TacNukes News summarizes recent developments and resources covering tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Europe. In this edition of TacNukes News, the political and security environment relevant to making progress on tactical nuclear weapons arms control continued to deteriorate as Russia-U.S. relations worsened and the Ukraine crisis showed no signs of winding down.
USA
UK-US sign secret new deal on nuclear weapons
BASIC's Executive Director, Paul Ingram was quoted in an article about the Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) signed between US and UK officials.
Here's what he said: “With the deepening of technical collaboration that shapes the procurement decisions here in London over nuclear weapons programmes, in a manner that stretches or breaks Article 1 of the NPT, it is high time we took this relationship and its consequences for international security seriously.”
What’s ahead for the United States and the United Kingdom?
Tomorrow the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will host a hearing on the P5+1 negotiations with Iran. Witnesses will include Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and the U.S.’ lead negotiator on the Iran nuclear talks, and David Cohen, the Treasury Department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Last weekend the six-month deadline (July 20th) for the interim Joint Plan of Action passed without a final deal being reached.
What’s behind the deepening US-UK nuclear weapon cooperation?
The Mutual Defense Agreement (MDA) lies at the heart of the special nuclear relationship between the United States and United Kingdom. The nuclear relationship set up by the MDA is seen to be beneficial to both the US and UK by cementing the bilateral relationship in sharing of nuclear weapons technology, as well as enshrining a certain uneven power structure in law.
Talking about Trident & the Next Generation of Global Threats
BASIC and WMD Awareness kicked off their Talking Trident: A Conversation with the Next Generation event series on July 9th in Shoreditch in east London. These events are a series of debates being held to give young adults in Britain the opportunity to express their opinions on the issue of nuclear weapons before the government makes a decision on whether to renew its nuclear system, Trident, in 2016.
Iran Nuclear Talks Hit Critical Juncture With Kerry to Join
This article by Jonathan Tirone at Bloomberg about the critical juncture of the Iran talks in July 2014 cites BASIC's executive director Paul Ingram as saying: “There remains deep skepticism on both sides and influential forces aligning against a deal…Complete failure is highly unattractive but a comprehensive solution will also be elusive.”
Iran Nuclear Talks Hit Critical Juncture With Kerry to Join
This article by Jonathan Tirone at Bloomberg about the critical juncture of the Iran talks in July 2014 cites BASIC's executive director Paul Ingram as saying: “There remains deep skepticism on both sides and influential forces aligning against a deal…Complete failure is highly unattractive but a comprehensive solution will also be elusive.”
UK’s nuclear deterrent entirely dependent on the US – crossparty report
The Trident Commission, spearheaded by BASIC, launched its concluding report on July 1st, and it is expected to add significant value to the debate on whether or not to keep Britain’s nuclear deterrent. An article by Richard Norton-Taylor in The Guardian highlights a less noticed finding in the report which states that the UK's nuclear deterrent is fundamentally dependent on US acquiescence. Norton-Taylor argues that without US help as enshrined in the Mutual Defence Agreement, the UK's nuclear deterrent would last months at best.