Seven Minutes to Midnight
It looks like the time on the Doomsday Clock hasn't been moved forward since 2002.
We move the hands taking into account both negative and positive developments. The negative developments include too little progress on global nuclear disarmament; growing concerns about the security of nuclear weapons materials worldwide; the continuing U.S. preference for unilateral action rather than cooperative international diplomacy; U.S. abandonment of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and U.S. efforts to thwart the enactment of international agreements designed to constrain proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; the crisis between India and Pakistan; terrorist efforts to acquire and use nuclear and biological weapons; and the growing inequality between rich and poor around the world that increases the potential for violence and war. If it were not for the positive changes highlighted later in this statement, the hands of the clock might have moved closer still.Might I suggest to the The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that recent developments in Iran - leading to the likelyhood that they are determined to develop nuclear weapons no matter what the international community say or do - means that the clock should be moved forward a little bit.
Looking at the "Doomsday Clock" timeline gives me some ideas.
We should be around "five minutes to midnight" - but the day the Iranians explode their first nuclear weapon we will be right back to "three minutes to midnight" - just like in 1949 when the Soviet Union exploded their first atomic bomb.
Once that happens we can expect the "New Cold War" to kick off in earnest as each side begins a new arms race - draining money and resources away from other projects and fostering a climate of fear and paranoia - again.
Tags: nuclear, new cold war, cold war, doomsday clock, soviet union, iran