GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Dean Rusk, 1988
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
04/13/1988
Dean Rusk came from barefoot poverty in rural Georgia and achieved black-tie success. He was the first assistant secretary for UN Affairs, in 1949; assistant secretary of state for Far Eastern Affairs, in 1950; and the countrys second-longest-serving secretary of state (1961 to 1969), after Cordell Hull. In his interview conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: Visions of War and Peace, Rusk reflects on a wide range of political and nuclear issues spanning more than forty years. He discusses his recognition that the first atomic bomb introduced a new phase of warfare; his opinion that Soviet premier Joseph Stalins adventures spawned the Cold War and the United States containment policy; how the past three decades created a vastly different diplomatic landscape against which to conduct foreign relations; and the urgency of domestic problems that threaten national security. Rusk voices his opposition to the Strategic Defense Initiative, commonly known as Star Wars and first unveiled in March 1983. Although known throughout his career for his hawkish views, in Visions of War and Peace Rusk turns again and again to the dominant lesson of the nuclear age: nuclear war is simply that war which must never be fought.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Program
- Visions of War and Peace
- Program Number
113
- Title
Interview with Dean Rusk, 1988
- 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
- Program Description
Even in the best international atmosphere, the superpowers face continuing differences about hot to reduce the risk of nuclear war. This final episode analyzes the continuing themes of the nuclear age.
- American attitudes toward nuclear weapons are intertwined with American anxieties about the nature of the Soviet State. - NATO relies on a threat of first use of nuclear weapons in response to an attack even by conventional forces of the Warsaw Pact. - To date, there is no defense against nuclear missiles. - More and more nations are acquiring nuclear technology. - Many people confuse arms control with disarmament.
The challenge of the Nuclear Age is to find a new way for nations to resolve disputes so they will no longer resort to force.
- Duration
01:12:45
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
- Soviet Union. Treaties, etc. United States, 1987 December 8
- United States
- Cuba
- Marshall, George C. (George Catlett), 1880-1959
- Communism
- Soviet Union
- Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
- First strike (Nuclear strategy)
- Nuclear weapons
- Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- World War II
- Nuclear arms control
- Hiroshima-shi (Japan) -- History -- Bombardment, 1945
- Military-industrial complex
- Nuclear disarmament
- Nuclear warfare
- Strategic Defense Initiative
- Warsaw Treaty Organization
- International relations
- Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
- Locations
- Atlanta, GA
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- Science
- History
- War and Conflict
- Global Affairs
- Contributors
- Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994 (Interviewee)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Dean Rusk, 1988,” 04/13/1988, GBH Archives, accessed December 22, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_094CEE62D847474CB264DF8D1E7BE425.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Dean Rusk, 1988.” 04/13/1988. GBH Archives. Web. December 22, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_094CEE62D847474CB264DF8D1E7BE425>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Dean Rusk, 1988. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_094CEE62D847474CB264DF8D1E7BE425