War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Alain Enthoven, 1986
- Raw Footage
- Interview with Alain Enthoven, 1986
- Contributing Organization
- WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/15-ht2g73792x
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- Description
- Episode Description
- Alain Enthoven, an MIT-trained economist, was the country's first assistant secretary of defense for systems analysis from 1965 to 1969. In his interview conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, Enthoven sets the stage for the missile age. He discusses how the arrival of nuclear weapons that could reach the United States made it necessary to rethink military strategy and the nation's overall defense posture. What was new, he points out, was the establishment of systems analysis for making key decisions on force requirements, weapon systems, targeting theory, and other military matters. Enthoven recounts how public interpretation of "flexible response" strategy ran counter to both the administration's overriding goal - to prevent nuclear war - and its bottom line: that nuclear war is unwinnable. He recalls that dismissing "massive retaliation" and the untenable consequences it posed, canceling an array of bomber and ballistic programs, and focusing on a conventional military buildup and a survivable retaliatory force generated immense controversy among U.S. military circles and European partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
- Date
- 1986-02-22
- Date
- 1986-02-22
- Asset type
- Raw Footage
- Subjects
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963; Massive retaliation (Nuclear strategy); Flexible response (Nuclear strategy); Healey, Denis; Single Integrated Operational Plan; First strike (Nuclear strategy); Polaris (Missile); Intercontinental ballistic missiles; United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff; United States. Dept. of Defense; Nuclear arms control; nuclear weapons; nuclear warfare; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Warfare, Conventional; United States; Soviet Union; Germany; mutual assured destruction; McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009; Bundy, McGeorge; Kaysen, Carl; Taylor, Maxwell D. (Maxwell Davenport), 1901-1987; Gaulle, Charles de, 1890-1970; Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971; United States. Air Force. Strategic Air Command; Rand Corporation
- Rights
- Rights Note:,Rights:,Rights Credit:WGBH Educational Foundation,Rights Type:All,Rights Coverage:,Rights Holder:WGBH Educational Foundation
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Duration
- 00:00:00
- Credits
-
-
Publisher: WGBH Educational Foundation
Writer: Enthoven, Alain C., 1930-
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
WGBH
Identifier: 590418a7da3221aaba3e21207f2bf8384692aaee (ArtesiaDAM UOI_ID)
Format: video/quicktime
Color: Color
Duration: 00:00:00
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- Citations
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Alain Enthoven, 1986,” 1986-02-22, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed September 30, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-ht2g73792x.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Alain Enthoven, 1986.” 1986-02-22. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. September 30, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-ht2g73792x>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Alain Enthoven, 1986. Boston, MA: WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-ht2g73792x