Word: schell
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That is precisely what Schell sets out to do in Chapter II, "The Second Death." Here Schell breaks new ground. Until now, most of those who have thought either occasionally or professionally about the unthinkable have tended to concentrate on the impact that nuclear war might have on a city or a nation. Schell looks beyond that particular horror to an even greater one and ponders the awful finality itself. If the worst comes true, after all, what more is there to think about? But Schell looks beyond the end, as it were, into the void. "Death lies...
...this eloquent chapter, Schell draws on ancient and modern philosophy and theology-from Socrates and the Bible to Karl Jaspers and Alexander Solzhenitsyn-to support the second premise of his book: neither God nor man has yet decided what "the fate of the earth" will be. "Since we have not made a positive decision to exterminate ourselves but instead have chosen to live on the edge of extinction, periodically lunging toward the abyss only to draw back at the last second, our situation is one of uncertainty and nervous insecurity rather than of absolute hopelessness." Man, in short...
...Choice" is the title of the third and final chapter of the book. It is also by far the weakest part. As he must, Schell faces up to the question of how mankind can get out of the terrible dilemma that nuclear weapons represent. His analysis of that dilemma is solid enough. He points out that despite all the fancy refinements in the theory of nuclear deterrence over the years, what it still comes down to is mutual assured destruction; the superpowers are essentially still bound by a suicide pact. "Nuclear deterrence begins by assuming, correctly, that victory is impossible...
...Schell goes much further than simply endorsing a nuclear freeze or urging a return to serious arms control. He regards such remedies as little more than aspirins administered to a patient with a life-threatening illness. In his view, the very existence of nuclear weapons carries with it the unavoidable possibility of their use, which in turn would very probably topple us into the abyss; therefore nuclear weapons represent an absolute evil, an ever present threat of total death embedded in the political life of our planet. Insofar as our traditional ("pre-nuclear") notions of national security and sovereignty depend...
...Dreamlike and fantastic" is how Schell (correctly) dismisses the prospect of a pre-emptive Soviet missile attack on the U.S.'s supposedly vulnerable land forces. Unfortunately, the same is true of his prescription for what ails mankind. If world government is possible, it will almost certainly be a long time coming-much longer than Schell's sense of urgency suggests we have left...