“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.”– Ludwig Wittgenstein
The language we use affects the world as we interpret it. While many are all-too familiar with the “sticks and stones” of the nuclear world, less attention has been paid to the terminology around disarmament and nonproliferation.
Ward Wilson was featured on the the front page of Foreign Policy with a popular article de-bunking the myth that the Second World War was won by nuclear weapons.
BASIC & the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) held a one-day conference on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The conference brought together key thinkers from academia, policy-making, and non-governmental organsations to discuss the future of British nuclear weapons policy, and the prospects for non-proliferation and disarmament in the Middle East.
December 20, 2007: U.S. Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation, Christopher Ford, spoke at the UK Foreign Office Wilton Park conference about the goal of zero nuclear weapons:
“Getting to Zero” 2008 Timeline
December 2009: International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) publishes final report: Eliminating Nuclear Weapons: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers, Gareth Evans and Yoriko Kawaguchi, Co-Chairs, International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.
December 22, 2010: U.S. Senate approves New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
May 28, 2010: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference 2010 adopts consensus Final Document (PDF), available online via Reaching Critical Will
December 13, 2012: P5+1 talks with Iran in Tehran
December 8, 2012: Marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty by former US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.