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.