Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety

Since the dawn of the nuclear age, a dilemma has been left unresolved. How can we possess and deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them?

In his book Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, Eric Schlosser casts light on the largely hidden world of America's atomic arsenal, combining the thrilling, unsettling accounts of real-life nuclear accidents and near-misses with the stories of the officers, scientists, and policymakers who have devoted their lives to averting a nuclear holocaust—and in the process raises grave doubts about how much control we actually have.

Even after years of scientific breakthroughs, Schlosser shows, human fallibility and technological complexity still pose risks, with horrific consequences, that have largely eluded national debate.

So the question remains—have we, as Americans, made a mistake when we stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb?

PARTICIPANTS

Eric Schlosser Author, Command and Control

Moderator J. Peter Scoblic Fellow, New America Foundation Executive Editor, Foreign Policy

http://newamerica.net/events/2013/command_and_control

The excellent book discussed herein can be purchased at https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion-ebook/dp/B00C5R7F8G/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=