Should multilateral crisis communications systems be used before, during, or after a crisis? How would nuclear-armed states benefit most from such a system? What challenges stand between theory and implementation?  

The Institute for Security and Technology’s CATALINK initiative proposes an additive multilateral communications system as a solution to address the urgent lack of  modern multilateral crisis communication channels among nuclear-armed state leaders. CATALINK’s Crisis Communications Resilience Working Group, established in October 2023, is a network of experts and practitioners who work collaboratively to augment  nuclear risk reduction efforts and promote the idea and implementation of effective, secure, multilateral crisis communications among nuclear-armed states. 

Improving Nuclear Hotlines: Relevance and Use-Cases comprises of a series of short essays and interviews authored by working group members, and edited by IST’s Sylvia Mishra and Christian Steins. These briefs assess the status of crisis communications systems in specific nuclear-armed states, present potential use case scenarios of multilateral crisis communications, and examine the current operating environments and political and technical barriers to cooperation in each state of focus.