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U.S. NUCLEAR POLICY Description
of BASIC's Program
BASIC Publications New Report on US-UK nuclear weapons collaboration: Shining a torch into the darker recesses of the ‘special relationship’, BASIC Press Release on the Amendment to the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement, Wednesday 16 June 2004. The Bush Nuclear Posture Review's First Budget In Congress, BASIC Paper 43, February 2003. The Republican Victory in the U.S. Congress: What Will It Mean for Nuclear Weapons and Missile Defense Policies? BASIC Note, 14 November 2002 Bunker Busters: Washington’s Drive For New Nuclear Weapons
Documents the “re-rationalisation” of nuclear weapons that gathered pace during the 1990s but has rapidly accelerated under the Bush administration. The report also examines the damaging implications that these developments will have for international arms control and global security.
BASIC Research Report 2002.2, 28 July 2002. (Only available in Adobe PDF format)
Comparison of U.S.-Russia Nuclear Reduction Treaties BASIC Note, 8 July 2002 The Threat Posed by the U.S. Development of New Low-Yield Nuclear Weapons Presentation by Mark Bromley, Brussels, 29 May 2002 Bush-Putin Summit Fails to Bury the Cold War by Ken Luongo and Ian Davis, BASIC Note, 22 May 2002 International Reactions to the Nuclear Posture Review April 2002 "Planning to be Surprised": The U.S. Nuclear Posture Review and its Implications for Arms Control BASIC Paper #39, April 2002 Is the United States Living Up to Its Disarmament Commitments? by Mark Bromley, BASIC Note, April 2, 2002Point-Counterpoint BASIC analysis of the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, 16 January 2002 New Policy Lowers Nuclear Threshold by Mark Bromley, BASIC Note, 10 January 2002 Nuclear
Weapons Document Touts Cuts While Escalating Risks U.S. Boycott Dampens Hopes CTBT Conference Notes, 11 November 2001 U.S. Nuclear Agenda Provokes European Unease Press Release, 9 November 2001 One Step Forward or Two Steps Back? Upcoming Cuts in the US Nuclear Arsenal by Mark Bromley, BASIC Paper #38, September 2001 Is the U.S. Meeting Its Disarmament Commitments? by Christine Kucia, BASIC NATO E-mail Series, May 18, 2001 Bush Proclaims Nuclear Anarchy Press Advisory, 30 April 2001 The US Nuclear Debate: Issues of Concern by Theresa Hitchens, BASIC Paper #35, February 2001 Get a Policy, Please Article by Theresa Hitchens, published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, January/February 2001
Official Documents Nuclear Posture Review:
A New Strategic Framework? Detailing the Bush Approach to Nuclear Security, Interview with Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John R. Bolton, Arms Control Today, March 2002 Report to Congress on the Defeat of Hard and Deeply Buried Targets, courtesy of Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, July 2001 (Adobe PDF format) "Pursuing
a New Nuclear Weapons Policy for the 21st Century,"
"Nuclear Weapons in the Twenty-First Century," by Stephen Younger, Los Alamos National Laboratories, 27 June 2000 (Adobe PDF format)
Research Organizations Arms
Control Association (ACA) Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace Center
for Defense Information Federation
of American Scientists National
Institute for Public Policy Natural
Resources Defense Council Grassroots Organizations Abolition
2000 Alliance
for Nuclear Accountability Nuclear
Watch New Mexico Peace
Action Bureau
of Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (Department of State) DefenseLINK United
States Department of State - Washington File National
Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Description of BASIC's Program U.S. nuclear policy is undergoing profound changes under the administration of President Bush. Bush pledged in late 2001 to reduce the U.S. nuclear arsenal to around 2,000 deployed strategic warheads by 2012. These cuts were laid out in the Nuclear Posture Review, released in January 2002. The review also laid out a new strategic framework that will shift nuclear forces from a triad based on intercontinental ballistic missiles ( ICBMs), bombers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), to one based on offensive capabilities through nuclear and non-nuclear forces, defensive forces with the planned U.S. missile defense system, and a ‘responsive infrastructure’ comprised of stockpiled warheads. This shift in U.S. nuclear policy raises concerns on a number of levels. It highlights Washington's commitment to developing a missile defense that may spur adversaries to build more weapons, and its opposition to binding and irreversible arms reductions. In addition, Washington is sending stronger signals that it may resume nuclear testing in the future, and is pressing ahead with the controversial development of low-yield 'mini-nukes' for use against hardened and deeply buried targets. BASIC seeks to highlight Washington's ongoing shift towards a more aggressive nuclear posture and the potential impact on international arms control efforts. As these policies develop, BASIC will track their progress and continue to promote ways to limit their impact on international security.
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