Riga Dialogue 2019 Addresses Crisis Management, Strategic Stability in Euro-Atlantic

On
May 23-24, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) co-sponsored and participated in
the sixth annual meeting of the Riga Dialogue in Riga, Latvia. The event was
hosted and organized by the Latvian
Institute of International Affairs (LIIA) and
focused on “Crisis Management and Strategic Stability in the Euro-Atlantic
Community.”

Meeting participants
from Russia, Europe, and the United States, including NTI National Security
Consultant Steve
Andreasen and Global Nuclear Policy
Program Senior Director Mark
Melamed, addressed the status of conventional and nuclear arms
control given uncertainty about the future of traditional, treaty-based arms
control regimes. The discussion emphasized three themes: the increasing
prominence of China in discussions of Euro-Atlantic security; the need for
dialogue and crisis management between nuclear powers to reduce the risk of
escalation; and the continuing challenge posed by Europe’s regional conflicts
to efforts to improve security relations. The event closed with a public
session on “Russia and the West” attended by members of the press, the
diplomatic community in Riga, and others.