NTI Board Co-Chair and CEO Ernest J. Moniz and NTI Board Co-Chair Sen. Sam Nunn have co-authored an article in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs (“The Return of Doomsday: The New Nuclear Arms Race – and How Washington and Moscow Can Stop It”) explaining why the risk of nuclear use has become disturbingly plausible—and proposing concrete steps to reduce the risk.
In the U.S.-Russia relationship, clashing national interests, insufficient dialogue, eroding arms control structures, advancing military technologies, and new threats from cyber-space have destabilized the old equilibrium, creating a state of strategic instability where an accident or mishap could trigger a catastrophic chain of events. As the article says, “All that is needed is a spark to light the tinder.”
The United States and NATO need to engage Russia with a clear-eyed understanding of our differences, focusing on reviving and reinventing strategic stability and preventing the use of nuclear weapons. A number of steps can be taken to reduce the risk of nuclear use, including:
Read the article at ForeignAffairs.com. Join the conversation between Sam Nunn and Ernie Moniz on Thursday, September 12, 6:30 Eastern; livestream here.
Other resources from
NTI:
Statement on Termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Ernest J. Moniz and Sam Nunn,
August 2, 2019
The Threat of Nuclear War is Still With Us, George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, and Sam Nunn, Op-Ed,
Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2019
The U.S. and Russia are Sleepwalking Toward Nuclear Disaster, Sam Nunn and Ernest J. Moniz, Op-Ed,
Politico, February 1, 2019
Rising Nuclear Dangers: Diverging Views of Strategic Stability, Robert E. Berls, Jr., Leon Ratz, Brian Rose, NTI Report, October 23,
2018
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Senior NTI leaders call for NATO to demonstrate a willingness to engage Russia on both differences and areas of potential cooperation and seek to reduce tensions in a region that remains central to global security.
Perry addressed the future of nuclear weapons in the United States and his concerns about current modernization plans.
Sam Nunn, of NTI, was in Moscow to participate in a high-level dialogue on nuclear cooperation between the U.S and RU, co-sponsored by NTI and the Russian CENESS.
