The Delicate Balance of Terror

1959/01/01 by Albert Wohlstetter · 395 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · #Balance (ability) #Development economics #Economics #Political economy #Political science #Psychology #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life #Space exploration and regulation

paper · doi:10.2307/20029345

published in Foreign Affairs 37(2), 211 (Council on Foreign Relations)

openalex publication_date 1959/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

The first shock administered by the Soviet launching of Sputnik has almost dissipated. The flurry of statements and investigations and improvised responses has died down, leaving a small residue: a slight increase in the schedule of bomber and ballistic missile production, with a resulting small increment in our defense expenditures for the current fiscal year; a considerable enthusiasm for space travel; and some stirrings of interest in the teaching of mathematics and physics in the secondary schools. Western defense policy has almost returned to the level of activity and the emphasis suited to the basic assumptions which were controlling before sputnik.

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