catastrophe’

‘Iknow not with what weapons world war III will be fought, but world war IV will be fought with sticks and stones”—Albert Einstein. The world Economic Forum said the risks of a Third world war are enormous. “If we add in all the means and methods of warfare—conventional, nuclear, cyber, drones, and so on —we have the military potential to destroy ourselves entirely.”

Almost 78 years after World War II ended, are we on the verge of another world war?

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week that as the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, the world is facing a convergence of challenges “unlike any in our lifetimes,” and this could lead to a wider war.

“One month ago, we turned the calendar on a new year. But just days ago, another clock turned—the so-called Doomsday clock. Atomic scientists, including Albert Einstein, created that symbolic clock 76 years ago. Year after year, experts have measured humanity’s proximity to midnight—in other words, to self-destruction,” Guterres said.

He added: “In 2023, they surveyed the state of the world—with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the runaway climate catastrophe, rising nuclear threats that are undermining global norms and institutions. And they came to a clear conclusion. The Doomsday Clock is now 90 seconds to midnight, which means 90 seconds to total global catastrophe. This is the closest the clock has ever stood to humanity’s darkest hour—and closer than even during the height of the Cold War. In truth, the Doomsday Clock is a global alarm clock. We need to wake up—and get to work.”

Guterres lamented that “wars grind on. The climate crisis burns on. Extreme wealth and extreme poverty rage on. The gulf between the haves and have nots is cleaving societies, countries and our wider world, and epic geopolitical divisions are undermining global solidarity and trust.”

“This path is a dead end. We need a course correction. The UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights point the way out of this dead end. They are a source of solutions and a source of hope. Let us draw from that source, let us draw from that hope, and act decisively before it’s too late. Time is short. And the clock is ticking,” Guterres said.

He added: “It is also time to bring disarmament and arms control back to the center—reducing strategic threats from nuclear arms and working for their ultimate elimination. Nuclear-armed countries must renounce the first use of these unconscionable weapons. In fact, they must renounce any use, anytime, anywhere. The so-called “tactical” use of nuclear weapons is an absurdity. We are at the highest risk in decades of a nuclear war that could start by accident or design. We need to end the threat posed by 13,000 nuclear weapons held in arsenals around the world.”

The secretary-general said the world must work harder for peace, not only in Ukraine but in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict “where the twostate solution is growing more distant by the day,” in Afghanistan where the rights of women and girls “are being trampled and deadly terrorist attacks continue,” and in Africa’s Sahel region where security is deteriorating “at an alarming rate.”

He also called for intensified peace efforts in Myanmar to stop the violence and repression, in Haiti where gangs are holding the country hostage, “and elsewhere around the world for the two billion people who live in countries affected by conflict and humanitarian crises.”

“The good news is that we know how to turn things around—on climate, on finance, on conflict resolution, on and on. And we know that the costs of inaction far exceed the costs of action. But the strategic vision—the long-term thinking and commitment—is missing. We need to change the mindset of decision making,” Guterres said.

“My message today comes down to this: Don’t focus solely on what may happen to you today—and dither. Look at what will happen to all of us tomorrow—and act.”