About BASIC
Our Vision
We want a safe and peaceful world, one without the threat
of war and nuclear destruction. As Franklin Roosevelt and
Winston Churchill said: "All of the nations of the world,
for realistic as well as spiritual reasons, must come to the
abandonment of the use of force". BASIC believes that a law-guided
approach based on negotiated treaties and a cooperative security
agenda is the only viable way to reduce weapons proliferation,
terrorism and inter-state-conflict.
Our Mission
Since 1987, BASIC has worked as an independent research and
advocacy organization. Our research is respected and trusted,
and widely used by many other organisations and individuals.
We focus on transatlantic security and arms control issues
as a means of creating a more stable and secure world. With
offices, staff, advisors, governing board membership and patrons
on both sides of the Atlantic, we play a unique role as a
transatlantic bridge for policy makers and opinion shapers.
How We Operate
We achieve our mission by:
- Researching and providing a critical examination of future
decision points in transatlantic security policy, including:
(a) arms control and disarmament policies involving nuclear
and biological weapons, and other weapons of mass destruction;
(b) national, regional and international security strategies
including, but not limited to, peacekeeping, conflict management
and prevention, and the control of terrorism; and (c) arms
transfers and the international weapons trade;
- Assisting in the development of transatlantic security
policies, policy making and the assessment of policy priorities;
and
- Decoding complex defence and security material to promote
public understanding and foster informed debate and creative
solutions.
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BASIC is the first and
only peace & security NGO established to be British-American
in name, composition, orientation and focus.
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The transatlantic security community is understood to include
the nations of North America and Europe, including Russia.
Our target audience in Europe and North America includes
policymakers and opinion shapers - government officials, journalists,
academics and other individuals and institutions needing reliable
information and analysis about transatlantic security and
arms control issues.
Staff and Consultants
 Paul
Ingram
Executive Director
Paul was previously Senior Analyst at BASIC.
His subject areas include nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament
(with a focus on Iran and the UK); the UK debate over Trident
replacement; defence economics, particularly subsidies of
exports in the UK; and transatlantic security. His work has
directly led to policy changes over UK export credits and
defence export support. He hosts a weekly peak-time talk show
on IRINN (Iranian domestic TV News in Farsi) focusing on global
security issues. He is author of a number of BASIC notes and
papers, and a documentary series for Press TV on nuclear issues.
He also co-teaches systems thinking and practice on the Top
Management Programme at the National School of Government
alongside Prof. Jake Chapman.
 Chris
Lindborg
Analyst
Chris addresses transatlantic security and arms
control issues in her work. Prior to joining BASIC's Washington
office in May 2001, she worked at the Overseas Development
Council and before that she was a Herbert Scoville, Jr. Peace
Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. She has an
MA degree in Political Science from University of South Carolina
and a BA degree in International Relations and Political Science
from the University of Minnesota.
Leila Lomba
Administrative and Finance Coordinator
Leila Lomba joined BASIC in June 2007 as an
Administrative & Finance Coordinator in the Washington,
DC office. Leila graduated with honors with a Bachelor Science
degree in International Business from Strayer University.
 Kim
Waller
Finance and Communications Officer
Kim joined BASIC's London office in March 2004. She brings
editorial and proof reading experience from broadcast journalism
in Amman, and has worked as research support for politicians
and members of the House of Lords in London. Kim holds a BA
and MSc in Social Anthropology and Politics from the School
of Oriental and African studies, London (2000). She specialised
in mass violence and genocide, the Middle East and South Asia.
 Ian
Davis
Consultant on Transatlantic Security and Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Ian Davis is an independent human security and
arms control consultant and activist. He has a rich background
in government, academia, and the non-governmental organization
(NGO) sector. He was formerly Executive Director of BASIC
(2001-2007) and before that Programme Manager at Saferworld
(1998-2001). He has expertise in British and US defence and
foreign policy, transatlantic security issues, the international
arms trade and arms control and disarmament issues. He blogs
for The Guardian on-line at: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ian_davis/.
BASIC Council Members
Amb. Robert L. Barry
Barry is currently a senior associate with the
Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington,
and has had a long career with the US government on European
affairs and arms control. Ambassador Barry headed the OSCE
Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina from January 1998 to June
2001. He also served as ambassador to Bulgaria and Indonesia.
Ambassador Barry helped establish and coordinate U.S. assistance
programs for Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet
Union promoting market economies and democracy. He also served
as Deputy Director of the Voice of America and ambassador
to the Stockholm Conference on Disarmament in Europe.
