Advancing Nuclear Fail-Safe Reviews
Preventing the accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons
About
The Global Nuclear Policy Program (GNPP) works to reduce these risks by advancing practical solutions. It strengthens communication and coordination to prevent miscalculation and nuclear use, reinforces global guardrails that discourage nuclear weapons use and spread, and promotes measures to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorized nuclear use. Through dialogue and strategic partnerships with governments, experts, and leaders around the world, GNPP turns policy ideas into actionable outcomes.
GNPP projects offer solutions to:
- Address Strategic Risks: Reducing catastrophic nuclear risks requires engagement across regions. GNPP works with governments and experts to strengthen communication, coordination, and shared understanding of risk, while building multistakeholder support for concrete steps to reduce risks of misinterpretation and harmful action-reaction dynamics.
- Strengthen Global Nuclear Guardrails: As long as nuclear weapons exist, it is critical to build and strengthen guardrails to prevent their use and their spread. GNPP strengthens political and behavioral guardrails and promotes actions that disincentivize nuclear weapons proliferation and use.
- Promote Global Nuclear Fail-Safe: This work helps prevent accidents from becoming catastrophes. GNPP engages global governments and experts to encourage all nuclear-armed states to ensure their nuclear weapons, systems, and policies are as safe as possible and protected against the risk of accidental or unauthorized use.
- Advance Strategic Partnerships: GNPP partners with multiple regional networks of experts and current and former officials to help turn ideas into actionable outcomes.
Projects
Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group (EASLG)
Reduce security risks through practical solutions
Nuclear Risks in Outer Space
Advancing Nuclear Risk Reduction in Space
Regional Leadership Networks to Reduce Nuclear Risk
Building political will for a safer world
Strengthening Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs)
Reinforcing regional security and nonproliferation
Program Staff
News & Analysis
White Paper: Cascading Disasters, Systemic Risks, and Nuclear War
Today's food, water, energy, trade, financial, and governance systems are tightly linked and built for efficiency, not resilience. In such systems, even a "limited" nuclear exchange could trigger cascading failures such as soaring food prices, collapsing water and power systems, and economic shocks far beyond any blast zone—overwhelming governments at the very moment they are most needed.
Experts Explore What the Nuclear Age Can Teach About Governing AI
Eight decades of managing nuclear risks offers potential lessons for governing artificial intelligence (AI). Understanding how well that experience applies to rapidly evolving technology, and where the parallels break down is essential to getting AI governance right.
85% of Registered Voters Support the United States Working with China to Mitigate AI Risks, according to New Poll
New YouGov polling commissioned by NTI and ReThink Media finds that nearly 80 percent of registered voters, across party lines, say it is in the interest of U.S. national security to work with China to mitigate catastrophic threats associated with nuclear risks, AI development, and bioterrorism.
Reducing Nuclear Risks: Six Practical Options
This paper outlines six practical options that non-nuclear weapon states could pursue to reduce nuclear risks amid heightened geopolitical tensions. The options were developed based on interviews with nuclear policy experts from around the world. They reflect priority areas where government investment could have the most near- to medium-term impact, as well as the tools and channels through which these efforts could be advanced.
Global Nuclear Fail-Safe Reviews: Meeting Summaries and Resources
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group (EASLG), Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN), and European Leadership Network (ELN) have worked since March 2020 to highlight the benefits of independent, internal “fail-safe” reviews in nuclear-armed states.