"On Thermonuclear War" was controversial when originally
published and remains so today. It is iconoclastic, crosses
disciplinary boundaries, and finally it is calm and compellingly
reasonable. The book was widely read on both sides of the Iron
Curtain and the result was serious revision in both Western and
Soviet strategy and doctrine. As a result, both sides were better
able to avoid disaster during the Cold War.
The strategic concepts still apply: defense, local animosities,
and the usual balance-of-power issues are still very much with us.
Kahn's stated purpose in writing this book was simply: "avoiding
disaster and buying time, without specifying the use of this time."
By the late 1950s, with both sides H-bomb-armed, reason and time
were in short supply. Kahn, a military analyst at Rand since 1948,
understood that a defense based only on thermonuclear arnaments was
inconceivable, morally questionable, and not credible.
The book was the first to make sense of nuclear weapons.
Originally created from a series of lectures, it provides insight
into how policymakers consider such issues. One may agree with Kahn
or disagree with him on specific issues, but he clearly defined the
terrain of the argument. He also looks at other weapons of mass
destruction such as biological and chemical, and the history of
their use. The Cold War is over, but the nuclear genie is out of
the bottle, and the lessons and principles developed in "On
Thermonuclear War" apply as much to today's China, Russia, Iran,
and North Korea as they did to the Soviets.
General
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