Able Archer: How close of a call was it?

Abstract

Able Archer 83, a NATO nuclear exercise conducted in the fall of 1983, has been the subject of considerable debate in recent decades. While some analysts have argued that the superpowers came close to blows due to Soviet fears that the exercise was a ruse meant to disguise a NATO attack, revisionists have maintained that the danger associated with Able Archer 83 has been seriously overstated. In this article, the authors review the scholarship, take stock of the evidence, and discuss some of the challenges of studying nuclear history and close calls. They argue that further research is needed to determine how close of a nuclear call Able Archer 83 actually was and conclude that the case highlights the uncertainty inherent to nuclear policy making.