Moscow–Washington hotline
The Moscow–Washington hotline (formally known in the United States as the Washington–Moscow Direct Communications Link;[1] Russian: Горячая линия Вашингтон – Москва, tr. Goryachaya liniya Vashington–Moskva) is a system that allows direct communication between the leaders of the United States and the Russian Federation (formerly the Soviet Union). This hotline was established in 1963 and links the Pentagon with the Kremlin (historically, with Soviet Communist Party leadership across the square from the Kremlin itself).[1][2] Although in popular culture it is known as the "red telephone", the hotline was never a telephone line, and no red phones were used. The first implementation used Teletype equipment, and shifted to fax machines in 1986.[3] Since 2008, the Moscow–Washington hotline has been a secure computer link over which messages are exchanged by a secure form of email.[4]
Origins[edit]
Background[edit]
Several people came up with the idea for a hotline, including Harvard professor Thomas Schelling, who had worked on nuclear war policy for the Defense Department previously. Schelling credited the pop fiction novel Red Alert (the basis of the film Dr. Strangelove) with making governments more aware of the benefit of direct communication between the superpowers. In addition, Parade editor Jess Gorkin personally badgered 1960 presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, and buttonholed the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev during a U.S. visit to adopt the idea.[1] During this period Gerard C. Smith, as head of the State Department Policy Planning Staff, proposed direct communication links between Moscow and Washington. Objections from others in the State Department, the U.S. military, and the Kremlin delayed introduction.[1]
The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis made the hotline a priority. During the standoff, official diplomatic messages typically took six hours to deliver; unofficial channels, such as via television network correspondents, had to be used too as they were quicker.[1] The experience of the crisis convinced both sides of the need for better communications.[5]
During the crisis, the United States took nearly twelve hours to receive and decode Nikita Khrushchev's 3,000-word-initial settlement message – a dangerously long time. By the time Washington had drafted a reply, a tougher message from Moscow had been received, demanding that U.S. missiles be removed from Turkey. White House advisers thought faster communications could have averted the crisis, and resolved it quickly. The two countries signed the Hot Line Agreement on June 20, 1963[6] – the first time they formally took action to cut the risk of starting a nuclear war unintentionally.[7] It was used for the first time by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on August 30, 1963.[8]
Political criticism[edit]
The Republican Party criticized the hotline in its 1964 national platform; it said the Kennedy administration had "sought accommodations with Communism without adequate safeguards and compensating gains for freedom. It has alienated proven allies by opening a 'hot line' first with a sworn enemy rather than with a proven friend, and in general pursued a risky path such as began at Munich a quarter century ago."[9]
The first message transmitted over the hotline was on August 30, 1963. Washington sent Moscow the text: "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK 1234567890". The message was sent in all capital letters, since the equipment did not support lowercase.[21]
The primary link was accidentally cut several times, for example near Copenhagen by a Danish bulldozer operator, and by a Finnish farmer who ploughed it up once. Regular testing of both the primary and backup links took place daily.[22] During the even hours, the US sent test messages to the Soviet Union. In the odd hours, the Soviet Union sent test messages to the US.
The line was used during:[21]
On October 31, 2016, the Moscow–Washington hotline was used to reinforce Barack Obama's September warning that the U.S. would consider any interference on Election Day a grave matter.[23]
Other hotlines with Moscow[edit]
Another hotline for record communications between Washington and Moscow is part of the American Nuclear Risk Reduction Center and the Russian National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, which was initiated by Ronald Reagan in 1988.[24] This was done in the aftermath of the Chernobyl Disaster.
In 2012, it was announced that a proposal was being negotiated with Moscow to add cyber warfare to the topics to be discussed on the hotline.[24]
Since 2007 there has been a hotline between Beijing and Washington and also Beijing and Moscow.[25]
At the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States and Russia created a deconfliction line to prevent miscalculations or escalation.[26] In November 2022, an anonymous U.S. official told Reuters that the line had only been used once in the war. The official said that the line was used to communicate concerns about Russian military operations near Ukrainian infrastructure, but did not elaborate. The official said it was not used when a missile hit Poland.[27]