A Nato official says the West must prepare for war with Russia within the next 20 years. Meanwhile, the “Doomsday Clock”, set by atomic scientists to predict how close we are to destroying our world, stands at “90 seconds before midnight”, indicating that we have never been this close to nuclear war. The clock is due to be adjusted on Tuesday and is likely to suggest we are just a sneeze away from annihilation.
Both of these warnings must focus world leaders completely – we need to listen and prepare. Otherwise, whatever else is vexing us at the moment could become horrifically irrelevant.
The chief of Poland’s intelligence bureau went further at the end of 2023, stating that if Ukraine did not prevail against Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion, Nato would be fighting Russia in Europe in the next three years. Add to these woes a tinderbox of terrorism, a tyrannical Iran trying to set the Arabian Peninsula ablaze, and the increasingly powerful and nuclear-heavy China circling the globe like a great white shark, and these morbid assessments may not be far off the mark.
While the Stop the War coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the ultra-left have demonised the West for its nuclear weapons, other nations, including China and Russia, have been building nuclear bombs as though little else matters. There seems to be a naive belief in Iran that arming the Houthis and other terror groups is not going to have consequences and that owning the bomb will protect them. If Iran is allowed to go nuclear, the chance of nuclear exchange with Israel could push the clock to midnight even sooner than anyone can imagine.
Western leaders who want to appease Putin for fear that he will unleash tactical nuclear weapons on Ukraine are completely missing the point and not understanding this strategic poker game. Russia’s leader has threatened to use nuclear weapons to keep Nato from supporting Ukraine from the beginning of his illegal invasion. But the more he threatens, the more ammunition and tanks Nato provides. “Peaceniks” must learn that tyrants will only back off when opponents show strength and unity. Any weakness is seized on and exploited.
It is true that nuclear weapons have prevented a third world war for nearly 80 years, but their proliferation in some of the most despotic countries in the world makes the planet’s destruction just a bit more likely. In this current nuclear environment, if we increase the players, the risk of a misjudgement, mistake or misunderstanding leading to a nuclear holocaust grows.
We live in very dangerous times and the nuclear “bomb” will not defuse itself.
Our Government must properly prepare the nation for this possible catastrophe. They did so during the Cold War and the threat now is thought to be higher – and increasing. Those of a certain age will remember pamphlets through the door telling you how to prepare, react and recover from a nuclear attack.
I designed an app to show civilians in Syria how to survive chemical attacks and ran training courses which I’m told saved many lives. When the threat of nuclear attack and accidents at nuclear power stations in Ukraine became likely when Russia illegally invaded, I teamed up with the Thomson Foundation and produced an app for Telegram on how to prepare for, react and recover from a nuclear attack or accident. The minimum our government and others can do is produce a similar tool.
Politicians and leaders of the “free” world must not worry about their own longevity in power, because if they don’t halt the Doomsday Clock’s acceleration to oblivion, there will be nothing left to worry about – especially if they have not prepared their people on how to survive such devastation.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE is a former commander of UK and Nato CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) forces