GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Randall Forsberg, 1988
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
03/03/1988
Dr. Randall Forsberg was executive director of the think tank she founded in 1980, the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies. In her wide-ranging interview for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: Visions of War and Peace, Forsberg explores war-and-peace issues, military doctrine, the history and economics of nuclear-weapons development and policy, war-fighting capability and force structure, scenarios and resistance to arms reduction, the history of relations between the superpowers, and their interactions with developing nations. Seven countries, she asserts, account for 99 percent of nuclear weapons. The dispersal of weaponsin the form of the Rapid Deployment Force, tactical weapons, and missiles fitted with multiple warheadsheightens the risk of war in a world moving toward becoming what she calls a global nuclear porcupine. Forsberg asserts that threatening to commit genocide as a way of conducting politics is one of the most deeply immoral and subversive acts of government in the modern world. Moreover, she maintains, a conventional military crisis could easily cross that nuclear threshold. Forsberg advocates the three Rs: reduce, restructure, and restrain conventional forcesthe other side of the military cointhat consume 75 percent of the U.S. military budget. She recalls the moment during arms negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union when she determined that the arms race is not driven by basic deterrence but by the imperative to gain superiority in threatening to winwithout actually wagingnuclear war. She compares disarmament with abolitionism: most people understood that slavery was evil and didnt know when it would end, but they realized that they had to work until it was eliminated. Forsbergs analysis of the countrys defense dependency and of the shortcomings of the nuclear-freeze movement she spearheaded is laced with her optimism about Soviet Union general secretary Mikhail Gorbachevs reforms. She never abandoned her vision of an educated public that will prevail in demilitarizing international relations to achieve a secure, stable permanent peace.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Program
- Visions of War and Peace
- Program Number
113
- Title
Interview with Randall Forsberg, 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
03:03:32
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Soviet Union
- Nuclear weapons
- Sweden
- International relations
- Afghanistan
- Nuclear disarmament
- Gorbachev, Mikhail
- Nuclear arms control
- Middle East
- World War II
- Strategic Defense Initiative
- Reagan, Ronald
- Mutual assured destruction
- Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies (U.S.)
- China
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II
- Poland
- Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
- Antinuclear movement
- Cruise missiles
- Intercontinental ballistic missiles
- Kissinger, Henry, 1923-
- Warsaw Treaty Organization
- Cuba
- Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1968)
- Soviet Union. Treaties, etc. United States, 1972 May 26 (ABM)
- Disarmament
- Korea (South)
- International relations
- United States. Congress
- Schlesinger, James R.
- Korea (North)
- Soviet Union. Treaties, etc. United States, 1987 December 8
- Military-industrial complex
- Germany
- United States
- Deterrence (Strategy)
- Single Integrated Operational Plan
- Nuclear warfare
- Warfare, Conventional
- Iran
- Nuclear weapons -- Testing
- Communism
- Locations
- Brookline, MA
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- War and Conflict
- Global Affairs
- History
- Science
- Contributors
- Forsberg, Randall (Interviewee)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Randall Forsberg, 1988,” 03/03/1988, GBH Archives, accessed November 19, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F4ABF4A779CE4613BDBF7A73CC019CAC.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Randall Forsberg, 1988.” 03/03/1988. GBH Archives. Web. November 19, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F4ABF4A779CE4613BDBF7A73CC019CAC>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Visions of War and Peace; Interview with Randall Forsberg, 1988. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F4ABF4A779CE4613BDBF7A73CC019CAC