AI Snips
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Reykjavik Nearly Ended Nuclear Arsenals
- Reagan and Gorbachev nearly agreed to eliminate all nuclear weapons at Reykjavik, showing abolition was politically conceivable.
- Political aides and SDI mistrust derailed the deal despite both leaders privately accepting radical cuts.
Why Supermajorities Of Warheads Existed
- The US and USSR massively overbuilt arsenals because they didn't know how many warheads were 'enough' and because prestige and service budgets drove production.
- Military branches and political status amplified weapons accumulation beyond strict deterrence needs.
Nuclear Winter Turns Local War Into Global Catastrophe
- Nuclear winter modeling showed full-scale nuclear war would collapse global agriculture and likely kill a vast majority of humanity.
- The discovery reframed nuclear weapons from national deterrents to an existential global threat.