Fail-Safe: The Cold War

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All through the Cold War, the United States depended on nuclear weapons to not only avert an attack by the Soviet Union and its allies but also to prevent the eruption of a global war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cold War rivalry drew the United States into a drawn out engagement with world affairs, unprecedented in the country’s history, that proceeds to the present day. The stakes of the Cold War were perilously high. Nuclear war, which jeopardized the survival of human civilization, in pursuit of political objectives was excessively risky. Even if some humans survived the short-term effects of a nuclear war, it could’ve resulted in the collapse of civilization. This essay will examine the popular perceptions of the Cold War and the humanitarian impact of …show more content…
However, in spite of sharing an almost indistinguishable plot, they represent different positions morally as well as embody messages that vary significantly. Fail-Safe explored one of the Cold War’s frequent nightmares; a nuclear war set off accidentally between the U.S and the USSR. The film placed the blame on a technological malfunction, which precipitated an unstoppable domino effect, ultimately resulting in the nuclear annihilation of New York and Moscow. In addition to addressing issues relating to technology and its restraints, Fail-Safe depicts numerous political aspects of the Cold War including the suspicion and mistrust felt by both sides, the stringent training of the military, and an excessive sense of patriotism by others. The speed at which the computer machines operated, which controlled the nations defense system, made it impossible for humans to possess control. Since human beings were unable to monitor the machines directly, the result was the inevitable nuclear holocaust. In Kubrick 's film, Dr. Strangelove, nuclear destruction resulted as the consequence of an insane anti-Communist military base commander and his deliberate actions.

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