ID | 169502 |
Title Proper | This Grim Game |
Other Title Information | Kennedy and Arms Control for Outer Space |
Language | ENG |
Author | Buono, Stephen |
Summary / Abstract (Note) | Shortly after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the U.S. physicist Louis Ridenour penned a short play for Fortune magazine detailing how a future nuclear war might start. “Pilot Lights of the Apocalypse” opens in an underground command center beneath San Francisco, where a small group of high-ranking military officials give the U.S. president a tour of the facility. The commanding general explains that there are over 5,000 bomb-equipped satellites in orbit above the earth, owned by a host of different countries, ready to strike enemy cities in the event of major hostilities. Because such a strike would descend from outer space, however, determining from where an attack originated is impossible. The command staff must therefore rely on “political” data—an ever-shifting list of political agitators—to determine which enemies might have the greatest motivation to initiate a war. |
`In' analytical Note | Diplomatic History Vol. 43, No.5; Nov 2019: p.840–866 |
Journal Source | Diplomatic History Vol: 43 No 5 |
Key Words | Outer Space ; Grim Game ; Kennedy and Arms Control |