Donate
Donate

Tony Barrett Gives CSIS Practice Talk on Inadvertent Nuclear War to GCRI Nuclear War Group

28 October 2012

On Thursday 11 October 2012,* GCRI hosted the second of a series of discussions among a group of nuclear war scholars. The discussion centered around a practice talk that Tony Barrett gave for an upcoming conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
* We apologize for the delays in getting this post online.

Meeting participants included Martin Hellman of Stanford and Seth Baum, Tony Barrett, and Jacob Haqq-Misra, all of GCRI.

Barrett’s talk, Analyzing and Reducing the Risks of Inadvertent Nuclear War between the United States and Russia, was prepared for the fall 2012 conference of the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues. The talk was based on research Barrett lead for GCRI with Seth Baum and Kelly Hostetler.

Inadvertent nuclear war occurs when one nation believes incorrectly that it is under attack, and then uses nuclear weapons in what it believes is a counterattack. The result is a nuclear war that happens “by accident”. While inadvertent nuclear war has never previously occurred, there have been several close calls, including the 1983 Able Archer incident and the 1995 Norwegian rocket incident.

For the previous GCRI nuclear war group discussion, see GCRI Hosts Discussion Of Nuclear War.

Recent Publications from GCRI

Ukraine and Nuclear War, 2026

Ukraine and Nuclear War, 2026

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has recently begun its fifth year. As a major war involving a nuclear-armed Russia and a Ukraine that is supported by nuclear-armed NATO countries, this is one of the most significant episodes in the history of nuclear war risk. As...

Political Orders and Global Catastrophic Risk

Political Orders and Global Catastrophic Risk

“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” [1] In political history, an order can be defined as a period of time in which one ideology is so dominant, it must be followed by any party in order for the party to gain power. Political...

The Importance of Statusquotastrophe—And Social Science Research

The Importance of Statusquotastrophe—And Social Science Research

Published in response to the recent GCRI commentary Statusquotastrophe: Interviews with US public reveal dark trend by Charlton Yingling and Marissa Yingling. Charlton and Marissa Yingling’s finding of statusquotastrophe suggests a major shift in how we think about...

See All Publications

Recent Publications from GCRI

Ukraine and Nuclear War, 2026

Ukraine and Nuclear War, 2026

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has recently begun its fifth year. As a major war involving a nuclear-armed Russia and a Ukraine that is supported by nuclear-armed NATO countries, this is one of the most significant episodes in the history of nuclear war risk. As...

Political Orders and Global Catastrophic Risk

Political Orders and Global Catastrophic Risk

“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” [1] In political history, an order can be defined as a period of time in which one ideology is so dominant, it must be followed by any party in order for the party to gain power. Political...

The Importance of Statusquotastrophe—And Social Science Research

The Importance of Statusquotastrophe—And Social Science Research

Published in response to the recent GCRI commentary Statusquotastrophe: Interviews with US public reveal dark trend by Charlton Yingling and Marissa Yingling. Charlton and Marissa Yingling’s finding of statusquotastrophe suggests a major shift in how we think about...

See All Publications

Recent Publications from GCRI

Ukraine and Nuclear War, 2026

Ukraine and Nuclear War, 2026

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has recently begun its fifth year. As a major war involving a nuclear-armed Russia and a Ukraine that is supported by nuclear-armed NATO countries, this is one of the most significant episodes in the history of nuclear war risk. As...

Political Orders and Global Catastrophic Risk

Political Orders and Global Catastrophic Risk

“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” [1] In political history, an order can be defined as a period of time in which one ideology is so dominant, it must be followed by any party in order for the party to gain power. Political...

The Importance of Statusquotastrophe—And Social Science Research

The Importance of Statusquotastrophe—And Social Science Research

Published in response to the recent GCRI commentary Statusquotastrophe: Interviews with US public reveal dark trend by Charlton Yingling and Marissa Yingling. Charlton and Marissa Yingling’s finding of statusquotastrophe suggests a major shift in how we think about...

See All Publications