BASIC's Project on
Getting to Zero
Working Towards a Nuclear Weapon-Free World
EVENTS
6 November 2008
Improving nuclear security in 2009 and beyond: Transatlantic
options for the new Administration
Summary
(pdf) of event co-sponsored by BASIC and Women in International
Security, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington,
DC.
24 October 2008
Seizing the Moment: Breakthrough Measures to Build a New
East West Consensus on Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disarmament
Webpage
for event hosted by the EastWest Institute in cooperation
with BASIC and other NGOs, United Nations, New York.
18 July 2008
Executive Director Meets with UK Foreign Secretary
Paul Ingram, BASIC's Executive Director, participated in a
day-seminar with Foreign Secretary David Miliband at his country
residence discussing issues related to disarmament.
17 July 2008
Meeting with a delegation from the Defence Committee of
the WEU Assembly - The European Security and Defence Assembly
Summary
- Ambassador James Leonard, BASIC Board Member, discussed
the broad phases of Getting to Zero, and was joined by other
experts who made presentations for European policymakers during
their visit to Washington, DC.
11 July 2008
Strategic defence procurement issues
BASIC and WMD Awareness
joint roundtable discussion, National Liberal Club, London.
7 July 2008
Britain's national security strategy and responses to global
threats
BASIC - RUSI joint roundtable discussion involving officials,
analysts and advisers, Royal United Services Institute, London.
28 April - 9 May 2008
NPT PrepCom
BASIC's Executive Director Paul Ingram presented a paper at
a meeting held alongside the NPT Preparatory Committee in
Geneva.
The paper, titled, "Taking Responsibility: what can NPT
states realistically do to build on today's momentum behind
nuclear disarmament?" (8 May 2008) outlined the link
between disarmament and non-proliferation along with some
of the steps needed to achieve progress. The paper was later
published as BASIC's first
GTZ Paper.
25 April 2008
Opportunities and pitfalls of the NPT PrepCom
Joint BASIC-IPPR roundtable discussion chaired by Ian Kearns,
Director of IPPR's security programme, and involved presentations
by Ambassadors Robert Barry and James Leonard (US-ret.), and
by Chris Allan of the UK Foreign Office.
24 April 2008
Reception by musician Brian Eno
Brian Eno, BASIC Board member, held a reception at his recording
studio for BASIC Patrons, Advisers and a variety of guests
at which BASIC's GTZ message was outlined. Eno, Paul Ingram
and Annie Lennox gave impassioned speeches on the need to
seize the positive opportunities for nuclear disarmament at
this time.
6 March 2008
A World Without Nuclear Weapons: The International Dimension
Summary - BASIC joined
with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), and the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace to co-sponsor a debrief
on the recent meeting on nuclear disarmament in Oslo. Ambassadors
Max Kampelman and James Goodby (US-ret.) and Dr. George Perkovich
discussed the means of revitalizing the international disarmament
movement. USIP has also posted
an audio file and summary of the event. USIP, Washington,
DC.
28 February 2008
George Shultz and Sam Nunn address meeting of the All Party
Parliamentary Group
On their way back from the international conference on
nuclear disarmament in Oslo, George Shultz and Sam Nunn addressed
a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Security
and Non-Proliferation, clerked by BASIC.
They outlined for a group of assembled Parliamentarians -
with an audience including several former Foreign Secretaries
and cabinet members - the importance of taking disarmament
seriously. They warned that the tables were turning in terms
of nuclear dangers, and the United States and United Kingdom
were fast becoming the most likely targets of any future nuclear
strike (particularly from terrorism). They said that the balance
of security and danger mean that governments need to cooperate
more closely in achieving cuts.
6 December 2007
Revitalising the Non-Proliferation Regime
BASIC organised a joint roundtable with the Royal United
Services Institute in Whitehall on moves needed to achieve
global nuclear disarmament. The event was chaired by Michael
Clarke, Director of RUSI and involved Professor Frank von
Hippel, Major-General Pan Zhenqiang, Ambassador Dr. Miguel
Marin-Bosch, Professor Jack Mendelsohn, and participants from
the Foreign Office, the Royal Society and RUSI.
6 November 2007
'Getting to Zero': Working Towards a Nuclear Weapon-free
World
Summary - BASIC officially
launched the 'Getting to Zero' project at a breakfast meeting
also marking our 20th Anniversary, Cosmos Club, Washington,
DC.
The event was followed up by a day of meetings on Capitol
Hill to raise awareness about GTZ-related issues. Meetings
were held with Congressmen Ed Royce, Gene Greene, and John
Boozman, and staff members from the offices of Senators Robert
Casey and Jim DeMint.
July 2007
Ambassador Kampelman in London
BASIC sponsored a week-long visit by Ambassador Max Kampelman
(US-ret.) to London to discuss the 'Zero nuclear weapons'
agenda. See the full text of his speech
to the All-Party Parliamentary Group.
Kampelman has been credited with shaping US policy in the
arena of human rights relations with the Soviet Union in the
early 1980s, and as helping to create the diplomatic conditions
that preceded the end of the Cold War. He was also later responsible
as head of the US negotiators for steering through the crucial
reductions in nuclear arms in the INF and START treaties.
During a highly successful visit, Ambassador Kampelman met
with outgoing Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, the senior
foreign policy advisor to new Prime Minister Gordon Brown,
Members of Parliament, Foreign Office officials, think tanks,
and the media. The insights we gained as a result have guided
the development of the "Getting to Zero" project (see above).
More on
Getting to Zero
BASIC's work is made possible by the generous
support of our donors: the Ploughshares
Fund, the Ford Foundation,
the Joseph Rowntree Charitable
Trust, Polden
Puckham Charitable Foundation, Rockefeller Family &
Associates, and individual contributors to BASIC. We are grateful
to all of them for their support.
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