It is 22 years since the Presidential Nuclear Initiatives were announced soon after the fall of the Berlin wall. Presidents Bush and Gorbachev declared massive unilateral cuts to their holdings of short range tactical nuclear weapons, and their militaries set about the task of dismantling them.
Russia
Implications of President Obama’s Speech in Berlin and Nuclear Strategy Review
—Progress on nuclear reductions will require more successful engagement with Russia
President Barack Obama set out his second term nuclear agenda on June 19, 2013 in a major speech in Berlin, and in tandem released elements of his long-awaited Nuclear Weapons Employment Strategy.
Friends, foes, & the unstable future: the impact of nukes on security relations in South Asia
The volatile security environment of South Asia has traditionally been dominated by on-going tensions and conflicts between Pakistan and India, who have held a tense and inimical relationship since their emergence as separate nations in 1947. The threat perception arising out of the historical tension and enduring rivalry between both countries has put them in a security dilemma in which the risk of nuclear conflict simply cannot be ruled out.
Threat perceptions, the future of the alliance, and thinking differently
President Obama’s foreign policy speech in Berlin yesterday, in which he set out his highly-anticipated second term nuclear agenda, calls on us to change the way we think about European security and the direction in which we want to travel.
Obama’s Brandenburg Speech, 19 June 2013
BASIC staff and consultants are available for comment on President Obama’s speech today at the Brandenburg Gate, 2pm London time, in which he is expected to lay out his agenda on strategic nuclear deterrence, disarmament and arms control for the rest of his Presidency.
What comes next for U.S. nuclear weapons policy?
This Wednesday, President Obama is slated to give his next big foreign policy speech at the historically significant Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. It was at this Gate – an enduring symbol of both the division and subsequent unity of East and West Berlin – that Ronald Reagan urged then-General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to “tear down this wall” in 1987, and President Clinton spoke of a free and unified Berlin in 1994, following the end of the Cold War.
Russia and the US: realising nuclear disarmament and building trust
According to the most recent estimate by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), the world's combined stockpile of nuclear warheads stands at more than 17,000. The US and Russia have over 93% of the world's nuclear weapons, with about 1,800 on high alert, ready to unleash their devastating explosive power against each other at short notice.
Getting to Zero Timeline: 2013
January 16-17, 2013: IAEA Talks with Iran. Tehran, Iran
January 21 – March 28, 2013: First session of the Conference on Disarmament in 2013
February 12, 2013: Obama State of the Union Address, Vice President Joe Biden stated the speech will address “advancing a comprehensive nuclear agenda to strengthen the nonproliferation regime, reduce global stockpiles and secure nuclear materials.”
February 13, 2013: IAEA Talks with Iran. Tehran, Iran.