GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Reagan's Shield; Interview with Alexei Arbatov, 1987
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
12/30/1987
Alexei Arbatov was an adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev. In the interview he describes past, current, and future Soviet-U.S. relations. He describes the evolution of President Reagans rhetoric on the Soviet Union, and American views on the Cold War. He describes the difficulties in Soviet-US arms negotiations, specifically negotiations between Reagan and Gorbachev at Geneva and Reykjavik, which he says left everyone disappointed. He calls for a plan that incrementally reduces both US and Soviet nuclear arms by half, and then half again, and so on. He also offers his views on the superpower relationship, commenting that the Soviet Union and US should not be in competition since they have no territorial or economic conflicts, and that their relations should be demilitarized since they affect so many other nations that are not complicit in the conflict.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Program
- Reagan's Shield
- Program Number
112
- Title
Interview with Alexei Arbatov, 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
- Program Description
President Reagan introduces the controversial Strategic Defense Initiative, an idea he believes will make nuclear weapons”Impotent and Obsolete.”
In 1983 President Reagan envisioned a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) that could intercept and destroy Soviet strategic ballistic missiles before they reached the United States. Skeptics dubbed the idea “Star Wars.” It was hard for Reagan to accept the idea of deterrence based on mutual destruction. He believed SDI offered a solution. His science advisor George Keyworth says SDI was “thoroughly created and invented in Ronald Reagan’s own mind and experience.” According to defense scientist Ashton Carter, “The concept is fine. What is not fine is implying to the public that the solution to the nuclear puzzle is at hand.” SDI became the focus of a national debate about nuclear weapons and nuclear strategy, and a stumbling block in strategic arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union. The final months of the Reagan Administration brought a drastic reduction in the scope and size of SDI efforts.
- Duration
00:45:27
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Cruise missiles
- Pershing (Missile)
- SS-20 Missile
- Antinuclear movement
- Akhromeyev, Sergey Akhromeyev
- Soviet Union. Treaties, etc. United States, 1987 December 8
- Reagan, Ronald
- Nuclear arms control
- Korean Air Lines Incident, 1983
- Casey, William J.
- Gorbachev, Mikhail
- Peace movements
- SS-4 Missile
- Nuclear war
- Nuclear weapons
- Soviet Union
- United States
- International relations
- Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference
- John Paul II, Pope, 1920-2005
- SS-5 Missile
- Nitze, Paul H.
- Locations
- Moscow, Russia
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- History
- Global Affairs
- War and Conflict
- Science
- Contributors
- Arbatov, Aleksei Georgievich (Interviewee)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Reagan's Shield; Interview with Alexei Arbatov, 1987,” 12/30/1987, GBH Archives, accessed April 16, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B5AE53F9170C4A5999B734DF526DB8E0.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Reagan's Shield; Interview with Alexei Arbatov, 1987.” 12/30/1987. GBH Archives. Web. April 16, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B5AE53F9170C4A5999B734DF526DB8E0>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Reagan's Shield; Interview with Alexei Arbatov, 1987. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B5AE53F9170C4A5999B734DF526DB8E0