Worthy Of Attention

Correction:
Yesterday Attention Drivers incorrectly linked the 'most read' story from the Times of India to the Guardian's 'most read' story. It was an unfortunate mistake especially since the article 'Pak Army No Match For India's So We Want More Nukes' was and remains to be an important news item.

The Times of India delivers two different takes on information leaked by WikiLeaks. Their story covers the potential dangers of Pakistan's nuclear program - the first angle presents the US interpretation of the circumstances and the other provides Russia's purported concerns.  The US appears to be most concerned with the potential for stolen materials while Russia seems to be occupied with the concern stemming from Pakistan's numerous experts who possess nuclear know-how.

Each set of challenges is extremely troubling. The most hopeful outcome of the WikiLeaks dump is that it may invite more people to consider the implications of the Pakistan situation. The challenges there seem to exceed any one nation's capabilities.

In short - the troubles within Pakistan require the attention of many more nations, organizations and people. Hopefully the 'most read' metric isn't the best indicator of the public's capabilities since the story only lasted for a short day in the 'most read' spot ('most read' stories in the Times of India often last for multiple days). The nuke story was quickly replaced with the much more titillating story of a celebrity who was caught without her panties on.

The risks from nefarious nuclear experts or loose nukes pose significant threats to nations around the world - but the proliferation of nukes inside the notoriously weak state of Pakistan presents grave risks for Pakistan and India. And while any nuclear exchange between those two states would be catastrophic - it would also create significant problems for the entire world - more than many might think. This recent article in Scientific American highlights the consequences for worldwide food production from a catastrophic nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India.

While the threats are enormous - unlike any time in history, the world also possesses billions of thoughtful people.  Perhaps together with social networking this level of thinking power might provide something that a small group of diplomats haven't yet managed -  a way out of these darkest of dark scenarios. But first - for at least a short period  of time - we must somehow keep from being distracted by celebs without panties.