But how much time will have to pass for this possibility of nuclear war to become a near certainty?
Let's make four assumptions:
- Only 10 governments have nuclear weapons at any given time.
- A government exists for four years on average.
- Only .1% (1 out of 1,000) of governments with nuclear weapons are stupid or suicidal/homicidal enough to accidentally or intentionally start a nuclear war.
- Nuclear war will escalate into nuclear annihilation (either directly through the blasts or as an indirect effect in the form of fallout and nuclear winter).