Skip to content
Sign Up for Our Newsletter
About
Close About
Open About
About the Institute for Security and Technology
Our Team
Board Of Directors
Careers
Contact Us
Featured Events
Cyber Policy Awards
Critical Effect DC
Projects
Close Projects
Open Projects
AI and NC3
Pioneering action-oriented efforts to explore how advanced AI capabilities will be integrated into nuclear command, control, and communications
AI Antitrust and National Security
Exploring how to more effectively account for national security considerations in AI antitrust cases while respecting precedent, scope, and the core principles of antitrust law
AI Risk Reduction Initiative
Assessing the emerging risks and opportunities of AI foundation models and developing risk reduction strategies
AI Chip Export Control Initiative
Safeguarding U.S. national competitiveness by closing critical compliance and enforcement gaps
AI Risk Barometer
Measuring national security professionals’ perceptions of AI futures through a technically-informed survey
CATALINK
Preventing the onset or escalation of conflict by building a resilient global communications system
Energy FIRST
Powering U.S. and allied security & prosperity through a resilient energy future
Ransomware Task Force (RTF)
Combating the ransomware threat with a cross-sector approach
Religious Voices and Responsible AI
Engaging religious communities on safe and beneficial AI
SL5 Task Force
Strengthening AI security through a multistakeholder approach
UnDisruptable27
Driving more resilient lifeline critical infrastructure for our communities
All Projects
» Explore all of IST's projects, past and current
Focus Areas
Future of Digital Security
Geopolitics of Technology
Innovation and Catastrophic Risk
Events
Insights
Contact
Search
Donate
Archive
CATALINK
Blog
New Video Narrated by Rose Gottemoeller Spotlights “CATALINK”: A Critical Blueprint for Secure, Multilateral Crisis Communications
Narrated by Rose Gottemoeller, former NATO Deputy Secretary General and U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, a new three-minute animated film live today introduces CATALINK. This groundbreaking initiative is a blueprint for a dedicated, last-resort communication system designed to be the ultimate backstop to prevent or cease nuclear war.
arms race
,
CATALINK
,
crisis communications
,
hotlines
,
mesh network
,
nuclear
,
Puck
,
risk reduction
December 17, 2025
Op-ed
Here’s the Big Deal Trump and Putin Could Actually Reach in Alaska
The meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin in Alaska this week presents a rare and urgent opening for both leaders to make tangible progress on nuclear arms control, IST Senior Policy Advisor Sahil V. Shah and co-author IMEMO RAS research fellow Dmitry Stefanovich argue in Politico.
arms race
,
CATALINK
,
crisis communication
,
New START Treaty
,
Russia
August 15, 2025
Report
Securing the Signal: Mitigation Strategies to Strengthen Crisis Communication Channels
As global norms are challenged and emerging technologies accelerate, crisis communication systems between nuclear-armed states face urgent new threats. This report identifies four critical scenarios and outlines a matched set of mitigation strategies designed to reinforce the reliability of crisis communications in high-stakes environments.
CATALINK
,
cold war
,
crisis communications
,
electromagnetic pulse
,
EMP
,
escalation
,
miscalculation
,
nuclear
May 28, 2025
Blog
Live at the United Nations: IST Joins Forces with Germany and Switzerland to Push for Progress on Nuclear Risk Reduction
At NPTPrepCom last week, IST and the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation hosted a dialogue on preventing and managing nuclear crises sponsored by key CATALINK supporters, the German Federal Foreign Office and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
CATALINK
,
crisis communications
,
disarmament
,
NC3
,
Non-Proliferation
,
nuclear
,
nuclear command and control
,
United Nations
May 8, 2025
Blog
Announcing Continued Support from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the German Federal Foreign Office for the CATALINK Initiative
The Institute for Security and Technology (IST) is pleased to announce the generous political and financial support from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the German Federal Foreign Office Germany to continue the CATALINK Initiative through 2027.
CATALINK
,
crisis communications
,
disarmament
,
mesh networks
,
nuclear weapons
,
risk reduction
January 21, 2025
Blog
The South Korea-Japan-United States Trilateral Hotline: A Reminder of the Importance of Crisis Communications
In October 2023, a government official from South Korea announced the successful activation of a new trilateral hotline directly connecting top national security advisors from South Korea, Japan, and the United States. The hotline–which took only three months from its announcement at a Camp David summit to its activation–came about surprisingly quickly, via international dialogue, and with a clear commitment to communication from all parties.
