Friends and Colleagues,
This year, we have witnessed new heights in all of the global, systemic risks at the heart of our mission at the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR): the risks of nuclear weapons use, instability shaped by the climate crisis and ecological degradation, ongoing biological and chemical weapons threats, a continuing pandemic amidst further spikes in multiple infectious diseases, and more. What is more, the world continues to grapple with changes triggered by changes—and new cracks—in the international architecture of treaties and cooperation built over decades to mitigate these risks.
Put simply: CSR’s work to analyze, anticipate, and address systemic risks to security is more important than ever.
As 2022 draws close, CSR is entering its fifth year of operations, and from years of steady growth and building a world-class team, we are extending our reach and becoming more effective.
Many of you have contributed to CSR’s accomplishments in 2022, including the following:
Improving Policies to Address Biological Threats: The U.S. government made several major policy advancements in 202, including major national security directives and an updated National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan. Many of the strong policy updates echoed recommendations from CSR, for example from our Handbook for Ending Catastrophic Biological Risks and pathogen early warning work.
Elevating Climate to the Top of the Security Agenda: President Biden not only opened his administration by signing a landmark Executive Order on climate change, but he declared climate change to be an essential element of national security and foreign policy. A range of U.S. policy documents now draw heavily from our Climate Security Plan for America, including measures that require all national security agencies to integrate climate considerations into strategic planning. In June, NATO released an ambitious Climate Change and Security Plan of Action that a senior NATO official said would not have been possible without the work of the International Military Council on Climate and Security, a group CSR founded and continues to lead with its European partners.
Advancing Steps for Reducing Nuclear Risks: CSR continues to develop and promote ideas for reducing the risks of nuclear weapons being used. In an important step forward, President Biden’s Nuclear Posture Review cut plans to bring back nuclear sea-launched cruise missiles after decades of bipartisan support for eliminating them from the U.S. arsenal. CSR pushed strongly for this policy shift to nix an unnecessary and destabilizing capability.
Establishing CSR’s Ecological Security Program: Building on a first-of-its-kind ecological security report addressing unprecedented global ecological disruption and what the U.S. can do about it, CSR is significantly expanding this work by fostering a networked community of practitioners, launching a fellowship program, raising awareness through an innovative communications strategy, and more to come.
Expanding a World Class Team: To confront the systemic risks of our time, CSR is continually growing its world-class team of experts who are on the cutting edge of the climate, biological risks, ecological security, and nuclear fields and bring significant experience across the non-profit, government, business, and academic sectors.
This Giving Tuesday, your tax-exempt donation will help us to continue driving progress against many of the world’s greatest threats.
www.councilonstrategicrisks.org/donate-and-support/
Thank you for your support and generosity. The Council on Strategic Risks is a U.S.-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Follow us on Twitter or our website, www.councilonstrategicrisks.org.