As a guest host of Book TV's “After Words,” Lynn Davis spoke to Eric Schlosser about his latest book, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. Using recently declassified documents, Schlosser provides detailed accounts of accidents and near-misses that have occurred in the handling of nuclear weapons. He describes the efforts by American scientists, policymakers, and the military to secure nuclear weapons from theft and unintentional detonation.
Schlosser is an investigative journalist and author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness.
Lynn Davis, a senior political scientist and the director of RAND's Washington office, served as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs from 1993 to 1997.
The After Words episode will air again on C-SPAN2 on Sunday, October 6, at 11 a.m. Eastern. A podcast may become available online at booktv.org.
View the Video on booktv.orgRAND Reports Cited in Command and Control
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Striking First: Preemptive and Preventive Attack in U.S. National Security Policy 2006
RAND Project AIR FORCE studied the post-9/11 U.S. policy shift toward preemptive and preventive attack. It found that military planners should not expect preparing for such operations to be a key driver for change in U.S. military capabilities.
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The Postattack Population of the United States 1966
An analysis of the demographic consequences of a nuclear attack on the United States in terms of size of the postattack population; its rate of growth in subsequent decades; its composition by age, sex, and color; and postattack patterns ...
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The Aftermath of a Single Nuclear Detonation by Accident or Sabotage: Some Problems Affecting US Policy, Military Reactions, and Public Information 1959
Describes what might be the political, military, and policy consequences if a single nuclear weapon were detonated either by accident or by an enemy in a way that simulates an accident that could be blamed on the United States.
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On the Risk of an Accidental or Unauthorized Nuclear Detonation 1958
This "Abridged" version of RM-2251, which addresses the subject of the risk of accidental or unauthorized nuclear detonation, was first published in 1958. The portions that were not eligible for declassification were excised.
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Selection and Use of Strategic Air Bases 1954
An examination of the critical factors in strategic-base selection and an application of this analysis to the basing of the 1956-1961 bombing force.
