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.
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.
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.
This week Moscow hosts an international security conference that will focus on the future of missile defense, more specifically, the need for effective US reassurances that it will never undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent, and the possibility of cooperation on the issue.
On Thursday May 16th, BASIC co-sponsored a roundtable in Moscow with the Center for Energy and Security Studies (CENESS), Arms Control Association (ACA), the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH) on new prospects for Russian-US Arms Control.
Geneva saw something new this week: actual constructive conversation about nuclear weapons. The United Nations established the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in its current form in 1978, expecting it to be the main forum for disarmament negotiations for a number of different types of weapons, including nuclear weapons. But the rules of the CD–limited membership, any one member can block action–have caused its work on nuclear weapons to stagnate for 20 years.
BASIC senior consultant Ted Seay explores the institutional history of NATO’s theater nuclear weapons (TNW) and explains why in recent years the Alliance has been slow to move forward with changes that could further reduce this arsenal.
BASIC senior consultant Ted Seay explores the institutional history of NATO's theater nuclear weapons (TNW) and explains why in recent years the Alliance has been slow to move forward with changes that could further reduce this arsenal.