Word: ellsbergs
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Such was the opinion voiced last night by Daniel Ellsberg '52, Junior Fellow, in his fourth Lowell Lecture on Power Economics. If the United States takes part in a summit conference this summer, Ellsberg maintained, it will be in response to Russian threats "to test our ability to retaliate with less than suicidal punishments...
While pointing out that there are important differences between Berlin and Munich, Ellsberg reminded his audience that the final decision to abandon Czechoslovakia to the Nazis hinged on Hitler's determination to make good his threats to start World War II and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's reluctance to fulfill Allied treaties...
...Ellsberg, analyzing the delicate components of deterrance in the third of his series of Lowell lectures, compared the present world balance of power to a game in which the opponents have only two alternatives--wait, or strike with nuclear weapons...
Though it has been "almost universally assumed" that a decision to launch a nuclear war would be thought "mutual suicided" by either side, Ellsberg asserted, the advantages of a devastating surprise attack on vulnerable U.S. bases, combined with the fear of being liquidated first, would make Russia unwilling to hold back its forces...
European missile bases, "subject to attack by large numbers of accurate Russian IRBM's," Ellsberg said, would disappear in the unexpected aggression...