GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with N. F. Chervov, 1987
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
12/28/1987
Colonel-General N.F. Chervov was a senior member of the Soviet General Staffs arms control directorate. He begins by assessing the significance of the MX and its fit in the SALT process. It was undoubtedly a first-strike weapon, in his opinion, but he acknowledges that it was a response to the SS-18, which he describes as essentially the same missile. He prefers returning to single-warhead missiles because of their positive effect on stability. He discusses the question of first-use, insisting the USSR will never take the initiative to strike with nuclear weapons, then explaining the military planning implications of this stance. In his judgment, the Cuban missile crisis was the turning point in Soviet thinking about the disutility of nuclear weapons. He gives a lengthy recitation on the complicated issues surrounding the Euromissile crisis and discusses Soviet thinking about various negotiations. He attributes Moscows about-face on the zero option from 1981 to 1985 to new thinking in the Kremlin and a reassessment of the strategic balance. SDI, in his view, was a vain undertaking, and he partially deflects a question about Soviet anti-satellite research by blaming misinformation for distorting Western perceptions. He closes by pointing to a number of contradictions in U.S.-Soviet relations.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Title
Interview with N. F. Chervov, 1987
- Series Description
The first atomic explosion in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, changed the world forever. This series chronicles these changes and the history of a new era. It traces the development of nuclear weapons, the evolution of nuclear strategy, and the politics of a world with the power to destroy itself.
In thirteen one-hour programs that combine historic footage and recent interviews with key American, Soviet, and European participants, the nuclear age unfolds: the origin and evolution of nuclear weapons; the people of the past who have shaped the events of the present; the ideas and issues that political leaders, scientists, and the public at large must confront, and the prospects for the future. Nuclear Age highlights the profound changes in contemporary thinking imposed by the advent of nuclear weapons. Series release date: 1/1989
- Duration
01:02:00
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- United States
- SS-20 Missile
- Scowcroft, Brent
- Submarine-launched ballistic missiles
- Nuclear weapons
- France
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II
- Pershing (Missile)
- Gorbachev, Mikhail
- McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009
- Intercontinental ballistic missiles
- Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
- Journalists
- Deterrence (Strategy)
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Nuclear arms control
- Nitze, Paul H.
- Soviet Union
- Strategic Defense Initiative
- Mutual assured destruction
- First strike (Nuclear strategy)
- MX (Weapons system)
- Strategic nuclear forces triad
- Counterforce (Nuclear strategy)
- Reagan, Ronald
- Great Britain
- Locations
- Moscow, USSR
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- Science
- War and Conflict
- Global Affairs
- History
- Contributors
- Chervov, N. F. (Interviewee)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with N. F. Chervov, 1987,” 12/28/1987, GBH Archives, accessed April 19, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_822CAD23F912479EB143A4DEC23D30BC.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with N. F. Chervov, 1987.” 12/28/1987. GBH Archives. Web. April 19, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_822CAD23F912479EB143A4DEC23D30BC>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with N. F. Chervov, 1987. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_822CAD23F912479EB143A4DEC23D30BC