This is the final report to come out of a roundtable workshop held by BASIC in Istanbul on October 24-25th, 2012 on preparing for the Helsinki conference on nuclear and WMD-free zone in the Middle East. Participants included Jaakko Laajava, facilitator for the Conference on a nuclear and WMD-free zone in the Middle East, and senior officials and experts from the region and beyond.
Non-proliferation treaty (NPT)
Getting to Zero – Is Nuclear Abolition Desirable and/or Possible?
The International Security Network (ISN) published an article by BASIC's program support officer, Rachel Staley, on the possibility and desirability of nuclear abolition. The article concludes that while abolition may seem an arduous task, few governments would deny the link between non-proliferation and disarmament; if support for non-proliferation is there, there is an obligation to support global nuclear disarmament.
Paul Ingram and BASIC featured in EU Non-Proliferation Consortium
BASIC's executive director, Paul Ingram, was interviewd for 'nonproliferation.eu', the monthly newsletter from the EU Non-Proliferation Consortium. The interview focused on BASIC's work in support of the establishment of a WMD-free zone in the Middle East and how civil society can contribue to the debate. BASIC is hosting a track II meeting in coordination with the Finnish Ambassador, Jaakko Laajava and his team for the end of October in support of the Helsinki Conference to create a WMD-free zone in the Middle East, due to take place in the next few months.
Istanbul event supporting 2012 conference on a WMD-free zone in Mideast
BASIC held a roundtable in Istanbul, on October 24 and 25, 2012, in support of the 2012 conference on a WMD-free zone in the Middle East.
The Track II event, held in coordination with the office of the conference facilitator, Jaakko Laajava of Finland, was attended by expert and government representatives from the region and beyond.
Read the final report from the roundtable: here.
Trinity nuclear test anniversary – U.S. first to test, but will it be the last to fully support a ban?
Today is the 67th anniversary of the world’s first nuclear explosion test, known as “Trinity”, which used a plutonium core. It was unnecessary for the first use of a nuclear warhead, on Hiroshima three weeks later, as designers were so confident about that form of HEU ‘gun-type’ warhead.
Will the NWS fail to support the NWFZ…again?
Foreign Ministers from the five recognized nuclear weapons states (NWS) meet on Thursday with members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). There had been an expectation that the NWS would at last endorse the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) by signing up to its Protocol, but they are still expressing reservations over the scope of the Treaty and its restriction on the passage of NWS vessels through the surrounding seas. China also has particular concerns that the Treaty treads on its territorial sovereignty – it is already in dispute with ASEAN members over the South China Seas.
Country Report: India
India is a nuclear weapon state, but since it is not party to the NPT, its nuclear weapons program is not under the same regulations nor does the country have the same obligations as the NPT nuclear weapon states. This, coupled with India's relationship with the U.S. and volatile history with neighboring country, Pakistan, which also possesses nuclear weapons, makes India an important country to watch. BASIC monitors India's nuclear weapons program in its Getting to Zero Updates.
Country Report: China
China is one of the five nuclear weapon states of the NPT and the only one to have an open policy of no first use. BASIC monitors China’s nuclear policies and political shifts in its Getting to Zero updates. Read the summaries below for a reverse chronological history.