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.
EASLG members believe that despite significant differences,
the United States, Russia, and Europe can and must work together to reduce
catastrophic threats. Together at the 2018 Munich Security Conference, EASLG
participants will present and discuss ideas to improve the security of all
people living in the region, beginning with reducing nuclear and other military
risks.
EASLG Co-Convenors, Browne, Ischinger, Ivanov and Nunn, have
published a new
op-ed calling on governments to work together to mitigate these risks.
Additionally, the EASLG has published two new statements:
The first states that leaders of states with nuclear weapons
in the region should reinforce the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won
and must never be fought, nations should work to preserve and extend existing agreements
and treaties that are crucial to sustaining transparency and predictability,
and all nations should support full implementation of and strict compliance
with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran.
The second, focused on cyber threats, states that 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. 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.
Learn more about the EASLG here.