CATALINK
,
Japan
,
nuclear risk reduction
,
South Korea
January 18, 2024
AAR
,
Report
Strengthening Resilience in 21st Century Crisis Communications
In Strengthening Resilience in 21st Century Crisis Communications, authors Alexa Wehsener and Sylvia Mishra draw on insight from a group of high-level policymakers, diplomats, and technical experts in attendance at IST's London workshop earlier this year to examine the vulnerabilities of existing crisis communications channels and offer possible solutions.
after action report
,
CATALINK
,
diplomacy
,
nuclear
,
nuclear risk reduction
July 20, 2023
Report
Nuclear Crisis Communications: Mapping Risk Reduction Implementation Pathways
Nuclear Crisis Communications: Mapping Risk Reduction Implementation Pathways underscores the importance of nuclear risk reduction and the growing need for modern crisis communications and outlines two scalable pathways to integrate a crisis communications system like CATALINK.
CATALINK
,
crisis communications
,
nuclear risk reduction
,
P5
January 23, 2023
Blog
Nuclear Risk Reduction: In Search of A Common Denominator
As global nuclear dangers rise, risk reduction efforts through effective crisis communications are more important than ever. Yet differences in constituencies, priorities, and strategic cultures of nuclear weapons states generate disagreement as to which measures genuinely reduce risk.
CATALINK
,
cold war
,
crisis communications
,
nuclear risk reduction
December 1, 2022
Blog
IST at the 2022 NPT Review Conference
During the long-delayed Review Conference on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT RevCon) in New York this past month, the Institute for Security and Technology (IST) contributed to international efforts to reduce the risk of nuclear conflict.
CATALINK
,
NPT
,
nuclear crisis communications
,
nuclear risk reduction
August 31, 2022
Blog
The German Federal Foreign Office Commits Support to the Institute for Security and Technology’s CATALINK Initiative
The German Federal Foreign Office has generously provided a new grant in support for the Institute for Security and Technology’s CATALINK initiative. This funding will allow the organization to expand its work designing solutions to enhance the security of the global commons.
announcements
,
CATALINK
,
crisis communications
July 29, 2022
Report
Atlas of Crisis Communications: Nuclear States
Leah Walker and Andrew Facini present an atlas of hotlines between states with nuclear weapons, part of IST’s work efforts to reinvigorate broader nuclear crisis control through research and development aimed at identifying and solving practical nuclear risk reduction gaps.
atlas
,
CATALINK
,
crisis communications
,
hotline
,
Innovation and Catastrophic Risk
,
nuclear risk reduction
July 18, 2022
Memo
The CATALINK Brief
Learn more about the CATALINK initiative, which combines radical simplicity, open source design, formal methods for NC3, and international collaboration and outreach.
CATALINK
,
hotlines
,
Innovation and Catastrophic Risk
,
nuclear
August 1, 2021
In the News
,
Op-ed
Zoom Won’t Stop A Nuclear War
In an article for Foreign Policy, Sahil Shah and Leah Walker make the case that although the red telephone is gone, a new generation of nuclear hotlines is sorely needed to manage international crises.
CATALINK
,
crisis communications
,
India
,
Innovation and Catastrophic Risk
,
nuclear hotlines
,
nuclear war
,
nuclear weapons
,
Pakistan
,
Soviet Union
April 19, 2021
In the News
,
Podcast
Back Story with Dana Lewis: Nuclear Hotlines
Philip Reiner joined the podcast Back Story with Dana Lewis to discuss a proposal for a nuclear hotline for nations with nuclear weapons.
CATALINK
,
crisis communications
,
hotline
,
Innovation and Catastrophic Risk
,
nuclear
,
nuclear weapons
,
Soviet Union
March 3, 2021
Report
Hotline Between Two Koreas: Status, Limitations and Future Tasks
In this paper, Moon Chung-in and Boo Seung-Chan provide historical context on the hotlines linking South and North Korea and point to the lessons that can be learned from the decades-long effort.
CATALINK
,
communication
,
communication link
,
crisis
,
crisis management
,
escalation
,
history
,
hotlines
,
Innovation and Catastrophic Risk
,
NC3
,
nuclear
,
nuclear security
,
nuclear weapon
,
nuclear weapon states
,
nuclear weapons
,
nuclear-use
,
secure communications
December 17, 2020
Previous
Page
1
Page
2
Next
Search
Search