Dr. Strangelove is known for its satirical take on Cold War age fears of nuclear warfare, and is consistently ranked on lists of top comedies. However, beyond its comedic and historical value, Dr. Strangelove speaks to human error in negotiation and how multiple parties use unreasonable tactics to achieve their goals.

The Soviet Union’s doomsday device is a classic example of bringing forward an undesirable end. Instead of focusing on the Soviet Union’s own interests, the initiative behind the doomsday device focuses on retaliation. Instead of peace, the U.S and the Soviet Union are shown to focus on increasing levels of aggression, undermining each party’s wishes and exacerbating the issue. Sometimes, seeking to avoid an undesirable outcome brings about that very outcome.

Warfare causes groups of people to view each other as separate and non-human, leading them to discard any possibility of similarity, understanding, and reconciliation. Ripper embodies this notion through his belief that the Soviets are polluting the precious bodily fluids of Americans. This kind of dehumanization and separation of the self and other has been witnessed across the pages of history in genocide, imperialism, and racial tension. It is only by working together and understanding each other that numerous goals can be achieved together.