Before watching this movie, our GRF Ty spoke to us about Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and how two powers with nuclear weapons can mutually guarantee to destruct each other. We also discussed whether massive retaliation (as advocated by MAD) is more or less effective as a deterrent compared to a flexible and proportionate response.

Dr. Strangelove is a satirical movie about the terror and absurdity of US and USSR policies during the cold war era. It is directed by the famed Stanley Kubrick, and casts Peter Sellers in three different roles (a British Air Force Captain, US President, and Dr. Strangelove). His most humorous role is reserved for Dr. Strangelove, an ex-Nazi scientist who serves the President as scientific advisor. The plot involves an insane US General who initiates a bombing attack on Soviet Union, under Plan R (contingency plan that allows a senior office to launch a strike if all superiors have been killed by a first strike by USSR). As part of the intense discussions between US and Soviet Union in war room, the soviet ambassador informs the President that the soviets have created a doomsday device that is set to detonate automatically should any nuclear attack strike their country. The device cannot be untriggered, and will encircle the earth in a radioactive cloud that will wipe out all life on earth and make it uninhabitable for 93 years. Dr. Strangelove points out that such a deterrent would only work if the other side knows about it, and the soviet ambassador responds that the plan was to announce it to the world in a week. The movie ends with one of the US planes dropping a nuclear bomb on USSR, which in turn triggers the doomsday device.
The movie does a wonderful job of using satire to point out the absurdity of using mutual destruction as a workable deterrent. It shows that any protocol or scenario can lead to potentially unforeseen consequences that can be detrimental to our existence. I both enjoyed the entertainment value of the movie, and also developed a better appreciation of a proportional response as a deterrent compared to MAD (which definiitely has an apropos acronym ;-).