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Note: This game, while based in fact, involves a measure of speculation.
The advisers are fictional.
You are U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. It is 1964, and the Soviet Union has begun deploying an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system to protect the country and its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). This threatens to destabilize the nuclear balance: If Soviet ABMs can successfully intercept U.S. ICBMs in flight, before they reach their targets, Moscow would theoretically have a nuclear advantage in any future Cold War crisis. To counter this threat and restore the nuclear balance, you have three main options. First, the United States could build its own ABM system. But this would be costly and take time; the system is still in development. A second option would be to deploy newly developed Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs) -- which can launch several warheads from a single missile. This could potentially overwhelm the Soviet ABM system; however, it is an offensive system that would leave your ICBMs without an ABM defense. A final option would be to try convincing the Soviets, through negotiations, to abandon their ABM deployment. Which strategy do you choose?
Defense analyst
Joint Chiefs
Congressional Adviser
Click on an adviser for guidance.
ABMs
MIRVs
NEGOTIATIONS
