Towards Nuclear Zero

ORG began in the early 1980s as a group of scholars and activists determined to open up the secretive, technical or adversarial debate on development, deployment and potential use of nuclear weapons. We promoted dialogue between nuclear decision-makers and concerned citizens, first in the UK and then in other nuclear weapons states. We also organised dialogues between nuclear powers to promote common understanding and mutual confidence.

Latterly, ORG’s work on nuclear disarmament and proliferation has focused on four areas:

 

Questioning Trident      

President Trump: Successor to the Nuclear Throne (November 2016)

Our Rethinking UK Defence and Security Policies project has engaged politicians, parties, military, civil servants, experts and civil society in debate on the ethical, security and financial implications of renewing the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system.

Brexit and the UK’s Uncertain Nuclear Future (July 2016)

Open Letter to the PM on Trident Replacement Debate (July 2016)

Submission to Labour’s Defence Policy Review – Part II (May 2016)

The UK’s Nuclear Future: Options Between Rearmament and Disarmament (March 2016)

ORG Co-hosts Trident Debate (December 2015)

The Politics of British Nuclear Disarmament (October 2015)

Beyond Deterrence: Rethinking UK Security Doctrine (July 2015)

Cutting the Cloth: Ambition, Austerity and the Case for Rethinking UK Military Spending (May 2015)

Secure Energy? Civil Nuclear Power, Security and Global Warming (March 2007)

Replacing Trident: Who Will Make the Decisions and How? (August 2006)

The Future of Britain's Nuclear Weapons: Experts Reframe the Debate (March 2006)

 

Rethinking the Nuclear Security Regime             

Analysing and promoting prospects for reforming the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime and its critics and alternatives, including the Humanitarian Initiative, through a series of commissioned blog posts on SustainableSecurity.org, particularly around the 2015 NPT Review Conference.

 

Breaking the Nuclear-Conventional Link             

Researching the problematic link between US advances in conventional strategic weapons systems, such as hypersonic weapons delivery systems and anti-ballistic missile shields, and efforts at multilateral nuclear disarmament.

A Sustainable Approach to Nuclear Zero: Breaking the Nuclear-Conventional Link (October 2013)

 

Nuclear Dialogue with Iran        

Facilitating quiet track II dialogue between Iran, the Western powers and Russia on the potential for an accord to limit Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. This 2011-2013 Middle East Programme project has been supplemented by wider research on Iranian capabilities and the consequences of a military attack upon it.

Iran’s Nuclear Impasse: Breaking the Deadlock (May 2012)

Military Action against Iran: Impact and Effects (July 2010)

Would Air Strikes Work? Understanding Iran's Nuclear Programme and the Possible Consequences of a Military Strike (March 2007)

Iran’s Nuclear Activities (March 2006)