AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
The Prestige Factor in Nuclear Weapons
The United States and the Soviet Union built so many nuclear weapons because they didn't know how many were enough. The idea was always that that would be a way of showing your Soviet spirit, says Peter Bergen. Having a big arsenal makes you a big country and a big powerful nation, which is true enough as long as people don't look too closely at the risks in potentially fermenting a full-scale war.