BASIC's program director, Anne Penketh, discusses the security risks in the Middle East and the prospects of a WMD-free zone treaty in the region in this article for The National. She writes, “A WMD-free zone in the Middle East would take years to negotiate, but the alternatives, including possible military action against Iran, are chilling. This is not about only the security of a region, but of the world.”
Arms control
Hopes Slowly rising as Iran Talks Continue
The IAEA has today been negotiating with Iran on the modalities around tighter nuclear inspections within Iran.
NATO military budget: together, slim is better
John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, wrote an op-ed for the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung on NATO's defense 'obesity problem'. This was based on his presentation to the Shadow NATO Summit III in Washington D.C. earlier in May.
Shaping a better, more open NATO
NATO Watch director and former BASIC executive director, Ian Davis, wrote this timely piece for The Hill's Congress Blog about build up to the NATO Summit in Chicago on May 20-21, 2012 and the elements that should be discussed amongst policymakers.
C-SPAN broadcast: U.S. and Europe NATO Capabilities Gap
Coverage of the first day of BASIC's Shadow NATO Summit III was broadcast live on C-SPAN. This session on smart defense and burden sharing with a special focus on closing the U.S.-Europe capabilities gap with a human security approach featured Ms. Julianne Smith, Ambassador Andras Simonyi, Mr. John Feffer, and Dr. Marios Efthymiopoulos. It was chaired by Dr. Ian Davis.
Antonella Cerasino at the Shadow NATO Summit
Ms. Antonella Cerasino, Head of NATO Countries, Public Diplomacy Division, speaks on transparency and NATO reform at the Shadow NATO Summit, hosted by BASIC, NATO Watch, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Strategy International, and the Elliott School of International Affairs, held in Washington D.C. on May 14-15, 2012.
Emphasis on the Middle East at NPT PrepCom
Diplomats at the 2012 NPT Preparatory Committee have been discussing an extraordinary range of issues, but the highlight of this week’s agenda was Jaakko Laajava, Finnish Ambassador and facilitator of the 2012 Conference on a WMD free zone in the Middle East, on Tuesday morning giving his first official presentation of his consultations throughout the past seven months.
NATO’s Deterrence and Defence Posture Review and the Future of Nuclear Weapons
This report is a synthesis of an expert roundtable discussion held in Paris on the Alliance's approach to nuclear arms control. The Arms Control Association, BASIC, the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy Hamburg, and the Institut de Relations Internationales et Strategique, jointly organized this event two months before NATO's conclusion of its Deterrence and Defense Posture Review and the upcoming summit in Chicago.