On 7 July 2021 BASIC Co-Director, Sebastian Brixey Williams, was invited to give his remarks at the launch of the KAS Multilateral Dialogue and Atomic Reporters study programme, ‘A Neglected Story – The Legacy of Splitting the Atom.’
Disarmament
Less is More: the Feminist Case Against Minimum Deterrence
BASIC Policy Intern, Laura Rose Brown, applies a critical lens to the concept of minimum deterrence in light of the UK’s recent decision to increase the limit on its nuclear stockpile.
TPNW and Humanitarian Initiative Resource List
A new research resource, compiled by Dr Nick Ritchie, collates sources on the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Humanitarian Initiative.
Everything you need to know about the Programme on ‘Nuclear Responsibilities’
What are ‘nuclear responsibilities’ and what are they for? Find out everything you need to know about the BASIC-ICCS Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities.
Stockholm Syndrome: Looking to Escape the Nuclear Trap We’re Caught In
Whilst the public debate over nuclear disarmament tends to deal in black and white, the reality is that the nuclear disarmament process to which every member of the international community is committed to inevitably involves a complex set of steps that can be taken unilaterally, bilaterally and multilaterally.
Swedish Foreign Minister hosts ministerial meeting for Stepping Stones approach
On Tuesday, 11 June, Foreign Ministers from 15 countries meet in Stockholm to discuss how to make progress on nuclear disarmament. The impetus for this meeting is the Swedish ‘Stepping Stones’ implementation approach, which seeks to revive the blocked disarmament pathway in the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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: 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.