Group Statement: Supporting Nuclear Fail-safe
Nuclear Fail-Safe Statement Calls on Nuclear-Armed States to Strengthen Safeguards
On 13 February 2026, the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN), together with the Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group (EASLG), European Leadership Network (ELN), Grandview Institution, and Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), released a joint statement calling on all nuclear-armed states to strengthen safeguards against the accidental, mistaken, or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons.
The statement, signed by 75 senior figures from across the globe, including former foreign and defence ministers, defence chiefs, diplomats, and leading policy experts, warns that the safeguards that have prevented nuclear catastrophe for nearly eight decades are now being tested by disruptive technologies, heightened geopolitical tensions, and the erosion of arms control. It highlights the growing risks posed by the integration of artificial intelligence into nuclear decision-making and the threat of cyberattacks on command-and-control systems.
Informed by a series of senior dialogues with nuclear-armed states in 2024 and 2025, the signatories call for internal nuclear “fail-safe” reviews as effective unilateral risk-reduction measures that require no negotiation, treaty, or verification. They also urge the five NPT nuclear-weapon states to issue a Joint Statement in support of nuclear fail-safe ahead of the NPT Review Conference in April 2026, reinforcing the 2022 P5 declaration that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
Among the 75 signatories are former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz, former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, former UK Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne, former U.S. National Security Advisor General James L. Jones, Admiral Mike Mullen (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, former Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, former Commander-in-Chief of India’s Strategic Forces Command Lieutenant General Amit Sharma, and former Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Jehangir Karamat, alongside several APLN members and senior staff.
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Support for Preventing the Accidental, Mistaken, or Unauthorized Use of a Nuclear Weapon: Nuclear “Fail-Safe”
Safeguards essential to preventing nuclear catastrophe for nearly eight decades are now being tested by disruptive technologies, heightened geopolitical tensions, and the erosion of arms control. The danger that a terrible decision may be made to use nuclear weapons in a moment of crisis is growing. The incorporation of artificial intelligence into attack warning systems, threat assessments, and decision-making processes could exacerbate the risk of nuclear use. Additionally, adversaries, including non-state actors, now possess the capability to launch cyberattacks that could disrupt nuclear command and control and early-warning systems. Every nation with nuclear arms bears responsibility for reducing the risk of unintended, mistaken, or unauthorized nuclear use. Such failures would have profound consequences for global security.
Informed by a series of senior dialogues with nuclear-armed states in 2024 and 2025, we call on all countries that possess nuclear weapons to strengthen their safeguards to prevent unauthorized, inadvertent, or mistaken use of a nuclear weapon, including through accidental escalation or false warning of an attack. This process could include internal nuclear “fail-safe” reviews. Such strengthened national safeguards would be effective unilateral nuclear risk-reduction measures, not requiring any negotiation, treaty, or verification. They could also motivate and inform new dialogues on arms control, nuclear risk reduction, and confidence-building measures, which are a necessity as global nuclear forces and threats grow.
Strengthened nuclear fail-safe measures are essential to maintaining strategic stability. Preventing accidental or mistaken nuclear use is also a moral imperative, directly linked to the protection of civilian populations.
Most immediately, the five nuclear-weapons states under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) should consider making a Joint Statement in support of nuclear fail-safe connected to the NPT Review Conference beginning in April 2026, as a demonstration of their commitment to prevent the unauthorized or unintended use of nuclear weapons. Such a statement would reinforce the important January 2022 P5 declaration that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, and would help reduce the risks of miscalculation and escalation in an increasingly complex security environment. It should be welcomed by all non-nuclear weapons states.
All nuclear-armed states should take immediate action to prevent a possible catastrophe. The world cannot afford to wait for more peaceful times to reduce the risks of nuclear use.
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Chinese version
欧洲–大西洋安全领导力小组（EASLG）、亚太领导网络（APLN）、欧洲领导网络（ELN）、国观智库（GVI）及减少核威胁倡议组织（NTI）联合声明
支持加强核“故障安全”（Fail-safe）措施，防止核武器意外、误判或未经授权使用
近八十年来，防止核灾难的关键保障机制，如今正面临颠覆性技术、地缘政治紧张加剧以及军控体系弱化的严峻考验。在危机时刻贸然动用核武器的风险正在上升。将人工智能纳入攻击预警系统、威胁评估与决策流程，可能进一步加剧核武器使用风险。此外，包括非国家行为体在内的对手已具备发动网络攻击的能力，可能干扰核指挥控制与早期预警系统的运作。所有拥核国家均负有责任，降低核武器意外、误判或未经授权使用的风险。此类事故一旦发生，必将对全球安全产生深远后果。
基于我们在2024年和2025年与拥核国家开展的一系列高级别对话成果，我们呼吁所有拥核国家加强相关保障措施，以防止核武器在未经授权、意外或误判的情况下被使用，包括因事故升级或虚假攻击预警而引发核使用。这一进程可包括开展内部核“故障安全”审查。此类国家层面的保障措施将成为有效的单边核风险降低举措，无需经过任何谈判、条约或核查机制。同时，这些措施亦可推动并为新的军控、核风险降低及建立信任措施对话提供参考——在全球核力量与核威胁持续增长的当下，此类对话已成为必要之举。
加强核故障安全机制对维持战略稳定至关重要。防止核武器的意外或误判使用更是一项道义责任，直接关系到对平民生命的保护。
当务之急是，《不扩散核武器条约》（NPT）框架下的五个拥核国家（P5）应考虑在4月开始的审议大会期间，就支持加强核“故障安全”措施发表联合声明，以展现其防止核武器未经授权或非预期使用的决心。该声明将进一步巩固五核国领导人于2022年1月发表的防止核战争联合声明——“核战争打不赢，也打不得”，并有助于在日益复杂的安全环境中降低误判与升级风险。所有无核武器国家均应对此表示欢迎。
所有拥核国家都应立即采取行动，防止可能发生的灾难。国际社会已无余裕等待更和平的时刻才采取行动降低核武器使用风险。
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The statement has been signed by the following signatories from the Asia-Pacific.
- Ambassador Nobuyasu Abe, Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Japan
- Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Research Professor at the Research Center for Politics, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN); former Deputy Secretary for Political Affairs to the Vice President, Indonesia
- Professor Shen Dingli, Professor, former Director of the Center for American Studies, former Executive Dean of the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Professor the Hon. Gareth Evans, Former Foreign Minister; former Chancellor of the Australian National University; Founding Convenor of Asia-Pacific Leadership Network, Australia
- General Jehangir Karamat (Retd.), Former Chief of Army Staff and former Ambassador, Pakistan
- Ambassador Won-Soo Kim, Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Republic of Korea
- Ren Libo, Grandview Institution Founder & President, China
- Professor Chung-in Moon, Vice Chair of Asia-Pacific Leadership Network; former Special Advisor for Foreign Affairs and National Security to President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea; and James Laney Professor Emeritus, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea
- Dr. Marty Natalegawa, Chair, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network; former Foreign Minister and Ambassador, Indonesia
- Dr. Frank O’Donnell, Senior Research Adviser, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network, United States
- Lt. Gen. Amit Sharma, (Retd.) Former Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Forces Command, India
- Dr. Manpreet Sethi, Senior Research Adviser, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network; Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Aerospace Power and Strategic Studies (CAPSS), India
- Shatabhisha Shetty, Executive Director, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network, Australia