Cash versus Negotiations: Where next for the CND? Yesterday, actress Naomi Watts and ex-CIA operative Valerie Plame released a video highlighting the cost of new nuclear weapons. The clip ends by asking viewers to sign a petition released by the US-based NGO Global Zero (GZ). Based on research by GZ’s founder Bruce Blair, the petition demands world leaders spend the… [Read more…]
Last week, armed forces minister Nick Harvey published an article suggesting the UK is developing offensive cyber war capabilities. Commenting on the Ministry of Defence’s new Defence Cyber Operations Group, Harvey wrote: “Cyber will be part of a continuum of tools with which to achieve military effect, both defensive and otherwise, and will be an integral part of our… [Read more…]
The following is a summary of my MA thesis, completed in September 2010. Full essay available on request. ‘Bombs Away? Public opinion versus political positions on Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent, from the 1980s to the present day.’ Introduction The research compares public opinion (using survey data) to the positions of the Labour and Conservative parties… [Read more…]
In a recent op-ed, four US elder statesmen called for a re-think of traditional ideas on nuclear deterrence. The group, led by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, warned that the horizontal proliferation of nuclear technology had undermined the doctrine of ‘mutual assured destruction’. They wrote: “With the spread of nuclear weapons, technology, materials and know‐how,… [Read more…]
Whilst most of you were photocopying your backsides at Christmas parties, the Obama administration were hard at work. New START, a mutual arms reduction treaty between Russia and the United States, was ratified on the Senate floor over the holidays. It followed weeks of deal-making with and stalling from a number of key Republicans, including… [Read more…]
Introduction South Korea has done a rhetorical U-turn on whether it will deploy fully autonomous robots along the border with North Korea. SGR-A1 sentry robots, which use infra-red cameras, motion detection, communication equipment for the exchange of army codes and are armed with a swivel-mounted K-3 rifles, have been developed and trialled along the misnomic… [Read more…]
Space weapons column (Impact, April 2008) Impact columnist Andrew Gibson discusses the prospect of a cold war in space. America has stood alone in opposing negotiations on a UN treaty to prevent a space arms race. The treaty, proposed by Russia and supported by China, would prohibit the deployment of weapons in outer space and… [Read more…]
Watching the Watchkeepers: Why regulate drones? LeftFootForward.org, Andrew Gibson The WikiLeaks revelation that US Forces had to shoot down one of their own, out-of-control drones demonstrates an important principle about unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). No matter how much information they collect, their misapplication is clouded by old-fashioned secrecy. This is tragic in that, in… [Read more…]
Cameron: Drones are the future, in Afghanistan and beyond During a surprise visit to Afghanistan this week, the prime minister announced the UK will double its number of Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) by 2013. He described a £135 million plan to increase the number of Reaper UAVs operated from Kandahar airbase to approximately ten. The new vehicles… [Read more…]
US-Russia nuclear arms treaty may fall victim to domestic politics On Saturday, Barack Obama used his weekly video address to pressure moderate Republican Senators into voting for the new START treaty before the year’s end. Staring into the camera with tired eyes, he told viewers: “There is enough gridlock, enough bickering. If there is one issue… [Read more…]
November 13, 2011
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