The petrifying return of nuclear anxiety

Thinking the unthinkable, again

A duck and cover drill.
(Image credit: Illustrated | AP Images, iStock)

The world might end with a mistake.

New computers or sensor equipment could generate unreliable data, for example. Perhaps a military exercise, intended to simulate the outbreak of war, could be perceived as the real thing. A breakdown in communications might leave officers in the field uncertain of their orders. Or a rogue general or political faction could hijack crucial units or weapons without the approval of their governments.

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Samuel Goldman

Samuel Goldman is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also an associate professor of political science at George Washington University, where he is executive director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and director of the Politics & Values Program. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard and was a postdoctoral fellow in Religion, Ethics, & Politics at Princeton University. His books include God's Country: Christian Zionism in America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018) and After Nationalism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021). In addition to academic research, Goldman's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.