UNM hosts talk titled ‘Ukraine and the Threat of Nuclear War’
October 18, 2022
The University of New Mexico hosts a talk titled, Ukraine and the Threat of Nuclear War on Friday, Oct. 21 in Woodward Hall on UNM’s main campus at 8 p.m. featuring noted MIT Professor Emeritus Ted Postol. The talk is free and open to the public.
The risk of an accidental nuclear war is a growing, extreme danger as the Russian-Ukrainian war continues. The information received by national leaders from their nation’s radar and space-based early warning systems is not nearly as clear and unambiguous as what most people believe it to be. This reality is further complicated by the fact that many professionals in technical support roles for leaders are not true experts with the appropriate technical knowledge. Instead, they are placed in roles as advisors for bureaucratic or political reasons.
The speaker will share some detailed anecdotal observations from his career that despite apparent government efforts, those in the highest levels of the US government may not be receiving the most accurate technical information to support sound decision-making during a crisis.
Postol is a professor emeritus of Science, Technology, and International Security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to his faculty position at MIT, Postol has served as the principal advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations on ICBM/SLBM vulnerability, including the Air Force Closely Spaced Based (CSB) MX deployment, Defense Against Ballistic Missile Technologies, applications of Navy and Air Force weapons systems in US nuclear war planning, and Navy requirements for reentry systems, penetration aids, targeting and SLBM operational concepts.
Read more in the UNM Newsroom
