The Brink: President Reagan and the Nuclear War Scare of 1983

1983. Two global powers gripped in a ironically named “Cold War” each waiting for the other to blink. The tension is palpable on the front lines, namely in Germany. The aligned powers of NATO are conducting exercises, code named Able Archer 83, and a lapse in communications brings the US and Soviets to the brink of nuclear war. Level-headed military men on both sides maintain their senses in the crisis and avert global conflagration. The 1980s were the last decade of the Cold War but also the most unstable. The Soviets faced a crisis of leadership as men of brilliance and vigor such as Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko passed on. The Soviets viewed their counterpart, Ronald Reagan, as a war-hawk surrounded by an equally if not more hawkish cabinet and military bent on mutually assured destruction. The rhetoric of Reagan led to fears all around, but Reagan had desires for peace that advisors were able to see. The nuclear apparatus would be put to the test with assassination attempts, war games, and vitriolic sound bites, but diplomacy would lead us out of the darkness.

The Brink re-examines a perilous age in world history. The atmosphere is depicted as electric; any false move could lead to severe consequences. Marc Ambinder has re-told history that can be read as a Tom Clancy thriller. The fact remains that this is all too true. An excellent history.