 Camilla
Bustani
Camilla is a London-based lawyer specialising
in international communications regulation. She is currently
International Policy Manager at Ofcom, previously at Clifford
Chance. She studied politics and international studies at
Harvard (BA), Columbia University (MA) and law at Oxford.
She has been a senior editor of the Journal of International
Affairs (http://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/),
and an intern in the UN Secretary-General's office. Camilla
is on the Board the OpenDemocracy Foundation and has run a
number of successful fundraising campaigns (totalling over
£80,000) for relief in Iraq, in Iran, Darfur and in
Niger, and has published on a variety of international issues.
Camilla is a Brazilian citizen, and lives with her husband
and two children in north London.
 Andrew
Cottey
Dr. Andrew Cottey is Jean Monnet Chair in European
Political Integration, Department of Government, University
of College Cork. He has previously worked at the Department
of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, the EastWest Institute,
Saferworld and BASIC. He has been a NATO Research Fellow,
a Research Associate at the International Institute for Strategic
Studies (IISS) and a Visiting Researcher at the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He is author
of various publications on European and international security.
Jonathan Dean
Ambassador Dean is now Adviser on International
Security Issues to the Union of Concerned Scientists, and
he was US Representative to the Mutual and Balanced Force
Reduction Talks from 1978-1981.
 Brian
Eno
(Photo by Christine Alicino)
Brian Eno's career encompasses music, writing,
lecturing, teaching and the visual arts. He has released a
series of critically acclaimed solo albums and collaborations
with other leading musicians. His audio/visual installation
work has been shown around the world; a total of 100 or so
exhibitions to date. Brian Eno has been awarded an Honorary
Doctorate at the Royal College of Art in London, where he
is a Visiting Professor. He has also been awarded an Honorary
Doctorate in Technology from Plymouth University and an Honorary
Professorship by the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. He is
a member of Global Business Network, the Media Lab Europe
in Dublin and a patron of the Institute of Contemporary Arts
as well as a founder of The Long Now Foundation. His writings
on politics and culture have been published in Time
magazine (Europe), Nouvel Observateur, Foreign Policy
and The Observer. He is the author of A Year with
Swollen Appendices published by Faber and Faber in 1996.
 Amb.
James Goodby
Ambassador Goodby was a career diplomat holding
a number of ambassadorial-rank positions, several concerning
nuclear weapons issues. Currently he is associated with the
Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings
Institution and the Securities Studies Program at MIT. He
is the winner of the Heinz Award in Public Policy, the Commander's
Cross of the Order of Merit of Germany, and the Presidential
Distinguished Service Award and the holder of an honorary
Doctor of Laws from the Stetson University College of Law.
 Nicholas
Grief
Nicholas Grief is Head of the Law Department
and Steele Raymond LLP Professor of Law at Bournemouth University.
He specializes in public international law and European law
with particular emphasis on international humanitarian law
and human rights. A practicing barrister (an associate tenant
at Doughty Street Chambers, London), he has appeared in several
cases concerning the legality of nuclear weapons, often as
an expert witness. In the 1990s he was closely involved in
the World Court Project (notably as the author of a legal
memorandum entitled The World Court Project on Nuclear
Weapons and International Law) which led to the ICJ's
advisory opinion on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear
weapons in July 1996. In 2003 he was a member of the panel
of legal experts established by Peacerights to examine legal
issues regarding the conduct of military operations by coalition
forces in the 2003 Iraq War. The following year he was counsel
to the Peacerights inquiry into the legality of nuclear weapons.
He is co-editor of the European Human Rights Reports
and an associate of Oxford Research Group.
 Susan
M. Kincade
Ms. Kincade is a financial and management consultant
in Washington, DC with a special interest in nonprofit organizations
and a Senior Partner in Global Concepts and Communications,
LLC. Previously she held management positions with the Henry
L. Stimson Center, the Committee for National Security, and
the Institutes for Behavior Resources.
Amb. James Leonard
James Leonard is a member of the Scientists
Working Group on CBW of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
In his Foreign Service career, he was US Representative to
the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, Deputy Permanent Representative
to the United Nations in New York, and Deputy Special Representative
for Middle East peace negotiations. In private life, he has
been president of the United Nations Association of the USA
and adviser to the Palme Commission, the Canberra Commission,
and other groups in the field of arms control.
 Trevor
McCrisken
Dr. Trevor McCrisken is Associate Professor
in American Politics and International Studies at the University
of Warwick. His research interest is US foreign policy with
particular emphasis on the threat and use of military force,
the politics of intervention, and the relationship between
American political culture and foreign policy. He is an Associate
Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute at the University
of Oxford where he was a Research Fellow from 2001-2003. He
also previously held positions at the Universities of Oxford,
Lancaster and UWE Bristol. He completed his DPhil at the University
of Sussex and has an MA from American University in Washington,
DC and a BA from the University of Kent.
