The end of the world

Not quite but it could have been.

In the early 1960s the world (USA and USSR) with a few allies were in the middle of the Cold War and watching each other intensely.

Both sides had nuclear bombs and missiles.

One type of missile installed in Cuba which could reach 2200 miles

The closest known detonation of a nuclear bomb in the USA happened on 23rd January 1961 when a B52 bomber carrying two 260Kt nuclear bombs broke up in flight over North Carolina.
One bomb armed itself and if it wasn’t for a switch failure would have taken out Goldsboro with a loss of over 25,000 lives.

The area the bomb would cover if detonated 100ft in the air image made using nukemap

That event could have triggered a full nuclear war. The USA didn't tell anyone about this until recently.

Then we have the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Just how close was the world to destruction? Probably only days away.

On 14th October a U2 spy plane from the US flew over Cuba and photographed nuclear missile installations being built.

The reasons behind the crisis was the installations of Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Italy. The US had just failed to overthrow Fidel Castro with its Bay of Pigs invasion and Russia seized the opportunity to get missiles close to the US.

Jupiter missiles

Things moved quickly over the 13 days of the Crisis and luckily both leaders did not want war. The USA removed its missiles from Turkey and Italy and the Soviets removed theirs from Cuba. (By Christmas). The US only agreed to this unilateral disarmament if no one knew they had. It was kept secret.

Nikita Khrushchev

John F Kennedy

The main thing that came from this was a direct communication link between the USA and USSR.
Communication is what holds the world together and away from disaster now.

On 26th September 1983 things could have changed for the worst. Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer on duty at the Soviet early warning establishment, was alerted by his computer monitor of a missile launch by the USA, and a few minutes later, by a Missile Strike warning.

He should have instantly phoned the warning through for retaliation. Instead, he phoned and reported a computer malfunction. Things just didn’t look right.

His lack of action saved the world.

TODAY
Iran has currently fallen down the list of possible nuclear powers and North Korea has shot up the list.
Although Trump did mention both when talking about destroying North Korea when he addressed the world leaders today. Quite a statement.
Although the nuclear power of NK is still small, if it could send the bomb it has just tested on its long range missile and detonate it, then Honolulu could disappear.

The world leaders have talked their way out of nuclear strike before but is that possible with Kim Jong-un?

Is the way to resolve this, the opposite to sanctions? Should we flood NK with western goods and cheap food and let the people decide what they like best.

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