Crosetto: 'The nuclear threat is back; we thought it was history'

The specter of nuclear war, once relegated to historical memory, has re-emerged as a present danger, according to Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto. Speaking before joint parliamentary committees on foreign affairs and defense, Crosetto described the current geopolitical climate as one where the threat of atomic conflict is once again a tangible reality.

Crosetto directly linked this unsettling development to the protracted war in Ukraine. He observed that the conflict's persistence has unfortunately woven narratives of war into the fabric of daily life, making the extraordinary seem commonplace. This ongoing confrontation, he implied, has created an environment where the unthinkable, like nuclear escalation, cannot be dismissed.

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We live with a conflict that shows no signs of slowing down, making the narrative of war part of our daily lives, unfortunately. The threat of nuclear war is back, something we thought we had consigned to the history books.

From a purely military standpoint, the minister characterized the conflict in Ukraine as largely stagnant. He cited analyses suggesting that Russia, at its current operational pace, would require a full decade to achieve the conquest of the Donbas region alone. The complete subjugation of Ukrainian territory, he added, would demand many more decades.

Crosetto's remarks underscore a significant shift in perceived global security. The normalization of war and the resurgence of nuclear threats signal a departure from the post-Cold War era's assumptions, prompting a reassessment of international security paradigms and the potential for widespread conflict.

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On a strictly military level, the conflict appears today to be characterized by a substantial stalemate. Analysts seem to agree that, maintaining the current operational pace, it would take ten years, that is, until 2036, for the Russian Federation to complete the conquest of Donbas and several decades to achieve the conquest of all Ukrainian territory.