Chomsky: World racing toward ‘irreversible’ nuclear disaster

Leading American political analyst and philosopher Noam Chomsky says the world is racing toward an “irreversible” disaster due to an increased risk of nuclear war, failure to address climate challenges, and a diminished ability of great powers to tackle international problems rationally

During an interview with RT on Saturday, Chomsky recalled that in recent years the Doomsday Clock, which reflects how close humanity is to nuclear Armageddon, has moved closer to Midnight, which symbolizes the extinction of humanity.

Chomsky, who is a Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona, said humanity’s main concerns are “an increasing threat of nuclear war” and “a very severe and growing threat of destruction of the climate.”

He added that the latter problem persists because “states are not doing what they know they must do to solve this crisis.”

The third issue, Chomsky said, is “the deterioration of an arena of rational serious debate and deliberation” combined with “the collapse of democratic forces” around the world.

“All three have gotten considerably worse during the past year, and unless there's a sharp reversal, we'll simply be heading for a precipice, falling over, irreversible, and not in the long distant future,” he warned.

Chomsky’s comments came after former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that those who want to see Moscow defeated in Ukraine, ignore the fact that “a loss by a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger the start of a nuclear war.”

Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of President Vladimir Putin's Security Council, said, "Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends."

Russia and the United States, the largest nuclear powers, hold around 90% of the world's nuclear warheads.

Previously, Chomsky said the rising tension between Russia and the United States might lead to a nuclear war that could cause the end of mankind.

ME