In the immortal words of Seinfeld’s Newman, “when you control the mail, you control information.” The opposite seems to be the case in Washington today. Reports show that the government accidently posted top secret information about America’s nuclear facilities on the internet, a move that was never supposed to happen. According to Pentagon spokespeople, this was not a threat to Homeland Security because no hazardous information was included in the posting. However, the government still regrets the misstep by its computer technicians because it involved the subject of nuclear facilities – the most sensitive topic on the planet right now.

The human species has developed the capacity to destroy itself and everything else with the invention and use of apocalyptic weaponry. This has been the case since World War II and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world continues to edge very close to the possibility of this happening again. With countries like North Korea and Iran constantly threatening or lying about the development of nuclear weapons, the world continues to brace itself for another man made killer quake to shake the ground and our senses. However, it’s undeniable that the next time a country unleashes its nuclear power onto the world, the display will not only be one way. Attacks, counterattacks, and an endless string of ballistic answers will eventually leave the world an empty place. This is the fear everyone lives with. This is why the world worries for the future.

We’ve come extremely close to this in the past. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a pivotal moment in world affairs, one which historian Arthur Schlesinger described as the most dangerous moment in human history. We’ve just learned how close the world actually was from obliterating itself. At a recent retrospective conference discussing the 1960s crisis, American, Russian and Cuban leaders spoke about that tense time, recounting that the world was literally one word away from terminal nuclear war. Russian submarine commanders had nuclear tipped missiles and were under attack by American Destroyers at the edge of John F. Kennedy’s quarantine zone. The commanders were under the assumption that Russia was in a state of nuclear war. Two of the commanders ordered the launch of the nuclear missiles, which if sent, would have destroyed New York. This would have led to a devastating nuclear response from the American Destroyer that would have disintegrated all of Moscow. The domino effect would have begun. It was one Russian commander that countermanded the decision to send the missiles. The world was one word away from annihilation.

Carl Van Clausewitz once famously said “war is a continuation of politics by other means.” Some agree that the function of war is to advance a political end. However, some believe that the actual nature of war is to serve itself – that no amount of war can actually destroy the true enemy. That in the nuclear world, where a single push of a button will lead to several more that will effectively destroy the Earth, war itself is the true enemy.

Measures are being taken to tighten the choke-chain on the rabid dog that is nuclear war. Since 1968, 189 countries have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, meant to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, and by implication, its use. Four recognized sovereign states are not party to the treaty – India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea. India, Pakistan, and North Korea are all known to possess and have tested nuclear weapons, while Israel has a long-standing policy of deliberate ambiguity on the matter. In recent weeks North Korea has tested mid and long range missiles and has made aggressive claims of nuclear testing in order to garner more opportunity and regard in the international community. This is an immediate threat to Homeland Security which is why it is being addressed with caution and severity. How will this latest global gamble end up? The world is playing a game of Russian roulette with its inhabitants every single day. Let’s hope we don’t have a blast.