Strategic Trust-Building

Swiss Ambasador Urs Ziswiler and EWI bring together U.S. policymakers to discuss recommendations of EWI's Reframing Nuclear De-Alert report.

On November 18, 2009, H.E. Urs Ziswiler, Swiss Ambassador to the United States, organized a working lunch in partnership with the EastWest Institute to discuss the recommendations of the EWI report “Reframing Nuclear De-alert: Decreasing the Operational Readiness of U.S. and Russian Nuclear Arsenals” with U.S. policymakers. The report, sponsored by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, was discussed by U.S. policymakers from the Department of Defense, Department of State, Executive Office of the President, as well as academic, NGO, and think-tank professionals. The meeting, which took place against the backdrop of the ongoing third U.S. nuclear posture review, considered the prospects of reducing the operational readiness of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and making de-alert more than wishful thinking and part of the accepted nuclear posture.

On November 9-10, 2009, EWI’s Brussels Center hosted the 4th Trialogue21 meeting of government and non-government experts from China, the United States and Europe.  The event was organized in partnership with the China Institute of International Studies.  More than two dozen experts attended, including representatives from the Chinese and U.S. governments, the European Council, the Policy Planning Unit in the NATO General Secretary’s office, think tanks, universities, and the private sector.

On November 5, 2009, EWI’s New York office hosted a discussion about Euro-Atlantic relations with Janusz Reiter, the director of the Center for International Relations in Warsaw, and the former Polish Ambassador to Germany and the U.S. 

On Thursday, October 29th, EWI hosted a discussion on the future of missile defense systems in Europe.  The discussion focused on global defense from nuclear-armed terrorists and rogue states and included officials from Russian and NATO institutions, including the Russian Committee of Scientists for Global Security and Arms Control.

A cooperative missile defense system is essential for worldwide security, but discussions have often increased tensions between Russia and NATO. EWI’s seminar highlighted the role Europe can play in bridging the Russia-NATO divide and help build a cooperative missile defense system.

This seminar was the first in a series of events designed to catalyze new forms of cooperation between Russia and NATO. Future seminars will focus on other key security concerns including nuclear proliferation, arms control, terrorism, extremism and climate change.

The EastWest Institute, in collaboration with the governments of Switzerland and New Zealand, hosted a briefing at U.N. headquarters on the recent publication, Reframing Nuclear De-Alert: Reducing the Operational Readiness of U.S. and Russian Arsenals. The briefing, chaired by U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Sergio Duarte, featured comments from retired General Eugene E. Habiger and Sergey Rogov, both of whom contributed to the report.

The seminar provided an overview of the report’s recommendations to reduce alert levels of U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, an essential step towards global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

On July 28, 2009, EWI convened an off-the-record expert roundtable discussion of the U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment on Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Potential in Moscow. The meeting, held in cooperation with the Russian Committee of Scientists for Global Security and Arms Control and the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, launched the Russian version of the joint threat assessment and brought together Russian specialists from scientific institutions, the Russian government and the media.

Among the organizations represented were the Earth Space Monitoring Scientific Center, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Moscow Aviation Institute, the Moscow Institute of International Relations, IMEMO, the International Scientific and Technological Center, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Federation Council and the Independent Military Review.

On August 12, 2009 EWI hosted a workshop, The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: New Technology, New Prospects?, in Washington, D.C. The workshop brought together leading American policymakers and experts to stimulate debate about CTBT ratification in light of technological developments of the last decade.

The U.S. Senate voted against the CTBT ten years ago. The Obama administration has signaled its intent to revisit that decision, arguing that the Senate’s two primary concerns -- the safety and reliability of American arsenals and the strength of the CTBTO’s verification systems -- have clearer answers now than they did in 1999. EWI’s workshop examined these technological advances and their impact on the CTBT debate in the U.S.

The workshop addressed:

• the safety and reliability of the United States’ nuclear arsenal
• measures to strengthen the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization to ensure verification
• prospects for U.S. ratification of the treaty against this backdrop. 

EWI will publish a short paper after the workshop that includes the major points of discussion and summarizes its conclusions.

Please contact us for more information about this event.

On July 15, 2009, the EastWest Institute’s Moscow Center, in cooperation with the Swiss Embassy in Russia, briefed the diplomatic community in Moscow on key conclusions and implications of EWI’s groundbreaking U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment Study on Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Potential. The briefing brought together senior diplomatic officials and experts from the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Russian Foreign Ministry, as well as the Russian authors of the joint threat assessment and select regional security experts.

Photo: "IAEA - Iran Meeting (01910458)" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by IAEA Imagebank