stepping Stones Approach to Asia-Pacific states in their disarmament work.
The Road to Disarmament Should Leave No One Behind: On the Importance of Discussing Declaratory Policies
In their latest paper for BASIC, Eva-Nour Repussard discusses the importance of the Stepping Stones Approach to achieve Nuclear Disarmament.
Current 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. Browse our current programmes page by clicking here.
Archive 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 archive programmes are listed below. Browse our archive programmes page by clicking here.
