You may hear a lot this week that the bombing of Hiroshima was a turning point for humanity – the most important historic event of the 20th century, ushering in the nuclear age. From that moment on, 70 years ago, humans had to come to terms with the fact that we could cause our own devastation along with the majority of large species inhabiting this planet.
Nuclear security
Exploring the links between nuclear weapons and climate change
Climate change and nuclear weapons have one thing in common: neither are easily solvable dilemmas and require multidimensional global action.
What does it mean to be a responsible nuclear weapon state in the 21st century?
As part of the Next Generation project, BASIC is hosted a small roundtable discussion about what it means to be a responsible nuclear weapon state in the 21st century on 23 June 2015.
Linking nuclear weapons and climate change
As part of BASIC\’s Next Generation Project, BASIC Executive Director Paul Ingram and Greenpeace campaigner Louise Edge led a discussion exploring the links between the nuclear weapons debate and the climate change debate, and the political and public perceptions of both
UK nuclear weapons – a source of insecurity?
The UK doggedly maintains an ‘independent nuclear deterrent’ but a naval officer has blown the whistle on the system’s inherent insecurity—with its potentially incalculable implications.
A responsible nuclear-armed state?
It may sound like an oxymoron but we need a new global conversation which engages all nuclear-armed states en route to disarmament. Is there such a thing as a responsible nuclear-armed state in the 21st century? If so, what does it look like?
Naval Nuclear Propulsion: FAS releases task force report that includes BASIC Executive Director
This week the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) released the results of a year-long task force study on Naval Nuclear Propulsion. This task force included experts from the national security, nuclear engineering, nonproliferation and nuclear security fields, including BASIC’s Executive Director Paul Ingram.
A dangerous game of symbolism we could do without
Nuclear weapons have become symbolic weapons, for display only. They are not weapons of war. They have played no part in the wars of the last few decades. When nations felt threatened, they did not look to their nuclear arsenals for a sense of security.