Cahn's ladder is one of the concepts of global security that describes its probable collapse. It represents 44 stages of escalation of any conflict, from crisis to all-out nuclear war. If along Wittgenstein's ladder we are moving to a new level of understanding of the world, then along Kahn's ladder we are moving towards a nuclear and mindless war.

The book “On Escalation” was published in 1965 and republished in 2009, but never appeared in Russia. Despite the fact that many people know about the “ladder of escalation”, and now even consider what step we are on (maximum 14th out of 44), the book has not been translated into Russian.

Herman Kahn was founder of the Hudson Institute, military strategist and one of the outstanding futurists of the second half of the twentieth century. Kahn became famous for analyzing the likely consequences of nuclear war and recommending ways to improve survivability. He became the prototype for the main character in Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove. Kahn's theories made a major contribution to the development of US nuclear strategy.