A new international Nuclear Crisis Group was launched Friday in Vienna, Austria, with the aim of preventing an escalation of tensions between nuclear weapon states, the Global Zero movement for worldwide nuclear disarmament announced.
The group, which was formed during the first Preparatory Commission to the 2020 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference currently underway, held its first meeting on Saturday. It will serve as a “shadow security council on nuclear flashpoints” by monitoring potential nuclear conflict worldwide and providing governments with de-escalation recommendations, Global Zero said.
These flashpoints include the North Korean nuclear threat, NATO-Russian tensions, the India-Pakistan conflict, U.S.-China tensions, and cyber vulnerabilities in nuclear command and control systems worldwide.
The group is led by former Ambassador Richard Burt, Global Zero chairman and lead negotiator for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty; retired Gen. James Cartwright, former head of U.S. Strategic Command; and Ambassador Thomas Pickering, former undersecretary of state for politica affairs. Its 18 other members include Thomas Countryman, former assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation; Igor Ivanov, former Russian minister of foreign affairs; and Chun Yungwoo, former South Korean national security adviser.
“We’re here to help decision-makers back way from the brink — by focusing attention on these dangers and by putting forward workable ideas from a group of the world’s most experienced diplomats, military commanders and national security experts that transcends partisan divides and national borders,” Derek Johnson, executive director of Global Zero, said in a statement.
