8 November 2023

Hosted by the National Churchill Leadership Center.

Nate Jones of the National Security Archive and Professor Aaron Bateman look back on the NATO exercise that almost caused nuclear war.

Just how close did the world come to nuclear war in November 1983?

Nate Jones is the Freedom of Information Act Director for The Washington Post and a fellow at the National Security Archive at George Washington University. He is the author of Able Archer 83:The Secret History of the NATO Exercise That Almost Triggered Nuclear War (The New Press), which examines the intersection of Cold War animosity, nuclear miscalculation, and government secrecy.

2025 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 42nd International Churchill Conference. Washington, DC | October 9-11, 2025

2025 International Churchill Conference

Aaron Bateman is an assistant professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University. He is the author of the forthcoming book Weapons in Space: Technology, Politics, and the Rise and Fall of the Strategic Defense Initiative (MIT Press, 2024). He has published widely on intelligence, transatlantic relations, and the military use of space during the Cold War. Prior to academia he served as a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer with assignments at the National Security Agency and the Pentagon.