The Worlds of Herman Kahn: The Intuitive Science of Thermonuclear War (Hardcover)

by Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi (Author) "Is it too soon to pivot round to peer at the half-century just behind us and contemplate its dreamers, its optimists and crotchets?..." (more)
Key Phrases: weekly summary excerpt, decency crusaders, political gaming, United States, Herman Kahn, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Herman Kahn is perhaps best known (to those who know of him at all) as the model for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. In fact, this physicist turned defense analyst achieved notoriety in the 1950s and '60s by articulating a vision of what a postnuclear-war world might look like, arguing that since it might be possible to survive a nuclear war, it was essential to plan to do just that. Ghamari-Tabrizi is superb at providing, in compelling narrative, the cultural context for Kahn, his work and some of his more outlandish statements. As Ghamari-Tabrizi describes him, Kahn, first at RAND and then at the Hudson Institute (the think tank he founded in 1961), dared to talk about all aspects of nuclear warfare and ways of keeping the nuclear peace, at a time when his approach to such topics was taboo. He was vilified for his beliefs and, as the author so capably demonstrates, he seemed to love every second of it. Ghamari-Tabrizi integrates popular culture, such as the parodies of Tom Lehrer, with the dramatic shift in military culture as civilian defense analysts and game theorists began to increase their influence at the Pentagon at the expense of the more traditional military personnel. Throughout, we are reminded how little the U.S. actually knew about what the Soviets were doing and thinking—and how "uncertainty becomes the wellspring of extravagant threat scenarios." Ghamari-Tabrizi provides a fascinating look at a complex man—at once "visionary" and "quixotic"—who was thinking, as the author says, about the unthinkable. 43 b&w photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)
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From Booklist
Herman Kahn (1922-83) was a cold war original whose notoriously sensational ideas, embodied in his On Thermonuclear War (1960), were later satirized in Dr. Strangelove. Though the inspiration for the movie's namesake character, the real Kahn could not have been less menacing. A rotund, joke--cracking extrovert, the loquacious Kahn reveled in prodding presumptions that nuclear war was too horrible to contemplate. The contrast between Kahn's joviality and his apologia for global genocide is one of the worlds of Kahn that Ghamari-Tabrizi surveys. Others are Kahn's think-tank society of civilian defense intellectuals and their simulations of warfare, and her consideration of Kahn's ruminations about waging and surviving nuclear war "as a style, a mood, and an aesthetic." If it seems strange to treat theories of nuclear warfare as an art form, the fantastical scenarios that Kahn batted around justify Ghamari-Tabrizi's approach. Her exploration of Kahn falls in line with the contemporary fad for demented comedy, and a Ghamari-Tabrizi unbounded by a political-science stricture will attract readership beyond the wonks. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; 1 edition (April 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674017145
• ISBN-13: 978-0674017146
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #727,718 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From The Master of the Possible Future, May 1, 2005

By	Lewis Z. Koch (Evanston, Il USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In today's new age of nuclear terrorism, it is vital that those responsible for security understand how yesterday's "Cold War" thinkers viewed the possibility of nuclear war. The most important of those Cold War thinkers was Herman Kahn.

Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi has written an absolutely brilliant profile of the oversized multifaceted personality of Kahn, a personality so powerful that he brought out the very worst in the military and academia. Kahn authored the ground-breaking work "On Thermonuclear War" (1961) a book which, in exquisitely painful detail theorizes how such a terrible war might be fought, and even "won." It was a book and a thesis which provoked
remarkable response. From the left there was the vituperation of James Newman in the pages of the prestigious magazine Scientific American who could viciously ask, "Is there really a Herman Kahn?" There were plaudits from the left as well, including A. J. Muste, Socialist Norman Thomas and, Betrand Russell. Mostly, alas, brickbats and hate mail from the "liberal establishment," which Kahn considered himself a card carrying member. The right didn't know what to make of him. Kahn loved hanging around (and tormenting) top military brass, and at the same time spend time with Abbie Hoffman and take -- and enjoy LSD. He was World War Three's Lenny Bruce.

Ghamari-Tabrizi has entitled her book "The Worlds..." and added a subtitle which incorporates the idea that developing scenarios for a nuclear war was, at heart, intuitive. She expands this profile of the man, into a full and thoughtful investigation of the scenario, the war "game" based on the role playing war games. War gaming as it is known -- allows the players to imagine how nuclear war would develop, to use simulation to think about how it might be fought, and yes, how it might be won. (And yes, Kahn went so far as to conceive the possibility of a "Doomsday" bomb -- immortalized in Stanley Kubrick's film, "Dr. Strangelove."

Kahn's huge genius lay in his ability to stare directly at and analyze anything, "When [U.S. military] officers objected that Kahn was ill-equipped to speak on military affairs," Ghamari-Tabrizi writes, "he'd shoot back, 'How many thermonuclear wars have you fought recently?' Aside from war games, they admitted, they had no actual experience with these weapons. 'O.K., Kahn would grin, 'Then we start out even.'"

Ghamari-Tabrizi also provides social and psychological contexts in which to evaluate the man and his work.

This book belongs on the book shelf of anyone today worried about nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism, which is to say any sentient adult. The same can be said of the rest of Kahn's work -- most especially "Thinking About the Unthinkable," "On Escalation," "Things to Come," and "The Year 2000" stunning in its insights when you realize it was published in 1967!

I had two occasions to visit the think tank he created, the Hudson Institute, from which he developed all of his work following "On Thermonuclear War" as well as some occasions in which we just met and talked. He delighted in challenging any unthought out shibboleth. One left his company with a headache and a desire to rethink everything you had previously believed.

Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi deserves our heartfelt gratitude for her 387 page work bringing this man, his theories and his personality to life. Herman Kahn has been too long forgotten.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On Thermonuclear Intellect, January 29, 2006

By	Michael Pethybridge (Weston, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A confession from the reviewer, it has been almost 40 years since I sat in a university library and read "On Thermonuclear War" by Herman Kahn cover to cover. A child of the cold war, then 18 years old and contemplating inevitable military service,that book more than anything else, crystalized my perception that nuclear war was probably inevitiable, probably within my lifetime. With fresh recollections of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the incessant coverage of above ground nuclear weapons testing at various sites in the American West and the South Pacific, "On Thermonuclear War" seemed to answer any remaining questions about the probable trajectory of future events.

Despite his role in terrorizing at least the well informed segment of my generation (the "Baby Boomers")and my parents' generation as well, it is entirely feasible that the brutality of his insights and speculations, as well as his brilliance in communicating them, powerfully, perhaps decisively, influenced the conduct of the Cold War. Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi examines the cultural millieu and analyzes the historical context that allowed Herman Kahn, propelled by his thermonuclear intellect, to rise to such influence.

As the author clearly establishes, Herman Kahn was simultaneously hated and revered. "The Worlds of Herman Kahn" fills in the background that is essential to an understanding of one of the giants of strategic thinking in the modern era. It is not a quick read, but it is GREAT stimulation. If you have memories similar to mine, this book will refresh both the good and the frightening. If the date of your birth denied direct experience of those decades, "The Worlds of Herman Kahn" will greatly expand your understanding of the cold war and perhaps contribute to a deeper appreciation of our current psychological predisposition to being "terrorized".

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a cultural history of cold war strategists, July 13, 2008

By	Mark S. Hewitt (Washingon, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi describes herself as an independent scholar living in Champaign Illinois. She earned a doctorate in 1993 from the History of Consciousness Program, University of California at Santa Cruz with a specialization in the social studies of science and technology. Based on biographical material posted on her website, she's covered some ground, academically and geographically speaking. This interesting person has written and interesting and useful book.

The author's website posts a review by Jack Harris of the Times Higher Education Supplement who says Ghamari-Tabrizi's book is "much more readable than either of Kahn's ponderous tomes." But be advised: this is not a book about nuclear strategy. In the most important respects, it's not even a biography of Herman Kahn. If you're looking for the Cliff Notes version of On Thermonuclear War or Thinking about the Unthinkable, don't cheat yourself. Read and appreciate these books for yourself.

The Worlds of Herman Kahn is, instead, a book about cold war culture. In the words of the author, "'we can more sensitively explore the cold war by referring to a shape of feeling. If we foreground the cognitive and emotional palette of these years rather than its pathology, we can enter vitally into its world." For prospective readers, this is a useful passage. It reveals the author's subject, intent, and style. If you're looking for nuclear strategy look elsewhere; if you're looking for a sensitive exploration of the emotional palette of the cold war, you've arrived.

In Eisenhower's farewell address, he averred that, "in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite." To Ghamari-Tabrizi, Kahn exemplified this elite. At the vanguard of Rand's "soldiers of reason," Kahn was in impressive company. Albert Wohlstetter, Andrew Marshall, Henry Rowen, Charles Hitch, John Williams, Edward Barlow, James Digby, Burton Klein and others were, at this time, the prototypical defense intellectuals.

Kahn shared their métier but distinguished himself through the creativity of imagination. The "worlds" of Ghamari-Tabrizi`s title refers to Kahn's extraordinary capacity to summon visions of the future and subject them to a brutal analysis. The author singles Kahn out as the focus of her study because of this unusual talent. She says in an online interview that in reading Kahn's writings, "what really snagged my attention was the intensity of the psychic energy coursing through his book. Here was a man who insisted, repeatedly and loudly, that America must pay attention to the prospect of having to fight, survive, and reconstruct from a nuclear war." Here, Kahn is a stand-in for a generation of civilian and military strategists willing to think openly, creatively, and aggressively about the hellish prospect of such a war.

Ultimately, it's this willingness that fascinates her and is the focus of her book. She works toward an understanding of how these people, whom she describes as comic philosophers of strategy, could think unthinkable thoughts. This is an interesting and useful contribution to cold war history. However, because she offers us an essentially sociological work, she recognizes but neglects the central and most interesting questions for strategists.

Referring to the need to formulate objectives, strategies, and plans for future circumstances that have no basis in human experience (general nuclear war), how can humans dissect its myriad scientific, social, economic, and military aspects? Absent past experience, how can we understand their elements and anticipate the associated future considerations? Given uncertainty, how can we balance cost and risk to create a desirable future? These are questions that Kahn and his colleagues recognized as essential. Ghamari-Tabrizi seems to have little sensitivity for them, less still for the predicament of strategists responsible for national survival under the most onerous of circumstances.

Among the various instruments the defense intellectuals brought to bear against these questions, Kahn's was imagination. I admire Ghamari-Tabrizi's effort to place Kahn's imagination in cold war context. In the end, she has difficulty satisfying herself and her readers that, given the stakes, his application of imagination was, in fact, moral. Was it moral to imagine futures that, while horrific, could be achieved through a disciplined, deliberate effort?

Given uncertainty, how can we balance cost and risk to create a desirable future? Imagination is the most useful available instrument in thinking about the future, whether that future is thinkable or not. For my part, I propose that not only are wide-ranging forays of imagination moral for this purpose, but that neglecting this important resources would be immoral.

A final caution: I found Ghamari-Tabrizi's book in a DC bookstore and picked it up for the airplane ride home, expecting a quick, facile read. I underestimated the author. It's easy to be dismissive of her writing style: the socio-cultural jargon is a bit over the top and the stylistic overburden is at times challenging. However, if you're willing to dig in, this is a thoughtful, thought-provoking book.