At the end of every year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists releases the latest version of its Doomsday Clock, which attempts to measure how far away the world is from man-made catastrophe.

As geopolitical strategist and New York University professor, Hagai M. Segal, told the UBS Australasia Conference on Tuesday in Sydney, the clock sat at a reading of just 90 seconds to midnight at the start of 2023 – and that was before the conflict between Israel and Hamas exploded.