Dr. McCrisken is author of "American Exceptionalism
and the Legacy of Vietnam: US Foreign Policy Since 1974" (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2003) and co-author with Andrew Pepper of "American
History and Contemporary Hollywood Film" (Edinburgh/Rutgers,
2005). He is also a North America Region Head with Oxford
Analytica and an adviser to the journal International Affairs.
 Dr.
Daniel N. Nelson
Daniel N. Nelson (PhD, Johns Hopkins) is President
of Global Concepts & Communications, LLC, and Senior Fellow
at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. From
2002-2006, he was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
at the University of New Haven. From 1998 through mid-2002,
he served in the US Departments of State and Defense - during
1998 in the Arms Control & Disarmament Agency as the William
Foster Fellow working on conventional arms negotiations and,
in 1999, as Scholar in Residence at the National Defense University's
National Security Education Program. Then, from January 2000
through July 2002, Nelson directed the curriculum in Civil-Military
Relations at the George C. Marshall Center for European Security
Studies in Garmisch, Germany. From 1996 through 2003, Nelson
was also Editor-in-Chief of International Politics, a Palgrave
scholarly quarterly. From 1992-1999, he was founding Director
of the Graduate Programs in International Studies at Old Dominion
University, Norfolk, VA. Earlier, he had been the Senior Foreign
Policy Advisor for Richard Gephardt (D-Mo) when he was the
Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, a Senior
Associate at the Carnegie Endowment, and Professor of Political
Science at the University of Kentucky. He also taught at Georgetown
University, The Johns Hopkins SAIS, and the George Washington
University. Nelson has written six books, and edited or co-edited
twenty other volumes.
 James
O'Connell
O'Connell retired as Head of the Department
of Peace Studies at Bradford University during 1993. He continues
to play an active role in the department.
 Sima
Osdoby
Sima Osdoby (Secretary of the Board) is a consultant
to international and US organizations focusing on strengthening
democratic institutions, civil society and civic engagement,
and improving the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations.
She is a Senior Partner in Global Concepts and Communications,
LLC. She has worked recently in Asia, the former Soviet Union,
former Yugoslavia and Iraq and has been consultant to and
Sr. Advisor for Civic Programs for the National Democratic
Institute for International Affairs; Civil Society Consultant
and Deputy Director of Democratization at OSCE Mission to
Bosnia and Herzegovina; and has worked on a dozen international
election missions. As Director of Policy and Programs for
Women's Action for New Directions, she was a registered lobbyist
on arms control issues and served as legislative coordinator
for the national coalition working on conventional arms control,
for which she later developed and directed the Leveraged Outreach
Project to increase support to control the international arms
trade. She has written about the social and economic consequences
of limited nuclear war, women's political leadership and citizen
participation. She has worked on election campaigns at the
local, state and national levels and chaired the International
Task Force of the national Coalition for Women's Appointments
advocating appointment of highly qualified women to cabinet
and subcabinet positions in the Departments of State, Defense
and related agencies.
 Malcolm
Savidge
As MP for Aberdeen North (1997-2005), Malcolm was active
in Parliament and beyond, particularly on international relations,
strategic issues and conflict resolution. He was Convener
(2000-2005) of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global
Security and Non-Proliferation; Vice-Chair (2000-2005), All-Party
Parliamentary Group on World Government; Member (1997-2005),
Select Committee on Environmental Audit; Member (1997-2005),
Parliamentary Labour Party Back-Bench Committees on Foreign
Affairs, Defence and International Development. He has published
articles in a number of journals; featured in national and
international media; and delivered papers/spoken at a range
of international conferences - interparliamentary, university
and UN organised. He is Parliamentary Consultant (2005- ),
Oxford Research Group [ORG] and Vice-President of the United
Nations Association (UK) [2003-] and the One World Trust [2005-
]. Malcolm was made an Honorary Fellow of The Robert Gordon
University in 1997 and is a member of the International Institute
for Strategic Studies (IISS), Royal Institute for International
Affairs and Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
Joanna Spear
Dr. Joanna Spear is the Director of the Security
Policy Studies Program at the Elliott School, George Washington
University at George Washington University. Between 1996 and
2003, she was a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Graduate
Research Program in the Department of War Studies, King's
College London. She previously taught at the Universities
of Sheffield, York and Birmingham. She was a Post-Doctoral
Fellow at the Center for Science and International Affairs,
Harvard University (1993-5) and a Visiting Scholar at the
Brookings Institution (1999). She completed her ESRC-funded
PhD at the University of Southampton and a BA from Staffordshire.
