BASIC, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Elliott School of International Affairs, NATO Watch, and Strategy International are holding a conference on May 14 and 15, a week before the NATO Summit in Chicago.
Russia
Time to reframe the debate on the Iranian nuclear programme
In this Open Democracy article, BASIC's executive director, Paul Ingram urges us to move away from traditional Cold War thinking and the dichotomy of us versus them. He explains that in order to properly address the issue of nuclear nonproliferation, we must reframe the debate on the Iranian nuclear weapons programme.
The Partnership
Book review of “The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and Their Quest to Ban the Bomb” by Philip Taubman. At the height of the Cold War, eliminating nuclear weapons was seen as the province of dreadlocked hippies, peaceniks, and other “flower children” of the 1960s. It was a perspective that perversely marginalized the arms control agenda, just when it was needed the most.
Changing the narrative on U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe
A couple of events in Washington this week arising from a new report will focus attention anew on the presence of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, as NATO foreign and defence ministers prepare to meet in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of next month’s NATO summit.
Reflecting on Obama’s vision
This Thursday is three years since President Obama delivered his Prague speech, bringing nuclear non-proliferation back on the agenda with his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.
Romney’s Foreign Policy Fantasies: “Breathtaking Weakness?”
BASIC Board Member William Hartung wrote an opinion piece for Talking Points Memo (TPM) on the Obama Administration's engagement with Russia on arms control, notably New START, and what should be the focus between the two Presidential candidates on arms control in the 2012 US election.
U.S. Report on the CTBT
Although all eyes are currently on the second Nuclear Security Summit happening today and tomorrow in Seoul, South Korea, a significant development on nuclear issues will also happen this Friday, when the U.S. National Academy of Sciences releases it long-awaited report on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The report, while technical, will have far-reaching political implications for nuclear arms control.
BASIC News: update on activities January-February 2012
BASIC kicked off 2012 by engaging experts, elites, journalists and students in Egypt. BASIC continued its work for the Trident Commission, and engaged with Track II participants on Iran’s nuclear program, in separate meetings in the United Kingdom.