Half of U.S. citizens fear Russia will hit the U.S. with nuclear weapons

Half of U.S. citizens fear Russia will hit the U.S. with nuclear weapons. 

Washington: Most Americans are concerned that Russia’s war on Ukraine will bring the U.S. directly into the fight. According to a new poll that evokes the Cold War era, the U.S. would be targeted with nuclear weapons.

According to a recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, nearly half of Americans are afraid that Russia might directly strike the U.S. with nuclear weapons, while another third is somewhat concerned.

It’s worth recalling that shortly after the invasion on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country’s nuclear forces on high alert. 

As a result, approximately 9 out of 10 Americans are scared that Putin will use a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, with about 6 out of 10 being extremely anxious.

“He’s out of control, and I don’t believe he cares about much other than himself,” said Robin Thompson, a retired researcher from Amherst, Massachusetts. “And he’s armed with nuclear weapons.”

Seventy-one percent of Americans believe the invasion has raised the risk of nuclear weapons being deployed anywhere.

The poll was done before North Korea tested its most giant intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday. 

Still, it reveals that 51% of Americans are very concerned about North Korea’s nuclear program being a threat to the U.S. A further 29% were concerned moderately.

For decades, people have lived in fear of nuclear war. Finally, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has released its “Doomsday Clock.” “Since 1947, a speculative countdown to nuclear annihilation has been displayed. 

In January, the most recent update set the time at 100 seconds to midnight, unchanged since 2020 but yet closer to Armageddon than ever before.

Because polls employ different methodology or ask questions in different ways, it’s difficult to track the public’s level of anxiety over time. 

According to Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear historian at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, people rarely bring it up on their own. Still, they will mention it among their concerns if given the option.

Fear, like everything else, rises and falls in response to what is going on in the world. “We have these high-crisis periods,” says the author, “According to Wellerstein. “Then they come and go, and nobody remembers we had them.”

One exceptionally high point, he added, came in 1983, during a period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the year that “The Day After,” a widely watched film about nuclear war, was the first broadcast on American television.

Nearly half of Americans think they are ‘very’ or very scared that the U.S. would be pushed into a war with Russia, according to a recent AP-NORC poll. Approximately four out of ten Americans say they are somewhat concerned.

The findings reflect concern over what appears to be a proxy war with Russia, even if the U.S. isn’t directly involved, and unprecedented saturation coverage of the fight by traditional news outlets and social media.

“We’re seeing what’s happening to these poor individuals virtually daily,” Linda Woodward, a retired phone company technician from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, said. Nuclear war is a threat that spans across party lines and even resonates with some young individuals born after the Cold War ended.

Caleb Pack, a 21-year-old Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, was among those who expressed anxiety that the U.S. would be lured into the conflict and that Russia would use nuclear weapons against the U.S.

Indeed, Russia has not taken any steps to assuage fears. When Putin reminded the world in a speech the day before the invasion that his country is “one of the most powerful nuclear states,” it appeared to be an ominous threat.

In that setting, Tara Drozdenko, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ global security program, believes the concern is reasonable. “There’s always a risk of nuclear escalation when nuclear-armed nations go closer to confrontation,” she said.

NATO and the Biden administration have avoided escalating the issue, according to Drozdenko. However, she believes that now is the time for the public to press for changes to reduce the risk. 

To lessen the chance of an unintentional strike by an adversary, the U.S. would adopt a formal policy of not striking first with nuclear weapons. 

The president’s absolute power for a launch would be taken away from him alone.

Historian Wellerstein sees a potential benefit to the current climate of anxiety. He referenced studies that suggest a crisis can increase people’s involvement in a problem in the long run.