Modernisation

Capitol Washington Dispatches

Opening Salvos in the Trump Administration’s Nuclear Debate: 10 Feb 2017

The US President has the authority to launch the US nuclear arsenal at any time and without reference to any other authority. During the Presidential election Democrats attempted to discredit Trump’s ability to handle the grave responsibilities of office that come from control of the country’s thousands of nuclear warheads. US nuclear posture and doctrine is now set to remain a high-profile, contentious issue in the first year of the Trump Administration.

Missile launches

The dangers of vulnerable nuclear forces

For a while during the Cold War, the nuclear standoff was almost comfortable. When the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was briefed on the destructive power of the hydrogen bomb, he told his son Sergei, he was so upset that he could not sleep for several nights. But then, he said, he realised that these weapons could never be used and he could sleep again.

9417284684 2fb7fb7f4c z 1

Does the UK need a nuclear deterrent?

British MPs have thrown their support behind the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme. BASIC's executive director, Paul Ingram, was interviewed after the outcome of the Parliamentary vote, arguing that the issue will remain controversial. Watch the interview on Aljazeera's website here: http://video.aljazeera.com/channels/eng/videos/does-the-uk-need-a-nuclea…

Houses of Parliament

The outcome of the Trident vote will not be the last word

Parliament has today voted in favour of the government’s plans to replace the four Vanguard class submarines with Successor submarines, based upon continuous submarine patrolling. This vote may have provided the country’s new Prime Minister Theresa May a quick and immediate opportunity to demonstrate business as usual, a new government keen to get things done post Brexit.