World nuclear forces, the Warsaw Summit, SIPRI's annual review, and more

SIPRI at 50—A Year of Reflection on Peace and Security: Tracking nuclear forces and why it matters for peace

SIPRI released the sixth film in its short-film series 2016—A Year of Reflection. The film features SIPRI Senior Researcher Shannon N. Kile and SIPRI Distinguished Fellow and Ambassador Rolf Ekéus discussing the latest trends and developments in the world's nuclear forces.
Watch the sixth film or see the whole series thus far on SIPRI's YouTube channel.

This film series is produced in cooperation with Different Films Limited.

The 2016 NATO Summit: What will be on the agenda in Warsaw?
 

The heads of state and government of the NATO member states will meet at a Summit in Warsaw on 8–9 July. It seems unlikely that the leaders will seek to revise key guidance documents—the 2010 NATO Strategic Concept and the 2012 Deterrence and Defence Posture Review—although it is widely recognized that both documents contain language and ideas that no longer fit how NATO members see current security problems.

Read the topical backgrounder by SIPRI's Dr Ian Anthony and Dr Ian Davis.

New SIPRI data on global nuclear weapons: Downsizing but modernizing

SIPRI launched its annual nuclear forces data on 13 June, highlighting the current trends and developments in world nuclear arsenals. The data shows that while the overall number of nuclear weapons in the world continues to decline, none of the nuclear weapon-possessing states are prepared to give up their nuclear arsenals for the foreseeable future.

Read the press release and download the fact sheet.

SIPRI’s 2015 review of activities out now

Looking back at the past year, SIPRI presents its Annual Review 2015. Covering major global milestones in the path towards peace and security, the annual review shows how SIPRI contributes to these long-term peace efforts. It highlights SIPRI’s events and seminars in Addis Ababa, Central Asia, Stockholm and New York, plus key features of SIPRI’s work in cyber technologies, inclusive peacebuilding in Mali, tracking global arms trends and the shifting landscape of peace operations.

Download SIPRI’s Annual Review 2015.

The North Caucasus and the UN’s small arms and light weapons agenda—see what’s new on SIPRI’s blog WritePeace

Decreasing violence in the North Caucasus: Is an end to the regional conflict in sight?

The UN’s small arms and light weapons control agenda takes a (very) small step forward

Read these and all earlier WritePeace blog contributions.

New SIPRI publication on world nuclear forces

SIPRI issued the fact sheet: Trends in world nuclear forces, 2016 by Shannon N. Kile and Hans M. Kristensen.

As of January 2016, nine states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea)—possessed approximately 4,120 operationally deployed nuclear weapons. If all nuclear weapons are counted, these states together possessed a total of approximately 15,395 nuclear weapons, compared to approximately 15,850 in 2015. While the overall number of nuclear weapons in the world continues to decline, none of the nuclear weapon-possessing states are prepared to give up their nuclear arsenals for the foreseeable future.

This fact sheet estimates the nuclear weapon inventory of the nine nuclear-weapon possessing states and highlights some key aspects of the states’ recent nuclear-force developments.

Download the fact sheet.

SIPRI Yearbook 2015

The 46th edition of the SIPRI Yearbook is a compendium of data and analysis in the areas of security and conflicts; military spending and armaments; and non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament. It covers developments during 2014, including:

• aspects of the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine;
• regional military-security trends in East Asia;
• military spending in the USA;
• the continued negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear programme; and
• the entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty.

Download a summary of the SIPRI Yearbook 2015.
Browse the contents page.