In this second Shadow Summit, NATO officials, civil society and policy experts again gathered to examine the organization’s future and explore how civil society groups and parliamentarians could advance NATO-related policies and actions.
Click on the hyperlinks below to view the agenda and presentation documents from this event that was organized by NATO Watch, BASIC, Bertelsmann Stiftung, and ISIS-Europe, with support from the Marmot Charitable Trust.
Paul Ingram, BASIC's Executive Director, discusses decisions around the United Kingdom's Trident nuclear weapon system.
“The Israelis and the Americans point to the fact that the Iranians have made a very public commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty – not to acquire nuclear weapons – whereas Israel is legally able to develop its arsenal.”….. “But the legal defense and the defense that Israel developed its weapons a while ago is hardly a defense in terms of justice”
It is time to reassess options for the replacement of the Trident nuclear missile submarines in the light of indications that the capital cost, to be funded from the Defence Ministry's core budget, could run to 28 billion pounds over the next 10-15 years. But Paul Ingram and Nick Ritchie also argue that it would be a mistake to base a decision on cost alone.
Click the “Full article (PDF)” button below to read the report.
Related publication:
The reasons for the impasse over Iran's nuclear program go beyond current debates on nuclear non-proliferation, sanctions, and threats of military action. This paper reviews the causes of the impasse from a broader perspective and also surveys the motives of Brazil and Turkey to engage in the diplomacy surrounding Iran's nuclear program.
“I think the whole point of what Admiral Mullen said over the weekend was to tell the Iranians that actually the Americans mean business. Otherwise, if you look at the timeline, we are not talking about any kind of military action anytime soon.”
BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh interviewed by RT News. Read more and watch video:
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-08-02/usa-behaves-irrationally-iran.html?fullstory
“The demonization of Iran is such that it appears we are on a one-track punitive response even though few believe it will work but lack the imagination or belief in other options.”