That is Herman Kahn, pictured. Kahn was an American physicist and a founding member of the Hudson Institute. He is regarded as one of the preeminent futurists of the latter part of the twentieth century. Kahn originally came to prominence as a military strategist and systems theorist while employed at the RAND Corporation. He analyzed the likely consequences of nuclear war and recommended ways to improve survivability, positing the idea of a "winnable" nuclear exchange. I am citing to Wikipedia in describing Kahn's background and bonafides.
What I remember best about Kahn is his book, Thinking About The Unthinkable, which was published in 1962, and which I think I read during my freshman year in college. I never bought into his idea that we could wage and win a nuclear war, and for most of my lifetime, nobody has really taken that idea very seriously, or has suggested that we should think about putting Kahn's theory to a real-world test.
Our current president, though, is now proposing that the United States should start a whole new round of nuclear weapons tests, sending a different signal to the world. The way I read that message, our current president is suggesting that we should be looking backwards, to the days of an all-out nuclear arms race, and he wants us to get going right back in that direction! Our current president, in other words, is once again suggesting that we should be "thinking about the unthinkable." I am still not sold.
Also not sold on this idea, I note, is Sojourners magazine. A recent article by David Cortright and William D. Hartung is suggesting how we should be reacting to what they identify as a resurging nuclear threat. Click the following link to read their article, "People Of Faith Helped Stop Nukes Once; Let's Do It Again."
Really, I am absolutely certain in my own mind that we have a lot better things to think about than how to "Make America Great Again" by ramping up efforts to prepare to fight and win a nuclear war.
If you have a contrary view, maybe the link you need is the one to that book by Herman Kahn!
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