Nuclear War

Geopolitical tensions among nuclear-armed states have reached unprecedented levels in 2026, with the Russia-Ukraine war featuring nuclear threats, a May India-Pakistan conflict involving drone-missile exchanges and brinkmanship, and US-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The New START treaty expired in February without successor, ending 60 years of US-Russia arms limits and accelerating a three-way arms race with China. UN surveys show 36 percent of experts expect large-scale war within one year and 76 percent within seven years. The World Economic Forum ranks geoeconomic confrontation and state-based armed conflict as the top risks for a 2026 global crisis. The Doomsday Clock stands at a record 85 seconds to midnight. These converging trends make nuclear escalation—via miscalculation or intentional use—the single most probable trigger for nuclear winter, global famine, and the collapse of human civilization.