Story perspectives

Physicist Rovelli Urges NATO Europe to Stop Arms Race

6/26/2026

Summary

Story summary

Carlo Rovelli warns that mutual fear, not aggression, fuels the nuclear arms race and, in his book 85 Seconds to Midnight, urges European NATO members to halt rearmament.
He notes Russia cannot reach Kyiv, spends 4 % of global military budgets, yet holds over 4,000 nuclear warheads.
He cites the 1941 Bohr-Heisenberg meeting, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Israeli-Hamas conflict as cases where fear sparked dangerous nuclear or violent postures.

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Story summary

Carlo Rovelli warns that mutual fear, not aggression, fuels the nuclear arms race and, in his book 85 Seconds to Midnight, urges European NATO members to halt rearmament.
He notes Russia cannot reach Kyiv, spends 4 % of global military budgets, yet holds over 4,000 nuclear warheads.
He cites the 1941 Bohr-Heisenberg meeting, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Israeli-Hamas conflict as cases where fear sparked dangerous nuclear or violent postures.