The United Kingdom will play host this week to the United States, France, China and Russia for a meeting of the “P5 Process”. This is the last meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nuclear weapon states (NWS) prior to the NPT Review Conference this April. These states have been meeting for five years and the pressure is on to demonstrate concrete evidence that a multilateral approach can achieve some progress in meeting disarmament obligations. But is the “P5 Process” sustainable, and if so, what should we realistically expect from the London meeting?
Disarmament
Ted Seay Interview
Ted Seay, Senior Policy Consultant for BASIC, was recently featured in an interview on a segment of RT.
Watch the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlTQjS95714
Multilateralism – is the end in sight?
The P5 process was a British attempt to spark multilateral nuclear disarmament. It should no longer be accepted as an excuse for inaction.
Iran Risks Rise as Stumbling Talks Push Sanctions Clamor
Paul Ingram, BASIC's Executive Director, was quoted in this Bloomberg article by Jonathan Tirone about the nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying “Failing to reach a conclusion by now was itself a high risk strategy that looks increasingly vulnerable to impatient legislators. The belief somehow that a little more time and patience will bring results is also hard to fathom. Now is a crucial moment.”
Will America’s political discord torpedo the Iran talks?
Continued Republican efforts to force further sanctions on Iran threaten the fragile coalition making progress on nuclear negotiations, which already show wear from an outdated zero-sum approach.
Complacency is slowly killing the non-proliferation regime
Fatalism over the chances of achieving agreement on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation is symptomatic of a failure that goes deeper than the inefficiencies of the diplomatic process.
The Age of Frustration
The period before World War I was marked by inequality, terrorism, and discontent with democracy. Sound familiar?
Furthering NPT Objectives, Amman Security Colloquium
On November 12th, BASIC hosted a panel discussion at the annual Amman Security Colloquium entitled “Options available to promote progress in furthering NPT objectives in 2015”.