The global community faces an elevated threat of nuclear conflict due to aging leaders with direct control over nuclear arsenals experiencing numerous health issues that hinder their decision-making capabilities, as revealed by a startling new study.
The first medical analysis of its kind looked at the 51 leaders who have been in command of nuclear arsenals and since died.
It found that 23 of them had concerning physical or mental health conditions that could have affected their decision-making abilities.
These health problems range from personality disorders, depression, alcoholism, strokes, and heart attacks to cancer, drug addiction, and one incident where the leader was in a coma.
The study’s authors advocate for increased medical evaluations of current leaders in the nine nations with nuclear capabilities: the US, Russia, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and the UK.
“The study highlights that both physical and mental health challenges have been prevalent among leaders of nuclear-armed countries,” stated Professor Nick Wilson from the University of Otago’s Department of Public Health in New Zealand, who conducted the research.
‘Given the importance of the decision-making around nuclear weapons by political leaders, further research on this group should be prioritized.
“This particularly impacts the United States, where a leader has the sole authority to deploy nuclear weapons, a system often termed a ‘nuclear monarchy.’
World leaders are see at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2024
America’s nuclear football is seen leaving 10 Downing Street in London during Biden’s visit in 2023
‘The research agenda should also be expanded to include… the nine incumbent leaders.’
It comes as some of the current leaders are well into their 70s.
Donald Trump is the oldest at 79 and has recently been forced to fend off wild rumors about his health.
Among these leaders, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu is 75, India’s Narendra Modi is 74, Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif is 73, and both Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China are 72.
Meanwhile, the Doomsday Clock is currently at 89 seconds to midnight – the closest to global disaster this symbolic device has ever been set – and the scientists who set it have warned the world is ‘perilously close to the precipice’ of nuclear Armageddon.
A report found leaders of nuclear-armed countries have suffered from a litany of mental and physical conditions that impaired their judgment
Xi Jinping of China (left) and Vladimir Putin of Russia (right) are both 72 years old
The report suggested measures such as removing nuclear weapons from ‘high alert’ status, adopting ‘no first use’ policies (where a nation vows to only use nuclear weapons if another nation uses one against them first), requiring multiple people to authorize launch, and political recall systems for voters to oust old and unwell leaders.
It also suggested medical and psychological assessments by a politically independent expert panel both before and during office.
The study took as a starting point the time when each of the nine nations carried out its first nuclear test.
Since then, there have been 51 now-deceased leaders who have been in charge of nuclear weapons.
It was found that 69 percent of those were over 65 years old when they left office, and 29 percent were over 75.
Eight of them died from chronic illnesses while still in office, and 15 left office suffering from conditions that impaired them.
At 78, President Donald Trump is the oldest current leader of a nuclear-weapons state and has been described as a ‘nuclear monarch’ with sole power to launch
Assessments of the health of former leaders included studies of word use in speeches over time to detect early dementia.
Of the the 15 who left office suffering health issues, alcohol use disorder was considered potentially present in five of them.
Five of that 15 may also have had some form of mood disorder, including bipolar disorder or depression, according to the study.
Personality disorders were deemed a possibility in two of the 15, anxiety disorders in two and substance use disorder in one.
Three of them suffered from deafness and one leader had ‘probable early stage of Alzheimer’s disease’.
‘Probably all of this group of 15 leaders had their performance in office impaired by their health conditions,’ Professor Wilson said. ‘In some cases, the degree of impairment was profound, such as in the case of two former Israeli Prime Ministers: Ariel Sharon, who became comatose after suffering a stroke in office, and Menachem Begin, whose depression was so severe that he spent his last year as leader isolated in his home.
‘Impairment during crises was also seen in the case of Richard Nixon’s bouts of heavy drinking, including during a nuclear crisis involving the Middle East.
‘There have also been occasions where health information about leaders has been kept secret at the time.’
A deactivated Titan II nuclear ICMB is seen in a silo at the Titan Missile Museum on May 12, 2015 in Green Valley, Arizona
Mao Zedong suffered from depression and probable anxiety disorder, while Richard Nixon succumbed to bouts of heavy drinking, according to the report
The report cited France’s President François Mitterrand who was suffering from advanced prostate cancer and ‘clung on’ until the end of his term despite his doctor concluding that he was ‘no longer capable of carrying out his duties.’
It also discussed President Dwight D Eisenhower, who in the 11 months after his heart attack in September 1955 was reportedly ‘incapacitated for six of them’.
Also cited was Prima Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India, who suffered from apparent memory loss, periods of confusion and ‘indecipherable ramblings’.
The eight nuclear leaders who died of chronic illness in office suffered from an average of four health conditions each, and one – China’s Mao Zedong – had 10 (two of which were depression and probable anxiety disorder, according to the study).
Conditions afflicting these leaders included ‘personality disorders, depression, substance use disorders and cognitive decline from multi-infarct dementia,’ the report said.
It added: ‘Death as a cause of departure (from office) is a particular concern as it can also be associated with months to many years of the leader being health-impaired before death occurs.
‘All plausibly had their performance in office impaired by their health conditions.’
Narendra Modi, 74, prime minister of nuclear-armed India
Pictured: The Iskander missile system, a Russian mobile short-range ballistic missile complex capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads
The report also referenced a separate study of the first 37 US presidents up to Richard Nixon, which found that 18 of them met criteria suggesting psychiatric disorders.
According to the report, Nixon succumbed to bouts of heavy drinking.
It showed 24 percent of the presidents had depression, eight percent bipolar disorder and eight percent alcohol problems.
For more than 25 percent of them, a disorder was evident during their time in office, which ‘in most cases probably impaired job performance’.
