As Obama era nears, task force fears dawning of the age of nuclear proliferation

By Donald Kirk

WASHINGTON — In the not-so-distant days when stocks were high, the pillars of capitalism seemed impervious to a destructive assault on their existence.

Similarly, the possibility of nuclear war today appears as unlikely as worldwide recession and depression did a year ago.

Harvard professor Graham Allison evoked this disturbing comparison as he warned of the potential for nuclear war breaking out in a world that has come to believe the danger is essentially non-existent.

"We may be seeing the unraveling of that wonderful regime that can constrain this activity," said Allison, author of numerous books and articles on the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction. "If one thing gets unleveraged, and you see an unraveling, pretty soon the whole thing will unravel quickly. The global nuclear order looks no more secure today than was the financial order a year ago."