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.
Diplomacy
Meaningful Multilateralism: A Discussion with Parliamentarians 18th July 2017
The BASIC/UNA-UK report Meaningful Multilateralism: 30 Nuclear Disarmament Proposals for the Next UK Government, was discussed in Parliament at a roundtable hosted by BASIC on Tuesday 18th June.
Event: Meaningful Multilateralism
The BASIC/UNA-UK report Meaningful Multilateralism, future UK leadership on nuclear disarmament, was discussed in parliament at a BASIC roundtable in July 2017.
30 Ways The UK Must Lead In Multilateral Disarmament
Executive Director of BASIC, Paul Ingram, recently authored a piece in the Huffington Post during the launch of BASIC’s new report with UNA-UK, Meaningful Multilateralism: 30 Nuclear Disarmament Proposals for the Next UK Government.
Report: Meaningful Multilateralism: 30 Nuclear Disarmament Proposals for the Next UK Government
In Meaningful Multilateralism, BASIC and UNA–UK offer 30 multilateral disarmament proposals for the incoming UK Government after the General Election on the 8th June, themed according to three types of leadership the UK has previously shown in disarmament.
US – North Korea: An Unnecessary Crisis
Let no one say the Trump Administration has not been creative in foreign policy in its first 100 days. It has created a full-blown crisis over North Korea and it is sustaining it.
The crisis was not caused by North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. It was caused by what the U.S. Administration says about it. “We won’t allow North Korea to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles,” said President Trump. Vice-President Mike Pence warns North Korea not to test America’s resolve.
Struggling to Signal: Trump’s Dilemma with Arms Control Diplomacy: 18th April 2017
Some believe the world is a safer place with Trump in the White House.
Trump’s Nuclear Rhetoric and its implications for European Security: 27 Feb 2017
Trump’s Nuclear Rhetoric and its implications for European Security
Further questions were raised over the direction of US nuclear posture review last week. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Trump opined that the US has 'fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity' and pledged the US to be 'top of the pack' when it comes to nuclear weapons.