GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Ashton Carter, 1987 [1]
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
12/09/1987
Ashton Carter was a Defense Department Consultant and a co-author of a 1984 study on the feasibility of a missile defense shield. The interview concentrates on the MX missile, basing modes, survivability, and related strategic and political questions. His work on the Office of Technology Assessment study looked at every possible basing mode including submarines, and treated connected topics such as launch-under-attack and the use of deception. In the interview he relates some of the criticisms against these options. Discussing MX, he explains how several of its problems derived at least partly from it having two very different missions. He notes that he can understand Soviet fears about the missile as a first-strike weapon, particularly if large numbers are contemplated and survivability does not appear to be a major U.S. concern. Returning to basing issues, he describes the Townes Panel, the Dense Pack option, and the Scowcroft Commission, calling the latters solution a sad and pathetic end to efforts to find a survivable basing mode. The discussion then turns to alternatives such as Midgetman and likely future threats to survivability, and from there to retaining a first-strike capability for Europe, counterforce issues, and targeting Soviet command-and-control. He compares Reagan and Weinberger to Carter and Brown the former as ordinary citizens and the latter as experts who looked at the issues in far more scientific detail.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Program
- Visions of War and Peace
- Program Number
113
- Title
Interview with Ashton Carter, 1987 [1]
- 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
01:00:51
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Intercontinental ballistic missiles
- Nuclear warfare
- Strategic Defense Initiative
- Nuclear weapons
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II
- Midgetman Missile
- MX (Weapons system)
- United States. Air Force
- United States. Dept. of Defense
- Weinberger, Caspar W.
- Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
- Nitze, Paul H.
- United States. Navy
- Townes Commission
- Brown, Harold, 1927-
- Schlesinger, James R.
- Nuclear arms control
- United States. Congress
- Soviet Union
- United States
- Gorbachev, Mikhail
- United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment
- United States. Presidents Commission on Strategic Forces
- Reagan, Ronald
- Garn, Jake
- Laxalt, Paul
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- Science
- History
- Global Affairs
- War and Conflict
- Contributors
- Carter, Ashton B. (Interviewee)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Ashton Carter, 1987 [1],” 12/09/1987, GBH Archives, accessed December 3, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_19CDC7C452FE459AA0591052B2F9900B.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Ashton Carter, 1987 [1].” 12/09/1987. GBH Archives. Web. December 3, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_19CDC7C452FE459AA0591052B2F9900B>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Ashton Carter, 1987 [1]. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_19CDC7C452FE459AA0591052B2F9900B