BASIC is pleased to announce that Rebecca Cousins, former British diplomat, will be leading BASIC’s Washington team as Program Director, working with policy-shapers of diverse perspectives to achieve greater consensus on realistic measures that strengthen nuclear non-proliferation and secure moves towards global nuclear disarmament.

BASIC's program director, Anne Penketh, discusses the security risks in the Middle East and the prospects of a WMD-free zone treaty in the region in this article for The National. She writes, "A WMD-free zone in the Middle East would take years to negotiate, but the alternatives, including possible military action against Iran, are chilling. This is not about only the security of a region, but of the world."

Writing about the EU conference on a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East, Julian Borger in his Global Security Blog for The Guardian refers to BASIC's Washington Program Director Anne Penketh's "This Week" article on the subject: