Healthcare after a nuclear strike

Overt threats to strike with nuclear weapons are rising with alarming frequency.12 Geopolitical attitudes have shifted since the Cold War, when nuclear threats drove de-escalation, prompted arms control negotiations, lowered alert postures, and reduced weapon stockpiles. This trend has now reversed. Only one nuclear arms control treaty remains in place.3 The US, Russia, and China are racing to modernise and expand nuclear arsenals.456 Rising isolationism and decreased international engagement and cooperation diminish the ability to deter nuclear attacks. Nuclear armed nations with ongoing border hostilities, such as Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, now emphasise their nuclear capability and threaten first strike or reprisal actions,57 tempting non-nuclear nations to consider developing their own weapons.8

Historically, the “mutually assured destruction” doctrine was described as deterring the use of nuclear weapons on the basis that any nuclear attack would lead to a counterattack where both aggressor and defender would be annihilated.4 However, monitors of current conflicts contend that the risk of lower yield (1-10 kiloton) “tactical” nuclear weapon use is increasing, as they have hypothetical value in warfare and nuclear armed states …