{"506321":{"#nid":"506321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Nunn Calls for Renewed U.S. - Russia Cooperation to Fight ISIS and Avert Global Catastrophe","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFormer Senator and Nuclear Threat Initiative Co-Chairman Sam Nunn delivered remarks February 24 in Moscow on the dangerous state of relations between the U.S. and Russia and the urgent need for cooperation to restore global strategic stability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA distinguished professor in the Georgia Tech Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Nunn offered a blunt description of relations of the damaged relations between the two countries and proposed six ways for the U.S. and Russia to work together to increase global security.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe following is the full text of his remarks. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFormer Senator Sam Nunn\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECo-Chairman, Nuclear Threat Initiative\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERemarks at Carnegie Moscow Center\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFebruary 24, 2016\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThank you, Dmitri Trenin, for the kind introduction, and thanks to the Carnegie Moscow Center for hosting this important event on U.S.-Russian cooperation challenges and opportunities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI am delighted to be back in Moscow, though I wish I could be here under better circumstances. Bilateral cooperation has largely been frozen and channels of communication are few and far between \u2013 with the important exception of the recent agreement in principle on Syria which awaits execution. As my friend Igor Ivanov wrote in \u003Cem\u003EThe Moscow Times\u003C\/em\u003E last week, \u201cOur will to work together has not only weakened, it has sunk to an historic low.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnless we change course together, we risk leaving behind a more dangerous world for our children and our grandchildren than the one we inherited.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the height of tensions of the Cold War, we worked together to maintain strategic stability by fostering an open, direct military and policy dialogue. If we could do it then, why can\u2019t we do it now?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOur challenges are both clear and dangerous:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThere is a corrosive lack of trust undermining cooperation between U.S. and Russia leaders.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAggressive rhetoric regarding nuclear weapons is being used.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThere is no agreed process or an agenda for next steps on nuclear arms control and risk reduction. Both the U.S. and Russia have announced major and very expensive nuclear modernization programs -- new missiles, new subs, new bombers.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ENuclear security cooperation has largely come to a standstill at a time when threats from terrorist organizations are on the rise.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe CFE treaty has eroded, but strategic stability and crisis prevention continue to require clear understanding of intentions and force postures.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENo doubt strong disagreements over Ukraine and Syria have severely damaged the U.S-Russian relationship, as well as trust across the Euro-Atlantic region. These disagreements have led to military forces deployed in close proximity and an increased danger of accident or miscalculation. This is a high-risk situation in a region with a significant concentration of both conventional and nuclear forces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOur friend Alexei Arbatov recently wrote that: \u201cThe great paradox of our times is that since the late 1980s, the number of nuclear arms has been reduced almost by an order of magnitude, but the threat of their use is presently higher than a quarter century ago.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlexei, in a recent article, also raised a number of important questions that are worth reflecting on by our leaders:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECan our leaders still agree there can be no winners in a nuclear war?\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECan our leaders still agree that strategic stability is of utmost importance to our bilateral relations?\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECan our leaders agree to cooperate on common interests, like nuclear security and the fight against radical extremism?\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAnd can our leaders set aside Cold War \u201czero-sum\u201d thinking to advance our mutual security and reduce major risks?\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI would add one more question: Can our leaders and our citizens recognize that we are in a new era where nation-states no longer have a monopoly over weapons of mass destruction and disruption?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe bottom line is that we are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe, and cooperation seems at best to be taking a very slow walk.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo how do we get the ox out of the ditch? Let me offer just a few thoughts:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFirst\u003C\/strong\u003E, prominent leaders must realize that reckless rhetoric creates an atmosphere that could lead to dangerous misunderstandings and miscalculations, including throughout the military chain of command. As Henry Kissinger reminded us recently, \u201cthe fate of U.S. and Russia remain tightly intertwined.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESecond,\u003C\/strong\u003E the United States and Russia must revive and strengthen channels of communication. We can no longer afford to treat dialogue as a bargaining chip. \u201cYou upset us and we will punish you by not talking\u201d is not a sound strategy for two countries that control 90 percent of the world\u2019s nuclear weapons and materials.\u0026nbsp; Continuous dialogue is essential between our military leaders and our intelligence communities. The NATO-Russia Council should be utilized effectively or disbanded. And as a former member of the U.S. Senate, I strongly recommend beginning a dialogue between our parliamentary leaders as we had even during the Cold War.