noting glibly “it is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan link.” India’s defense minister assured parliament members that the system is “very reliable and safe link .” [image: newsletter promo]
Sign up for *Scientific American*’s free newsletters.
As the legendary analyst of nuclear command and control Bruce Blair link, among nuclear weapon system managers and operators there is an “illusion of safety link” that masks “the systematic potential for tragedy on a monumental scale.” Whether it is India and Pakistan preparing for a fifth war, or the forces of a nuclear-armed Russia struggling ever more violently to subdue Ukraine and stem the flow of lethal NATO weapons, such illusions threaten the destruction of cities and may lead to the killing of nations.