The U.S. Russia’s war on Ukraine has most Americans concerned that the US will be drawn directly into the conflict and could be targeted with nuclear weapons, according to a new poll, echoing a level of anxiety reminiscent of the Cold War era.
According to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, nearly half of Americans are very concerned that Russia would directly target the United States with nuclear weapons, and another three in ten are somewhat concerned. Shortly after the February 24 invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his country’s nuclear forces on high alert.
Approximately 9 out of 10 Americans are concerned that Putin will use a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, with approximately 6 out of 10 being very concerned.
“He is out of control, and I don’t think he really has concern for much of anything but what he wants,” said Robin Thompson, a retired researcher from Amherst, Massachusetts. “And he has nuclear weapons.”
Seventy-one percent of Americans believe the invasion increased the likelihood of nuclear weapons being used anywhere on the planet.
The poll was conducted before North Korea tested its largest intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday, but it also shows that 51 percent of Americans are very concerned about the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear programme to the United States. A further 29% were concerned in a moderate way.
For decades, people have been terrified of nuclear war. Since 1947, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has published its “Doomsday Clock,” which depicts a theoretical countdown to nuclear annihilation. The most recent update, in January, put the time at 100 seconds to midnight — unchanged since 2020, but still closer to Armageddon than ever before.
Because polls use different methodologies or pose questions in different ways, it’s difficult to track the public’s level of fear over time. Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear historian at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, said people often won’t bring it up on their own but list it among concerns if given the choice.
Naturally, fear fluctuates in response to what is going on in the rest of the world. “We have these high-crisis periods,” Wellerstein explained. “And then they go away, and people forget we had them.”
One particularly high point, he said, was in 1983, during a period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the year that a widely watched film about nuclear war, “The Day After,” first aired on American television.
According to a recent AP-NORC poll, nearly half of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned that the United States will be drawn into a war with Russia. Approximately four out of ten Americans said they are “somewhat” concerned.
The findings reflect not only concern about what appears to be a proxy war with Russia, even though the United States is not directly involved in the conflict, but also unprecedented saturation coverage of the war through traditional news outlets and social media.
“We’re seeing what’s happening to these poor people almost on a daily basis,” said Linda Woodward, a retired phone company technician from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.
Concern about nuclear war transcends political parties and even resonates with some young adults born after the Cold War.
Caleb Pack, a 21-year-old Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, was among those who expressed “somewhat concern” that the United States would be drawn into the conflict and that Russia would target the US with nuclear weapons.
“If Russia’s ultimate goal is to reclaim Soviet Union territory, that means they’re going to push into NATO countries, which obviously I think could escalate very quickly,” said Pack, an information systems professional.
Concern about nuclear war transcends political parties and even resonates with some post-Cold War young adults.
Caleb Pack, a 21-year-old Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, was among those who expressed “somewhat concern” that the US would be drawn into the conflict and that Russia would use nuclear weapons against the US.
“If Russia’s ultimate goal is to reclaim Soviet Union territory, that means they’ll push into NATO countries, which obviously could escalate very quickly,” said Pack, an information systems professional.
So far, NATO and the Biden administration have taken care not to exacerbate the situation, according to Drozdenko. However, she believes that the public should take advantage of this opportunity to advocate for changes that will reduce the risk. To reduce the risk of an accidental strike by an adversary, the United States would adopt a formal policy of not striking first with nuclear weapons, as well as removing the president’s sole authority over a launch.
Historian Wellerstein sees a potential benefit to the increased concern. He cited research indicating that a crisis can increase people’s engagement with an issue in the long run.
