• In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Manufacturing of a Cold War by Cynthia Chung

  • Oct 2 2024
  • Length: 11 mins
  • Podcast

In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Manufacturing of a Cold War by Cynthia Chung

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  • Summary

  • This Substack article argues that American Cold War nuclear strategy was not a rational response to Soviet aggression, but rather a self-fulfilling prophecy based on faulty assumptions and a distorted understanding of history. The author, Cynthia Chung, critiques the “systems analysis” approach of the RAND Corporation, a research group established after World War Two. She argues that RAND's reliance on mathematical models and “rational choice theory” led to a dangerous escalation of Cold War tensions, culminating in a near-nuclear war. The author further argues that RAND's embrace of this flawed approach was driven by a deep-seated American paranoia, fueled by the traumatic experience of Pearl Harbour, and a desire to maintain American global dominance. Ultimately, the article posits that the United States' obsession with "winning" at all costs, rather than engaging in genuine diplomacy, created a Cold War that threatened the world with nuclear annihilation.

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