The Prague Project

Most comic book movies end with the superheroes saving the world from imminent destruction. To add realism, X-Men: First Class takes place at the closet the world has come to actually being destroyed – the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The movie is great on its own. But its historical setting raises some under-appreciated points about the actual Cuban Missile Crisis. Joe Cirincione and I wrote a blog at Huffington highlighting the film’s nuclear angle: The X-Men Didn’t Save Us.

In the blog, we write about a terrifying episode form the actual crisis that was unknown to me until just this week:

Vasili Arkhipov: The Man Who Saved the World

There really was a submarine escorting the missile-carrying cargo ships to Cuba. But it was a Soviet sub, not a mutant one. On October 27, US destroyers dropped depth charges on the Soviet submarine, B-59 — unaware that the sub carried a nuclear-tipped torpedo.

Cut off from communications with Moscow and with charges exploding overhead, the exhausted Soviet captain ordered the torpedo readied for launch. “We’re going to blast them now!” he said, “We will die, but we will sink them all.” But firing the torpedo required the 3 top officers to all agree. They voted. It went 2-1with Second Captain Vasili Arkhipov voting against. The order was never given, the sub surfaced and nuclear war was averted.

As this story has been told since 2002, it turns out the world owes a debt of great gratitude to Vasili Arkhipov – in addition to the usual cast of Kennedys and advisors – for averting nuclear war on the world’s most dangerous day.

That’s my lasting takeaway from writing the blog. My lasting takeaway from the movie: Kevin Bacon can afford some really fancy naval reactors.

You can learn more about the Cuban Missile Crisis at GW’s archives.

A couple of days ago I wrote an article for The Huffington Post with Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund, on the nuclear dimension of Egypt’s revolution.  Here is our premise:

As a free Egypt transforms itself, analysts are nervously watching for signs of new nuclear ambitions. Concern revolves around three issues:

• There are unanswered questions about Egypt’s past nuclear activities.
• Egypt has the know-how and networks necessary to ramp up its civilian nuclear power program.
• Egypt plays a central role in the global non-proliferation regime and is key to agreement to rid the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction.

Egypt has a nuclear and conventionally superior neighbor, Israel, with whom it has fought territorial wars. The military is well-respected in Egyptian culture (as evidenced by the smooth transition of power from Mubarak to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces). The state has trained many nuclear scientists and has a long history of nuclear research. And, as a leader of the Arab world, Egypt wants to play a prominent role in world affairs. As [Robert] Einhorn observed, these are some of the tell-tale signs of nuclear ambitions.

For now these are just warning signs. But while doing all it can to help Egyptians satisfy their ambitions for freedom and prosperity, the United States needs to keep clearly in mind that Egypt remains key to the future of the nuclear nonproliferation regime.

Fortunately, the United States has some leverage.  We have contributed around $2 billion annually to Egypt in the form of military and economic aid since 1979.  Moreover, the U.S. and Egyptian militaries have a robust relationship, which has grown ever-stronger since their cooperative deployment during Operation Desert Storm.

To read the full article, click here.

Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund, went in to talk with Stephen Colbert about the treat of nuclear weapons.  He came out accidentally married to Pakistan.

Be sure to see Colbert’s scientifically accurate illustration the effect of a nuclear blast… by pantomime.