[1] The group was established in October 2009,[2] in response to, and in tandem with, the growing international prominence of the issue of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
This momentum has been driven by former US Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former Defence Secretary William Perry and former Senator Sam Nunn in their Wall Street Journal article of January 2007,[3] (which has since evolved into the Nuclear Security Project), as well as by U.S. President Barack Obama's Prague speech in April 2009, in which he outlined his vision of a nuclear-free world.
[5] On 14 April 2010, the group produced, signed, and arranged for the signatures of 41 senior European figures for a statement published as an open letter on the Guardian online website.
[7] Various members of the group have taken part in video interviews, produced by Talkworks Films, regarding the nuclear options and dangers ahead.
[8] The Top Level Group also maintains a website which provides updates for the activities of its members, and which also monitors and publishes parliamentary proceedings relating to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.