Suchergebnisse

THIS REPORT SUGGESTS AND JUSTIFIES A SIMPLE APPROACH TO ARMS COMPETITIONS, WHEREIN ARMS COMPETITIONS ARE VIEWED AS DISAGGREGATED COMPETITIONS BETWEENS PAIRS OF WEAPONS SYSTEMS FOR EXECUTING MUTUALLY INCOMPATIBLE POLICY GOALS. THIS APPROACH IS DERIVED FROM A DECISION THEORETIC MODEL OF ARMAMENT CHOICE, IN WHICH MILITARY DECISION MAKERS MAKE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES OF WEAPONS DEPLOYMENT TO ACHIEVE NATIONAL FOREIGN POLICY OBJECTIVES. DATA REPRESENTING A CROSS SECTION OF THE U.S. AND USSR MILITARY ARSENALS ARE EMPLOYED IN A QUASI FIRST DIFFERENCE TWO-STAGE LEAST SQUARES ANALYSIS TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR THE PROPOSITIONS OF THE MODEL AND THIS APPROACH.

THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS A KIND OF MADNESS OR INSANITY. THE AUTHOR IS ATTEMPTING HERE TO SHOW THAT BEHAVIOR, THINKING, FEELING, AND THE CONDUCT OF RELATIONSHIPS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPETITION CAN BE ANALYZED FORMALLY AS IF THEY WERE LITERALLY MANIFESTATIONS OF A PSYCHOSIS, NOT OF INDIVIDUALS BUT OF GROUPS OR COLLECTIVITIES. MALADAPTATION AT THE NATIONAL, OR EVEN SPECIES, LEVEL APPEARS TO BE THE OVERRIDING C CHARACTERISTIC OF THIS COLLECTIVE MADNESS. THE AUTHOR EXAMINES THE EMOTIONAL ROOTS OF THIS PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR DESTRUCTION HAS CAUSED PARADOXICALLY A DEEPENING OF IDEOLOGICAL DICHOTOMIZATION AND A POLARIZATION OF POSITIONS OF ENMITY BETWEEN THE TWO NUCLEAR SUPERPOWERS WHERE THE COMMON DANGER CALLS FOR A TRANSCENDENCE OF THESE HISTORICALLY ROOTED PRIMITIVE PATTERNS. THE FORMS OF INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE TO CHANGE WHICH CHARACTERIZE AND PERPETUATE THIS DISTURBANCE ARE IDENTIFIED. THE NECESSITY OF GREATER PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE GROUP PATTERNS DESCRIBED IS URGED, AND SOME POSSIBLE INITIATIVES THAT MIGHT LEAD TO OUR EMERGENCE FROM THE NUCLEAR PREDICAMENT ARE SUGGESTED.