On Limited Nuclear War

This book highlights the role that domestic politics has played in the evolution of U.S. nuclear weapons policy up to the present. Mlyn focuses on the relationship among the three levels of this policy: public statements, force posture, and nuclear targeting. He shows that although state officials since 1960 maintained a policy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) in public, U. S. nuclear targeting in fact embraced Nuclear Utilization Theory (NUTS). Because this view of using nuclear weapons to fight a limited nuclear war was unpopular with the public, however, state officials did not articulate it fully until the early 1980s. Thus, although the Reagan administration was accused of radically changing nuclear weapons policy, it was actually continuing a long trend more openly.

This film follows the development of the nuclear arms race from Hiroshima to the nuclear stalemate of today. It examines the Western military-industrial complex and its Warsaw Pact counterpart, and explains how the concept of "limited" nuclear war came to be. Notes on Nuclear War shows the devastating effect of nuclear bombs; American and Soviet physicians describe the medical consequences and the inability of their profession to cope with the casualties. Part six of the seven-part series War, hosted by Gwynne Dyer, examining the nature, evolution and consequences of modern warfare.