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”.
Russia
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.
The role of civil society in preventing nuclear catastrophe
This week the 24th United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues, 'Creating a Peaceful and Safe Future: Pressing Issues and Potential Solutions', takes place in Shizuoka, Japan. Topics delegates will be discussing this year include humanitarian issues on the use of nuclear weapons, Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones, current challenges to the nuclear non-proliferation regime, the role of civil society and nuclear safety and security.
Reagan’s chief arms control negotiator dies, 92
Leading U.S. statesman, Ambassador Max Kampelman died last Friday. He has been credited with shaping US policy in the arena of human rights relations with the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, and as helping to create the diplomatic conditions that preceded the end of the Cold War.
Brian Eno chats with Tom Robinson
Former BASIC board member Brian Eno was featured on the Tom Robinson show on BBC Radio 6, discussing his career, involvement with BASIC, and interest in reducing nuclear dangers. Brian explains: 'We still have tens of thousands of ready to go nuclear weapons and they are still as dangerous as they once were…by luck nothing has gone wrong with them.
Theatre Nuclear Weapons and the next round of bilateral New START Treaty follow-on talks
BASIC Senior Consultant Ted Seay briefly reviews the military and arms control history of TNWs and highlights Russian concerns around forging a new agreement on remaining U.S. and Russian warheads. He concludes the paper by assessing several options for the United States and NATO.
New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)
Signed by Presidents Obama and Medvedev on April 8, 2010, New START replaces the 1991 START treaty limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapon systems. The agreement introduces lower ceilings for the numbers of deployed warheads and delivery systems, and continues many of the necessary verification procedures. New START entered into force on February 5, 2011.
-
Treaty text (U.S. State Department)
Acclaimed Arms Control Anniversaries
For those interested in understanding how we can seize opportunities to reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons and enhance regional and global security, this week sees two significant anniversaries.
On December 3rd 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush met in Malta to declare an end to the Cold War after two days of talks.