Nukes in 1983 - what does the world look like in 2011?

We came very close to a nuclear war in 1983 because of a Russian computer glitch that was narrowly avoided largely thanks to one man. Suppose he's sick that day and we get nuclear war in late September 1983? What does the world look like in September 2011?
 

Clipper747

Banned
It seems to have forgotten that NATO had conventional military superiority in Europe in 1988; Soviets 200 km inside West Germany, my ass.

Also, the Pakistanis didn't have nuclear weapons in 1988, either. There are probably other things to point out, but bedtime.



No but consider those things as "what if". The site does a nice job of outlining a nuclear scenario and it's possible aftermath.
One can sit back and pick apart everything so just take it as a "alternate reality" event.
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/198173.stm


The man is a hero.

He was blamed for the mishap and fired!

He should be surrounded by the very best courtesans that the world has to offer and his feet should never be allowed to touch the ground.




"How's that breathing and walking around outside thing working for you?"

petrov_stanislav_sm.jpg
 
Given the lack or preparation due to the suddenness of the attack the situation is even worse than Protect and Survive, with little food and other resources secured or local control established what's left of governments can only watch as their nations fall into chaos and starvation. By 2011 much of the northern hemisphere will be slightly recovered with the population bottoming out but the old nations will be replaced with new fiefdoms and warlords.
 
A sudden out of the blue nuclear attack is in my opinion rather implausible, since signs would be pickd up beforehand and since the Soviets were not as crazy as some think.

The doomsday scenario on the Wiki is in my opinion a lot of rubbish, since it contradicts itself many times and simply does not make sense upon closer inspection or scrutiny.

I have said a few times what I believe the Protect and Survive world of 2011 will look like. It will be very grim and very poor that's for sure, but it won't end per se and as long as command and control survive to an extent, nations should be able to survive and not fall apart. Once basic infrastructure has been rebuilt to a usable degree, reconstruction and recovery should be rather fast in my opinions in countries were control and command still stands. It has been proven time and tile again that mankind is a resilient beast and that country can rise again from the ashes even after having been apparently completely destroyed. It will take longer for this to firmly kick start and happen following a nuclear war, but after five or ten years I firmly believe that it will happen. Living standards will be lower than what they once were for probabbly half a century, but people don't need a television, a car, a game console, or a computer to live and thrive!

The thing is that despite what some say and some like to think. A nuclear war is very much survivable and even dare I say winnable, provided that nations take the appropriate measures and ensure that their fabric bends but does not break post strike.

Now if course I am of the opinion that the best protection against nuclear war is this or worldwide disarmament.
 
This could have happened quite easily if the wrong person had been at the tiller here rather than the gentleman mentioned above.

The Americans would have responded in kind to the Soviet "response."



As noted earlier, the amount of time to prepare will be, at most, a dozen minutes or so, maybe a touch more.

Let's hope enough of the people who thought "Duck and Cover" was a joke remember to actually do so when they see the flash. (iirc, people at Hiroshima and Nagasaki who did similar reported that their reaction made the difference between life and death.)


I'd like to think that there would be enough interest in the surviving populations to report for duty/safety/anything to a legitimate-seeming national government. I don't know how much fun it would be to live under the reign of Baron Joe-Jack Jr. or similar.
 
Why exactly would a "Siberian" state fare so well, given the prime targets in the area and the likelihood of repeated bad winters. Also, why did China fall?:confused:
Some Soviet missiles were targeted at the PRC. Why, because the USSR and PRC did not get along and fought border incidents up to the division level. The USSR would have wanted to make sure the PRC was in no position to take advantage of the war and conquer Siberia
 
We came very close to a nuclear war in 1983 because of a Russian computer glitch that was narrowly avoided largely thanks to one man. Suppose he's sick that day and we get nuclear war in late September 1983? What does the world look like in September 2011?

An ashtray.
 

You know, this part:
Over the next few minutes ten warheads, each between 200 kilotons and 500 kilotons (1,000 kt equals 1 mt) detonate over Bergstrom and in a pattern extending 100 km (60 miles) to the north, west, and east--this in an attempt to destroy the four escaping bombers.

...makes me wonder - is such a practice S.O.P? Would we expect such a thing to be done to ALL bases where planes would be launched to evade a nuclear assault?

And what altitude would these weapons be burst at if the intent is to catch planes in air? 3000m? 5000?

I'm thinking particularly in reference to Land of Flatwater, where Looking Glass and E-4 Airborne Command Post planes would be trying to escape Offutt AFB. The effect such an spread of weaponry would have on a metro area would be horrific.
 

Clipper747

Banned
You know, this part:


...makes me wonder - is such a practice S.O.P? Would we expect such a thing to be done to ALL bases where planes would be launched to evade a nuclear assault?

And what altitude would these weapons be burst at if the intent is to catch planes in air? 3000m? 5000?

I'm thinking particularly in reference to Land of Flatwater, where Looking Glass and E-4 Airborne Command Post planes would be trying to escape Offutt AFB. The effect such an spread of weaponry would have on a metro area would be horrific.



It is. I never knew about that tactic until a few years ago. It makes sense too. Get to know the flight pattern at every airbase and set nukes off accordingly to catch those that have left.
 
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