In this issue: United States ; New generation of nuclear weapons ; Budget requests ; Prompt Global Strike ; United Kingdom ; New generation of nuclear weapons
USA
The newest anti-satellite contender: China’s ASAT Test
China's successful ASAT weapons test makes it more difficult for the US to ignore its potential as a competitor in space and makes essential the revitalization of Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) negotiations.
Assessing ISAF: A baseline study of NATO’s role in Afghanistan
This study examines how successful ISAF has been in its security and reconstruction effort, looking at civilian and military deaths, insurgent attacks and troop levels, as well as qualitative analysis
Blair pressing to host American ‘Star Wars’ Interceptor missiles, and keeping Parliament in the dark (again)
BASIC calls for consultation, and for threat assessments and industrial studies to be declassified
UK and US governments have been holding discussions on basing a US anti-ballistic missile defence system on UK soil – and the UK Prime Minister is said to have personally lobbied the US President for the system. BASIC is calling for the government to make a public statement clarifying the position, committing to consultation, and declassifying threat assessments and industrial studies.
BASIC Co-Executive Director, Dr Ian Davis said:
Former USAF Colonel Sets out Iran’s Likely Response to the US Military Option
Its influence will be strengthened by a US attack, argues Sam Gardiner
A former US Air Force colonel has today warned of the scale of Iran\’s capacity to respond to a strike by the US military.
Getting to Zero Update
In this issue: Arms control ; Country Reports ; Publications
General, you have the advantage of time: Iran’s Response to the U.S. Military Option
This discussion paper is written from the imagined viewpoint of a senior military advisor to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as he assesses Iran's options in responding to a U.S. military attack.
Present at the Creation: US perspectives on the origins and future direction of the Proliferation Security Initiative
A large number of rebels within the Labour and opposition parties failed to defeat the proposals.