Majority of Millennials Believe a Nuclear Attack Will Occur Within the Next Decade – Survey

A majority of adults between 20 and 35 that took part in the survey commissioned by the Red Cross believe that it was “more likely” than not that a nuclear attack could occur in the next 10 years, a news release by ICRC revealed.

Although 84% out of the 16,000 millennials interviewed from 16 countries argued that the use of nuclear weapons was unacceptable, 54% said that weapons of mass destruction could still be used in the next decade.

Some 47% of the adults that participated in the poll also said it was “more likely than not” that World War III would occur in their lifetime, with more than two thirds also suggesting that wars were unavoidable as a whole.

Only two in five millennials from countries that are considered to be currently at peace, believe that they would likely be affected by war or armed conflict in the near future, with respondents from Great Britain and Switzerland being the most optimistic in this regard.

The poll showed that adults in war-affected countries were more hopeful about wars being avoided in the future, while also being cautious about the use of weapons of mass destruction - including nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons – with the highest negative response to this weaponry being observed among Syrians.

The survey was conducted between 1st June and 7th October among residents from 16 countries, including Afghanistan, Israel, Russia, Syria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the US.

The publication of the poll’s results comes against the backdrop of increased tensions across the globe that sparked fears of WWIII on the internet and in the media. Relations between the US and Iran have hit a new low since Iran’s top military commander Qasem Soleimani’s assassination by the US, followed by Tehran’s attack on American facilities in Iraq in response. Two nuclear nations, India and Pakistan have teetered on the edge over Kashmir and other issues over the year. The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, continuous disagreements over the civil war in Syria, as well as economic tensions between Washington and Beijing, and Moscow’s continuous diplomatic row with its Western partners over the situation in Ukraine are also fuelling the scare.