A 24 part documentary series which examines the Cold War and its influence on history, culture, technology, economics, and the modern psyche. Episode 10: Cuba. Khruschev decides, with Castro's agreement, to install short- and medium-range missiles in Cuba, only 90 miles from the U.S. The United States detects the missile sites and blockades the island. The superpowers confront each other; but rather than embark on nuclear war, they each step back. Episode 11: Vietnam has been divided since the end of French colonial rule. The North is run by communists, the South by anti-communists. Ignoring warnings against involvement in a nationalist struggle, the United States commits its armed forces. American protests against the war mount as the U.S. begins to realize this is not a war it can win. Episode 12: MAD. Throughout the 60s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union are locked in a nuclear stand-off; each realizes that bombing the enemy could provoke retaliation and self-destruction. Nuclear strategy evolves into Mutual Assured Destruction, or MAD, in which both sides are guaranteed certain annihilation in the event of nuclear war.
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