An expert on US arms sales policies, US counter-proliferation
policies and transatlantic relations, Dr. Spear is author
of Carter and Arms Sales and The Changing Political
Economy of the Defense Trade (forthcoming), and has written
numerous chapters in books and articles. Her research
interests also include the global defense trade and post-conflict
reconstruction.
Advisers to the Council
Robert Aldridge
Aldridge, a former nuclear weapons engineer,
is the founder of the Pacific Life Research Center and the
author of books on nuclear weapons activities and alternatives.
Malcolm Dando
Dando is Professor of International Security
at the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford
and co-director of the Department's project on strengthening
the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). He has
published widely on biological warfare, bio-terrorism, non-lethal
weapons and related international security issues. He was
elected a Fellow of the Institute of Biology in March 1999.
 Ambassador
Thomas Graham, Jr.
Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. is one of the
world's leading experts in nuclear non-proliferation and served
as a senior U.S. diplomat involved in the negotiation of every
major international arms control and non-proliferation agreement
for the past 35 years. In 1993, Amb. Graham served as the
Acting Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
(ACDA), and for seven months in 1994 served as the Acting
Deputy Director. From 1994 through 1997, he served as the
Special Representative of the President of the United States
for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, and Disarmament, and
in this capacity successfully led U.S. government efforts
to achieve the permanent extension of the NPT. He also served
for 15 years as the general counsel of ACDA. He is currently
Chairman of the Cypress Fund for Peace and Security and Executive
Chairman of Thorium Power, Ltd.
 Chantal
de Jonge Oudraat
Chantal de Jonge Oudraat is Associate Vice President
of the Jennings Randolph Fellowship Program at the United
States Institute of Peace. Recently she was a Senior Fellow
at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Paul H. Nitze School
of International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. She is
also an Adjunct Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of
Foreign Service, Georgetown University and Vice-President
of Women in International Security (WIIS). In 2002 she was
a Robert Bosch Foundation Research Scholar at the American
Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), Johns Hopkins
University. Previously she served as co-director of the Managing
Global Issues project at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace in Washington D. C (1998-2002), Research Affiliate at
the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs, Harvard
University (1994-1998), and Senior Research Associate at the
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
in Geneva (1981-1994). Her research focuses on the United
Nations, arms control and disarmament, peacekeeping, use of
force, economic sanctions and U.S.-European relations. She
is the co-editor of Managing Global Issues: Lessons Learned
(2001) and the author of many book chapters and articles.
Dr. de Jonge Oudraat received her Ph.D. in Political Science
from the University of Paris II (Panthéon). She is a Dutch
national.
 Dimitry
Polikanov
Dmitry Polikanov is an Adviser to the Head of
the Central Executive Committee of the United Russia Party.
He also edits the international edition of the Security
Index - one of the leading Russian journals in this area
published by the PIR Center for Policy Studies in Russia and
Centre Russe d' Études Politiques (Geneva). He holds the title
of Associate Professor from the Russian Academy of Sciences
and the title of Full Professor of the World Distributed University
of the European Informatization Academy. He has been a Senior
Research Associate and Editor (in 2000 - Deputy Director)
with the PIR Center and a Senior Research Associate with the
Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He also served on the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) in its Delegation to Russia as Communication Adviser,
providing analysis on foreign and domestic policy issues,
including the North Caucasus. In 2003-2006 he was Director
of International and Public Relations in All-Russia Public
Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), a major national sociological
institution. Since 2001 he has enjoyed the privilege of being
guest speaker to the NATO School in Oberammergau. Dr. Polikanov
is author of over 100 publications on conflict management,
peacekeeping, arms control, international relations and foreign
policy (in Russian and foreign languages).
Our Funders
Our funding comes from a wide group of foundations
and some individual and government donors. We are grateful
to all them for their support.
If you are interested in helping us to shape
transatlantic strategies for a more secure world and act to
make a difference, please go to our Support Us page to make
a donation.
BASIC Donors Past and Present
W. Alton Jones Foundation
Carnegie
Corporation of New York
Canadian Government
Colombe Foundation
Compton Foundation
Economic and Social Research Council
Educational Foundation
of America
The
Ford Foundation
Kirsch
Foundation
Marmot Trust
Network for Social Change
Polden-Puckham Foundation
Ploughshares
Fund
Rockefeller Family and Associates
Joseph Rowntree
Charitable Trust
Scurrah Wainwright Charity
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