British Pugwash Newsletter, November 2024

Items include:

 

  1. Dan Plesch / Manuel Galileo, Webinar Invitation, 12 December
  2. Video: Zhou Bo on ‘China’s Approach to Nuclear Disarmament’
  3. Publication: ‘AI: Implications for Peace and Security, Articles from the SYP Conference 2024’
  4. Recent articles and reports of interest
  5. Members Survey 2024
  6. Pugwash Forum Mailing List
  7. Annual Membership

 

  1. Webinar invitation: Prof Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo on ‘Strategic Stability and Conventional Strikes’ 12 December, 17.30 (UK time)

With the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) set to expire on Feb 5 2026, strategic weapons issues loom over relations between the major powers. Against this context, our latest webinar will spread awareness of a new report ‘Masters of the Air: Strategic Stability and conventional strikes’.

The report considers how U.S. precision weapons threaten strategic stability by creating survival risks for Russian and Chinese strategic deterrent systems. The report’s authors Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo will outline their findings and answer your questions.

To join this webinar, register via Zoom here:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYscO-uqjktGdyjrFDnpKtgSL8bn3h6Dp9x

  1. Video: Zhou Bo on ‘China’s Approach to Nuclear Disarmament’

Watch this recording of our webinar from 8 October which explored China’s call for a P5 no-first-use agreement and related nuclear policies.

Zhou Bo is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University and a retired Senior Colonel in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. He is also a former Deputy Director General for Arms Control in the Ministry of National Defence of the People’s Republic of China.

  1. Publication: AI: Implications for Peace and Security, Articles from the SYP Conference 2024

Student / Young Pugwash (SYP) organises an annual conference on peace and disarmament. The subject of the 7th conference, held in January 2024 at King’s College London, was ‘Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Peace and Security’.

The articles in this collection were written by some of those who presented at the conference. The authors cover a range of concerns about the past, present and future of AI, including in relation to nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

You can download the article collection as a pdf here.

  1. Recent articles and reports of interest 

  • British Pugwash

Nuclear “Counterforce” Strategies and Nuclear Arms-Racing, an interview with Prof Nick Ritchie

The Life and Work of Prof Joseph Rotblat, Selected Articles and Resources

  • November

Hans Kristensen et al, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, United Kingdom nuclear weapons, 2024

Sitara Noor, Real Clear Defense, What’s New in Russia’s Latest Nuclear Statement?

  • October

James Acton and Tong Zhao, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, China’s Evolving Nuclear Policy: What It Means for U.S. Security and International Stability (Webinar)

International Institute for Strategic Studies, Evaluating current arms control proposals: perspectives from the US, Russia and China

Daryl Kimball, Arms Control Association, Further Escalation in the Middle East Increases the Risk of a Second Nuclear-Armed State in the Region

  • September

Héloïse Fayet, Andrew Futter, Ulrich Kühn, Survival, Forum: Towards a European Nuclear Deterrent

Melvin Goodman, Counterpunch, Biden’s Legacy: the Decline of Arms Control and Disarmament

Arms Control Association, China Takes Over P5 Process, Repeats No-First-Use Call with African States

James Acton, Arms Control Association, Dealing With a China That Will Not Talk

Daryl Kimball, Arms Control Association, Forging New Pathways for Disarmament Diplomacy

Darrell Proctor, Power, Russia Plan Calls for 34 New Nuclear Reactors by 2042

Jonathan Landay, Reuters, Exclusive: U.S. researchers find probable launch site of Russia’s new nuclear-powered missile

  • August

Zhou Bo, Foreign Policy, The U.S. and China Can Lead the Way on Nuclear Threat Reduction

Alex Alfirraz Scheers, The Diplomat, Why the Nuclear Revolution Matters in an Era of Emerging Great Power Competition

Theodore Postol, Responsible Statecraft, Biden’s ‘new’ nuclear strategy and the super-fuse that sets it off

The Economist, If a China and America war went nuclear, who would win?

Geoff Wilson, Stimson, America’s Nuclear Weapons Quagmire

  1. British Pugwash Members Survey 2024

We would be grateful for your views on the future programme of British Pugwash, in particular what events (e.g. webinars, meetings) you value.

It would be very helpful if you could answer our survey questions using this google form. Your response will be anonymous.

  1. Pugwash Forum mailing list 

The Pugwash Forum is a mailing list which regularly updates subscribers on interesting news, analysis and other information relating to the international Pugwash movement. Subscribers receive reciprocal access to postings made by other subscribers.

If you would like to join the mailing list email: e.ferguson@antenna.nl

  1. Annual membership

We ask that members of British Pugwash contribute £25 a year to the organisation’s running costs.

May we suggest that you check that your subscription is up to date. If you need to make a payment, our bank details are here.

Membership for students and people under 30 is free.