Andrew Richter: Nuclear war is still a threat to humanity

Eighty years ago this week, the world watched in awe and bewilderment as a flash of light over the skies of Hiroshima, Japan, heralded a new age in world politics. Three days later, a second flash occurred over Nagasaki.

Thankfully, there has been no third use of nuclear weapons. But many believe that our string of good luck could come to an end.

On both occasions in 1945, tens of thousands of Japanese citizens were killed in an instant, and when the smoke cleared and the government in Tokyo finally realized that continued hostilities against the United States were pointless (and suicidal), the guns in the Pacific finally fell silent.

In the war’s aftermath, observers quickly speculated about what the new nuclear age would bring, and most concluded that these weapons would surely prolif