Essay Questions

Explore the effects of nuclear war as brought out in Daniel Ellsberg’s The Doomsday Machine.

In the work, Ellsberg presents the effects of the nuclear war. The writer says that on top of the radiation as well as the radius of the blast, there are other risks involved, including thermonuclear exchanges. Additionally, the explosion of the nuclear machines might result in the damaging of the ozone layer. In the long run, the results might be catastrophic in the sense that they might lead to climate change.

Daniel Ellsberg highlights some of the effects of bureaucracy. Show how these are brought forth in the work, The Doomsday Machine.

The complexity of the government, as well as its deep layering, is acutely brought out in the work. The effects of this bureaucracy and bureaucratic procedures are said to have the ability to result in unwise geopolitical decisions and even war. The writer cites Eisenhower’s decision to leave the decision-making process to his subordinates as an instance of bureaucracy.

Show how Ellsberg emphasizes the revulsions of a civilian fatality in this work.

In this work, the writer quickly reminds the reader of the effects of nuclear war emphasizing on the fact that in any war, the main thing is not a military advantage but the annihilation and devastation that civilians go through. A bomb can have devastating effects including massive deaths and the thought of using bombs to murder civilians is horrific but a reality of the world.