Think-Tanks

Image: Flags welcome visitors to the COP25 venue in Madrid. Photo: UN Climate Change / Flickr.

Making COP25 an ‘Ambitious’ Climate Summit

The author is a Research Fellow at Stockholm Research Institute (SEI) Oxford and her main expertise is on climate change law and policy. She joined the SEI Oxford office in March 2017, where she is concentrating on legal and political aspects of fossil fuel subsidies reform. This article first appeared on SEI Website.

OXFORD (IDN) – This year’s UN Climate Change Conference, or COP, marks the 25th such gathering bringing together the world’s governments to negotiate solutions for tackling the climate crisis. A milestone; yet at first glance there is little cause for celebration.

: Santo D. Banerjee; OPINION; 02 December 2019

Photo: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkey, addresses the general debate of the General Assembly’s 74th session on 24 September 2019 at the United Nations in New York. UN Photo/Cia Pak

President Erdogan Muses Over Turkey Owning Nuclear Weapons

By Shannon Bugos, Arms Control TODAY *

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Complaining that nuclear-armed nations retain an unacceptable monopoly on nuclear weapons, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used a recent Turkish holiday to seemingly suggest that his nation acquire its own nuclear arsenal.

“Several countries have missiles with nuclear warheads, not one or two. But [they tell us that] we can’t have them. This I cannot accept,” Erdogan said on the centennial of the Turkish independence movement. “There is no developed nation in the world that doesn’t have them.”

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 21 October 2019

Photo: U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told reporters in May, he has delivered a letter to Saudi officials demanding they agree to refrain from enriching uranium or separating plutonium in exchange for peaceful U.S. nuclear technology. Credit: energy.gov

Saudi Arabia Seeks to Enrich Uranium

By Shannon Bugos

The writer is a Research Assistant at the Arms Control Association, where she contributes research and analysis, reports for Arms Control Today.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Saudi Arabia intends to enrich uranium to fuel its planned nuclear power program, the country’s new energy minister said on September 9. The Saudi position could run afoul of a recently disclosed Trump administration policy to seek a Saudi commitment to refrain from such activities in exchange for U.S. nuclear technology.

: Arms Control Association; THE WORLD; Middle East; 14 October 2019

Photo credit: U.S: National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Continuing Upsurge in Costs of U.S. Nuclear Warheads

Viewpoint by Kingston Reif

The writer is the Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Association. This article was first published in Arms Control Today (ACT).

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – The estimated cost of sustaining U.S. nuclear warheads and their supporting infrastructure continues to rise, according to the Energy Department’s latest annual report on the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 09 September 2019

Photo: Chinese enthusiastically celebrate country’s successful test launch of a nuclear missile (1966). Source: UCS

China Holds Firm on No First Use of Nuclear Weapons, Misses U.S. Assurances

Viewpoint by Gregory Kulacki

The writer researches the cross-cultural aspects of nuclear arms control negotiations between the United States, China and Japan. He is China project manager and senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The following was first published at UCS's blog on July 24, 2019.

CLAREMONT, CA, USA (IDN | UCS) – Ever since I took this job 17 years ago U.S. colleagues of all political and intellectual persuasions have been telling me that sooner or later China would alter, adjust, amend or qualify the policy that China will never, under any circumstances, use nuclear weapons first.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 03 August 2019

Photo: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Source: NATO website.

NATO Chief Should Urge USA to Work with Russia For Arms Control

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball

The writer is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. This article first appeared on July 15 on the organization's website.

WASHINGTO, DC (IDN-INPS) – Russian pursuit of the 9M729 intermediate-range missile, which is banned under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, is unacceptable and merits a strong response. But NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg’s formula, as expressed in a new op-ed published in the German-language Frankfurter Allgemeine, is inadequate.

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 21 July 2019

Photo: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the Conference on Disarmament’s High-Level Segment 2019, in Palais des Nations, Geneva on February 25, 2019. Credit: UN Photo by Antoine Tardy.

New Report Warns of Resurfacing Nuclear Risks

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2020, arms control experts have warned that "the risk of nuclear use is increasing and … critical nonproliferation and disarmament norms are eroding".

Assessing Progress on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament in 2016-2019, the Arms Control Association, says: "While there have been some modest gains on safeguards, there has been significant backsliding on the standards related to arms control and risk reduction."

: Jaya Ramachandran; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 13 July 2019

Four Anti-Corruption Takeaways from the 2019 G20 Summit

Viewpoint by M Emilia Berazategui

The writer is Global Advocacy Coordinator at Transparency International. This article first appeared on Voices for Transparency – a collection of articles, stories, analyses and opinions from the anti-corruption movement curated by Transparency International. All views and statements represent those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of Transparency International.

BERLIN (IDN) – After 11th-hour negotiations at last week’s [June 28-29] G20 summit in Osaka, the assembled leaders reached consensus on a communiqué through which they sought to identify shared solutions to some of the most pressing challenges faced by the global community.

: Europe Editor; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of Twenty (G20); 05 July 2019

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton meets with Russian President Vladimir at the Kremlin on 23 October 2018. Credit: en.kremlin.ru

Trump Should Beware of Bolton’s Bid to Sabotage START

By Daryl G. Kimball

This analysis by Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association (ACA) first appeared on June 28, 2019 in ArmsControl.org

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Last year, President Donald Trump told reporters that he wanted to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin “to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control.”

Unfortunately, Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, stiff-armed a proposal supported by the Defense and State departments to engage in strategic stability talks with Moscow. Bolton also persuaded Trump, without a viable plan B, to terminate the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in response to alleged Russian violations of the treaty.

: Arms Control Association; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 30 June 2019

Trump Administration Should Rethink its Failing Iran Policy

Viewpoint by Kelsey Davenport and Daryl G. Kimball

Iran has announced that it will exceed a limit on enriched uranium set by the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The following is the text of a statement by Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy and Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Iran’s decision to breach caps imposed by the accord is a troubling but predictable response to the Trump administration’s systematic campaign to deny Iran any benefit from the nuclear deal over the past year.