New START

Russian and U.S. strategic impasse

While most nuclear arms control attention will remain focused on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Preparatory Conference (PrepCom) in Geneva this week, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov is expected to meet on Tuesday with U.S. Defense Undersecretary James Miller in Brussels to discuss a related issue: missile defense.

Almaty and Prague

This week, talks over Iran’s nuclear program will resume on Friday and Saturday, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Friday will also mark four years since President Barack Obama delivered his landmark speech in Prague, Czech Republic, where he called for a world free of nuclear weapons and outlined the details of how his first administration would handle nuclear weapons issues.

BASIC News January – February 2013

The BASIC Trident Commission continued its deliberations on multiple aspects of the United Kingdom’s nuclear posture. Also in the first part of the year, BASIC organized sessions focused on U.S. nuclear weapons and extended deterrence in both London and Washington, engaging with a range of political and international perspectives.

The State of the Union: Obama to announce further nuclear reductions?

President Obama will address the American public in his State of the Union address tomorrow. Last week U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke in Munich, suggesting that the President will address their shared interests in “advancing a comprehensive nuclear agenda to strengthen the non-proliferation regime, [and] reduce[d] global stockpiles of nuclear materials”.

Chuck Hagel, North Korea and Russia

This week in the United States, Chuck Hagel’s nomination to the position of Secretary of Defense is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee as early as Thursday, where the former Senator recently underwent a fiery barrage of questioning from fellow Republicans over his positions on Iran and the U.S. nuclear arsenal last week.