The Doomsday Clock

IF WE DON'T CHANGE PACE, WE HAVE A MINUTE AND A HALF LEFT. In fact, less. Last January, the Doomsday Clock said we were just 85 seconds from the end of the world. The metaphorical indicator that measures how close (or farther) we are to global catastrophe is called the Doomsday Clock: in English, it literally means "clock of doom," or "clock of judgment," with the implication being "universal." It was developed in 1947 by researchers at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

WITH THE UPDATE ANNOUNCED A FEW WEEKS AGO, the Doomsday Clock is now closer to the elimination of humanity than it was in 2025, when it was set at 89 seconds to midnight. "According to the Bulletin," the Peace and Disarmament Network points out, "the decision is motivated by the increase in all threats (nuclear weapons, climate change, negative impacts of new emerging technologies) that have characterized recent years, without any real awareness or commitment from political decision-makers to address these problems." When it was created, during the Cold War, the Doomsday Clock was set to 11:53 PM, seven minutes to midnight. Since then, the hands have been moved over 20 times. The closest it has come to midnight was this year.

THERE IS A POSITIVE RECORD, BUT IT BELONGS TO THE PAST, when dialogue between nations legitimized hope and generated encouraging agreements. The best result achieved was in 1991: it was 17 minutes to midnight.
On July 31, 1991, the United States, led by George W. Bush, and the Soviet Union led by Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (SRR). It represented the most extensive and complex arms control negotiation text in history. Having expired, been renegotiated, and resigned, the Treaty definitively ceased to exist on February 5, 2026.

NO RENEWAL THIS TIME. In the absence of controls and regulations limiting proliferation, the number of nuclear warheads scattered around the planet is alarming. According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), there are 12,331, of which 5,459 are in Russia, 5,277 in the United States, approximately 600 in China, 290 in France, 225 in the United Kingdom, 180 in India, 170 in Pakistan, 90 in Israel, and approximately 50 in North Korea. Indeed, there are immediate and concrete measures to reduce risks, such as adopting "No First Use" policies to exclude the initial use of nuclear weapons as a military option. Above all, there is one instrument as important as it is little-known and widely opposed: the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which entered into force five years ago, on January 22, 2021.
That agreement prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, use, and threat of use of warheads. A historic step. To date, 99 countries have signed the Treaty, 74 of which have already made it an integral part of their legal system. All nations with nuclear arsenals and states belonging to political-military alliances such as NATO are still missing. Italy is among the notable absentees.

Alberto Chiara
NP March 2026