For the past three years, Des Browne, Wolfgang Ischinger, Igor Ivanov, Sam Nunn, and their respective organizations—the European Leadership Network (ELN), the Munich Security Conference (MSC), the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)—have been working with former and current officials and experts from a group of Euro-Atlantic states and the European Union to test ideas and develop proposals for improving security in areas of existential common interest. The Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group (EASLG) operates as an independent and informal initiative, with participants who reflect the diversity of the Euro-Atlantic region from the United States, Canada, Russia, and fifteen European countries.
We have crossed over to a new nuclear era in which cyber
capabilities transform the nuclear risks.
Cyber threats make more likely the risk of human error and accidents,
miscalculations, or blunders. These
risks are compounded by the potential for cyberattacks from state or non-state
actors that can lead to the theft of nuclear materials or sabotage to a nuclear
facility, false warning of a missile attack, or the intrusion into nuclear
command and control systems.
The aftermath of a cyberattack could be catastrophic, involving
a Fukushima-like disaster or use of a nuclear weapon, potentially impacting
every nation in the Euro-Atlantic space.
Reducing and managing cyber nuclear risks is an existential
common interest for all nations in the Euro-Atlantic region. Governments have a shared responsibility to work
together to mitigate these risks.
Nations in the Euro-Atlantic region should engage in
discussions for reaching at least informal understandings on cyber dangers
related to nuclear facilities, strategic warning systems, and nuclear command
and control. These dangers should be
urgently addressed to prevent the potentially catastrophic consequences of a
cyber attack on a nuclear facility or war by mistake.
As a first priority, nations could work to develop clear
“rules of the road” in the nuclear cyber world and explore mechanisms to
develop and implement measures that reduce these risks.
The nations in the Euro-Atlantic region are confronting a
range of significant issues today. But
none should distract from urgently pursuing practical steps now that can reduce
real and potentially catastrophic dangers.
###
Signatories to the Joint Statement by the Euro-Atlantic
Security Leadership Group
Support for Dialogue Among Governments to Address Cyber
Threats to Nuclear Facilities, Strategic Warning, and Nuclear Command and
Control
Co-Conveners
Des
Browne
Vice Chair, Nuclear Threat Initiative; Chair of the Board of
Trustees and Directors of the European Leadership Network; and former Secretary
of State for Defence, United Kingdom
Ambassador
(Botschafter) Professor Wolfgang Ischinger
Chairman (Vorsitzender),
Munich Security Conference Foundation, Germany
Igor
Ivanov
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russia
Sam
Nunn
Co-Chair, Nuclear Threat
Initiative; and former U.S. Senator, United States
Participants
Ambassador
Brooke Anderson
Former Chief of Staff, National Security Council, United
States
Steve
Andreasen
National Security Consultant, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and
former Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control, National Security Council,
United States
Joel
Bell
Chairman, Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, Canada
Robert
Berls
Senior Advisor for Russia and Eurasia, Nuclear Threat
Initiative; and former Special Assistant for Russia/NIS Programs to the
Secretary of Energy, United States
Philip
Mark Breedlove
General (Ret), United States Air Force; former Commander,
U.S. European Command, and 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied,
United States
William
J. Burns
President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
United States
Ambassador
Richard Burt
Chairman Global Zero USA, United States
E.
Buzhinskiy
Chairman of PIR Center Executive Board; Vice-President of
RIAC; and Lt-General (Ret), Russia
General
(Ret) Vincenzo Camporini
Vice President Istituto Affari Internazionali, Italy
Hikmet
Çetin
Former Foreign Minister, Turkey
James
F. Collins
(Amb. Retired) Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program,
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, United States
Admiral
Giampaolo Di Paola
Former Chief of Defence; former Chairman of NATO’s Military
Committee; former Minister of Defence, Italy
Ambassador
Rolf Ekéus
Diplomat and Chairman Emeritus of the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute, Sweden
Sir
Christopher Harper
KBE, United Kingdom
James
L. Jones
General (Ret), USMC; President, Jones Group International,
United States
Roderich
Kiesewetter
Member of Bundestag, Germany
Bert
Koenders
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands
Łukasz
Kulesa
Research Director and Head of the Warsaw Office, European
Leadership Network, Poland
Imants
Lieģis
Former Minister of Defence, Latvia
O.
Faruk Loğoğlu
Former Ambassador to the United States and Undersecretary of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey
Hon.
Andrea Manciulli
Head of Italy’s Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly, Italy
Ernest
J. Moniz
Co-Chair and CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former U.S.
Secretary of Energy, United States
Ferdinando
Nelli Feroci
President, Istituto Affari Internazionali, Italy
Professor
Roland Paris
University Research Chair in International Security and
Governance, University of Ottawa, Canada
Paul
Quilès
Former Defence Minister; and Chairman of IDN (Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament), France
Bruno
Racine
Chairman, Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, France
Ambassador
Māris Riekstiņš
Former Foreign Minister, Latvia
Joan Rohlfing
President and Chief Operating
Officer, Nuclear Threat Initiative, United States
Sir
John Scarlett
Chief Secret Intelligence Service 2004-2009, United Kingdom
General
Igor Petrovich Smeshko
Former Head of the Security Service (SBU) (2003-2005),
Ukraine
Stefano
Stefanini
Former Italian Permanent Representative to NATO; ELN
Executive Board; Atlantic Council Nonresident Senior Fellow; and Project
Associates Brussels Director, Italy
Adam
Thomson
Director, European Leadership Network, United Kingdom
Nathalie
Tocci
Director Istituto Affari Internazionali; and Special Advisor
HRVP Federica Mogherini, Italy
General
(Ret) Dr. Erich Vad
Lecturer at the Universities of Munich and Salzburg,
Germany
William
Wallace
Rt Hon Lord Wallace of Saltaire, United Kingdom
Isabelle Williams
Senior Advisory Global Nuclear Policy Program, Nuclear
Threat Initiative, United Kingdom
Marcin
Zaborowski
Former Executive Director, Polish Institute of International
Affairs (2010-2015), Poland
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There is a critical need for a global diplomatic approach to address growing cyber risks, including, where possible, through cooperation between the United States and Russia.
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“The bottom line is that the countries and areas with the greatest responsibility for protecting the world from a catastrophic act of nuclear terrorism are derelict in their duty,” the 2023 NTI Index reports.
