North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has given rise to much debate on the security challenges that it brings to the international system. Its deployment of ballistic missiles and testing of nuclear devices (2006, 2009, and 2013) have alarmed states around the world, and posed dangers and threats to the region. In fact, recent activity at North Korea’s nuclear facility has given rise to new concerns about the possibility of a fourth nuclear test.
USA
Personal political interests and the Iranian nuclear negotiations
Iran and the E3+3 will be returning to the negotiating table on April 8th to begin yet another round of high level talks on the status and future of the Iranian nuclear program. As ever, there are various causes for caution, and perhaps even concern, as the Iranians and their American and European counterparts continue to disagree on central issues such as the fate of the Arak heavy water reactor and permitted levels of nuclear enrichment.
The Nuclear Factor in the Crimean Security Crisis
The current security crisis in Crimea has, up to this point in time, mostly involved conventional army and navy forces of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Nuclear weapons, however, have the potential to rear their ugly head. Both the United Kingdom and the United States have particular responsibilities too, as signatories to the 1994 agreement on security assurances for Ukraine,
Seeking Assurance
All eyes are on Russia’s next moves in Ukraine, and Crimea in particular, with news outlets reporting a strengthened Russian military presence on the peninsula. A referendum proposed by members of the Crimean parliament is set to take place in Crimea this Sunday, 16th March, to choose its future as part of either Ukraine or the Russian Federation, a move that could irreversibly deepen the crisis.
Will diplomacy prevail?
U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today on the sidelines of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual conference. Netanyahu announced that the conversation would include the the P5+1 (U.S., UK, Russia, China, France, and Germany) and Iranian nuclear negotiations, which will continue this week at the technical level in Vienna.
US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement Renewal 2014: a foregone conclusion?
1958 saw the first protest march to Britain’s nuclear bomb factory at Aldermaston, the start of the deployment of US THOR ballistic missiles with thermonuclear warheads at RAF Feltwell, a series of British thermonuclear tests at Christmas Island and the US and the UK signing the Agreement For Cooperation on the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defence Purposes – also known as the Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA).
The Challenges of Coherent U.S. Extended Nuclear Deterrence and Assurance
In this brief paper, Paul Ingram discusses U.S. commitments on extended nuclear detterence and expectations among allies. He explores the issues facing NATO and focuses on the UK-US security relationship around Trident.
Nuclear Deterrence Summit: Extended Deterrence and Assurance
On February 12, 2014, BASIC partnered with the ExchangeMonitor to hold a panel discussion on “Extended Deterrence and Assurance” at the Nuclear Deterrence Summit in Arlington, Virginia, near the Pentagon.