ABSTRACT

The US, in 1945, was a global economic and military power, and this combination made it possible for the American political leadership to begin dreaming of a new world order which would mirror American values. Russians embraced Marxism with a religious fervour. At long last, they could escape from their economic backwardness and join the mainstream of European and world development. V. Petrov should have passed the information on to higher command which could have set in motion a full scale nuclear alert and possibly war, but he decided not to do so because it struck him as odd that the Americans would launch an attack with only five missiles. Initially, he was praised for his judgement but later reprimanded, and he concluded that the bugs found in the early warning system and false alarms had embarrassed the top brass and scientists.