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommon sense would seem to tell us that it is counterproductive for both the U.S. and Russia to have sanctions on individuals and policymakers who need to talk to each other to protect the security of the citizens they represent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThird\u003C\/strong\u003E, the United States, NATO, and Russia should expand mechanisms that reduce the chances of military misunderstandings between us. Last year\u2019s events in Turkey related to the unfortunate shoot-down of the Russian jet serve as a powerful wake-up call that we need to reduce the chances of accidental encounters between NATO aircraft and Russian aircraft as well as ships at sea.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFourth\u003C\/strong\u003E, the United States and Russia should agree on confidence-building measures to reinforce strategic stability and further reduce the chances of miscalculation, including bolstering military-to-military communication. We should also utilize more robustly the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers that we set up decades ago.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFifth\u003C\/strong\u003E, the United States and Russia must work together in the fight against ISIS and violent extremism. The threat posed by ISIS directly affects the core national interests of both our countries.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cstrong\u003EIn particular, Russia and the United States must work together to ensure that ISIS never acquires nuclear or radiological weapons, as well as other weapons of mass destruction.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOur two countries have the technical expertise and unique knowledge to lead this effort. We have been doing such work in our own countries for two decades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis mission seems to me to fit well under the legal framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 as well as the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Most importantly, we must lead on a bilateral basis by developing a prioritized list of actions that we can take together to prevent catastrophic terrorism. This is urgent and must be a front burner issue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFinally\u003C\/strong\u003E, when we do work together \u2013 as we did recently with the Iran agreement \u2013 we must learn to express our appreciation publicly so that political leaders, the media, as well as ordinary citizens of both of our countries recognize not just disagreements and confrontations, but also points of mutual interest and areas of success.\u0026nbsp; As Igor Ivanov recently said, \u201cWe must identify areas where our interests converge such as combatting international terrorism, preventing political extremism, managing migration flows, and solving the refugee problem, strengthening cyber and food security, tackling environmental issues and coordinating on climate change.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce trust is lost, it must be rebuilt step by step by solving problems and reducing risks together. Two front burner steps: first, both our countries and our partners in the region need to work together to fully implement the terms of the Minsk Agreement. And second, all sides must make a good faith effort in ensuring the effective implementation of the \u201cCessation of Hostilities in Syria Agreement\u201d announced yesterday by Secretary Kerry and Minister Lavrov.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELet me conclude on a positive note by saying when the United States and Russia do manage to cooperate on regional or global issues, great things can happen for the mutual benefit of both our countries and indeed the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo avoid catastrophe, we must choose cooperation, not confrontation. As former U.S. Secretary of Defense Bob Gates said, \u201cOne Cold War was enough.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThank you.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a speech February 24 in Moscow, former senator Sam Nunn outlined six points to address \u0022clear and dangerous challenges\u0022 in U.S. - Russia relations that undermine global strategic stability.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In a speech February 24 in Moscow, former senator Sam Nunn outlined six points to address \u0022clear and dangerous challenges\u0022 in U.S. - Russia relations that presently undermine global strategic stability."}],"uid":"27167","created_gmt":"2016-02-25 15:10:08","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:53","author":"Rebecca Keane","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"495351":{"id":"495351","type":"image","title":"Senator Sam Nunn","body":null,"created":"1454612400","gmt_created":"2016-02-04 19:00:00","changed":"1475895253","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:13","alt":"Senator Sam Nunn","file":{"fid":"204568","name":"senator_nunn_headshot_2010_cropped_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/senator_nunn_headshot_2010_cropped_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/senator_nunn_headshot_2010_cropped_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":320620,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/senator_nunn_headshot_2010_cropped_0_0.jpg?itok=7nzx4o2R"}}},"media_ids":["495351"],"related_files":{"248795":{"fid":null,"name":"Backbar Solutions","file_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/67677134_2350806201705354_4502354752574586880_n.jpeg","file_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/67677134_2350806201705354_4502354752574586880_n.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":193932,"description":null}},"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.nti.org\/analysis\/speeches\/remarks-carnegie-moscow-center\/","title":"Nunn Remarks"},{"url":"http:\/\/inta.gatech.edu\/","title":"Sam Nunn School of International Affairs"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"149101","name":"global stability"},{"id":"95971","name":"ISIS"},{"id":"8589","name":"moscow"},{"id":"167043","name":"Sam Nunn"},{"id":"171768","name":"U.S. - Russia"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u003Cbr \/\u003EDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E404.894.1720\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}