7. The Able Archer War Scare (1983)
In November 1983, NATO conducted Exercise Able Archer 83, a command post exercise simulating the escalation from conventional to nuclear warfare. The Soviet Union misinterpreted this as a potential prelude to a first-strike attack, leading to heightened tensions and a significant war scare. This incident exposed critical flaws in East-West crisis communications and underscored the dangers of misperception during periods of military readiness (nsarchive2.gwu.edu).
