Since the first use of an atomic bomb in Hiroshima, there has been a fear of nuclear war with devastating consequences. The fact that no further nuclear weapons have been used since Hiroshima and Nagasaki is attributed in particular to the deterrence strategy, which assumes assured mutual annihilation in the event of an attack: “He who shoots first dies second”. Despite this deterrence strategy, however, nuclear war can happen by accident. In the past, there have been some situations where it was only through great luck that nuclear war did not occur by accident. Why this risk exists and will increase sharply in the coming years and decades is described on these pages.
Unintended Nuclear War – SWR-Film (in german, 28 minutes)
Unintended Nuclear War – Quick introduction to the topic (PDF)
- Why is there such a risk? (reading time: about 3 minutes)
- Why will this risk grow significantly in the coming years? (3 minutes)
Unintended Nuclear War – High risk of serious consequences:
- The probability of an accidental nuclear war occurring in the next 20 or 30 years is not negligible, but may be very high as a result of climate change, among other things.
- In such a case, many nuclear weapons would probably be used.
- The consequence could be a nuclear winter with devastating consequences, especially with regard to food security for the entire planet. Possibly the survival of the entire human race would be threatened.
- Explanations on these points: 4-page version, 1-page version
Unintended Nuclear War – Detailed articles on the topic
- Early Warning and Decision Support Systems for defence (37 pages)
- AI in early warning systems for nuclear threats (11 pages)
- False alarms, accidents and near-disasters involving nuclear weapons (140 pages)
Essential goals of these pages:
- Provision of information on the risk of nuclear war, especially nuclear war by accident
- Supporting efforts that may lead to a reduction in the risk of nuclear war.
Music support: imanw.org (international musicians against nuclear war)
for every english side applies: partly deepl was used for translation: www.DeepL.com/Translator