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The 1964 comedy film Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love the Bomb has achieved cult and now iconic status
in popular culture. It is also the flagship of an entire genre of
Cold War nuclear crisis films, which is employed in numerous
academic disciplines to depict what many view as the prime
absurdity of the Cold War: nuclear deterrence and its possible
failure. The films of the Cold War nuclear crisis genre are
regularly used by educators to illustrate nuclear warfare theories
of the time. However, the further we get away from those dangerous
years, the more art takes over from life/history/reality. There
were (and remain) layers of absurdity in places like the RAND
Corporation and in other "think tanks." However, those who also
served should get their due. And Dr. Strangelove does not give it
to them. Dr. Strangelove, Fail-Safe, The Bedford Incident, and
others are about the internal and external failures of the
deterrent system. That system did not fail in real life. Why is
that? How is that? Can we use Dr. Strangelove and related films as
vehicles to help us understand the answers to those questions? What
was really going on in that secretive world? Answering those
questions was impossible in the 1970s. Years after the end of the
Cold War, we have much better insight. And now we can know.
Emergency War Plan examines the theory and practice of nuclear
deterrence and its emergence during the Cold War. The language that
evolved around deterrence in the 1940s and 1950s was not
diplomatic-speak. It was technological and operational and
carefully chosen to establish and maintain credibility. The
opposition had to see that a threat was credible. That meant
aircraft, bombs, missiles, command and control facilities,
planning, and exercises. Yet examinations of nuclear strategy
during this time were, for the most part, pigeonholed as “Massive
Retaliation” and “Mutually Assured Destruction,” conveniently
summed up as “MAD.” These declaratory descriptors themselves
evolved into slogans, and any serious discussion of them faded.
Slogans mask the complex nature of concepts and situations and
allow dismissal or mockery, as in the film Dr. Strangelove. It's
possible that the secret elements of the deterrence enterprise made
public understanding difficult, if not impossible. The whole
picture was not available then, but now, with the declassification
of nuclear war strategies, it may be discernible. Emergency War
Plan draws on and even challenges the prevailing view on what
intelligence was available so that Strategic Air Command could
carry out its mission. Sean Maloney examines the relationship of
nuclear weapons to their targets and even draws on newly released
weapons effects information along with new information about Soviet
capabilities. He highlights how the process was supposed to work
and where it might not have worked. Ultimately what emerges is a
gargantuan and potentially devastating enterprise that was only
understood by the public at the time in very general terms.
Within hours of the September 11 attacks, Sean M. Maloney
deciphered that Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were the aggressors
behind the despicable act. A war in Afghanistan then was
inevitable. As a military historian, Maloney was determined to go
there to study and record the events for posterity, if for no other
reason than the education of his future students at Canada's Royal
Military College.What resulted is an in-depth and up-close look at
the planning stages, deployment, and aftermath of Operation
Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. In "Enduring the Freedom," Maloney
presents a rare on-the-spot view from such important locations as
Kabul, Bagram, and Kandahar. He describes the American-led
intervention in Afghanistan and the conduct of the war through
early 2003, then discusses the events of 2003 from the three
locales in detail.Some critics contend that the war in Afghanistan
is another Vietnam. Maloney rebuts that appraisal, pointing out
that as opposed to the vague language of the Vietnam era, American
objectives were clearly stated for Afghanistan. Those objectives
were: to destroy al Qaeda's networks, training camps, resources,
and communication systems; to destroy any governmental entity
providing support or sanctuary to al Qaeda; and to undertake
reconstruction efforts to ensure international terrorists can never
again use the country as a base. The first objective has more or
less been achieved. How to accomplish the last two is still widely
debated, and Maloney offers some insightful thoughts and opinions.
Finally, he offers educated advice going forward in the hopeful
completion of Operation Enduring Freedom.
This book presents a detailed picture of the complex and difficult
process the US Navy and its NATO allies faced in devising the NATO
naval command structure, and explores NATO's place today in the
realignment of nations.
In the late 1990s, NATO initiated KFOR, the militarized
peacekeeping force charged with stabilizing Kosovo and the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for displaced persons and refugees
after the genocide and other numerous atrocities carried out during
the Balkan conflicts. Operation KINETIC is a not only a history of
the origins and operations of the Kosovo Force, it is also a
history of the vital Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition
and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) and Civil-Military Cooperation
operations conducted by the Canadian Army units assigned to KFOR
during the crucial early days and months after entry into the
province in 1999-2000. Operating alongside American, British,
French, Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish forces, these surveillance
and response units were instrumental in preventing violence in
numerous areas before it could escalate and draw in the Serbian
Army, which could have led to another war in the region. Sean
Maloney, a Canadian military historian with extensive field
experience in the Balkans, draws upon numerous interviews and
first-hand accounts of an operation that would later serve as a
model in preparing for similar efforts in Afghanistan and provide a
blueprint for possible future stabilization operations around the
world.
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