In the past three years, humanity has seemed to teeter on the brink of extinction. When the war in Ukraine began, many of us struggled to visualise the full scope of the threat we faced.

Any miscalculation could have brought the war to Europe, where two nuclear powers sit. Further escalation could have led to an extinction-level event — once the nightmare of the Cold War — by dragging the US directly into war with Russia.

Last month, we witnessed another episode of extreme brinkmanship, where — compelled by the desire to maintain its muscular image — a populist government afflicted with a shrinking mandate risked full-blown war with its neighbour.

India's policy decisions these days seem to have little to do with rationality. It often convinces itself that it can offset the consequences of its actions through a mix of diplomacy, espionage, propaganda and wealth.

Since few have dared to challenge the incumbents in New Delhi, their incremental brinkmanship (2016, 2019, 2025) did not come into sharp relief — until now. But the fact is that had President Trump not intervened, or had Pakistan's conventional defences not held, we could have been trying to survive in a nuclear wasteland.

Now, yet another gift that keeps giving: Israel's incremental belligerence. First Gaza, then Lebanon, Syria, Yemen — and now Iran. In Iran, it seeks to destroy its nuclear programme and, if possible, overthrow the state.

Israel now claims to have destroyed most of the nuclear infrastructure above ground, but lacks the bunker-busting munitions to destroy the underground facility at Fordow. That is why it urges the US to enter the fray.

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