Playing with Fire of the Gods & Flying Matchsticks - Nuclear Weapons and the Reckless Cold War Rivalry between the Superpowers

In 1983, American Astronomer & Scientist, Carl Sagan commented, referring to the Cold War, which, as a rehash of the 1960s had once again reached a crescendo in the early 1980s after the failed détente of 1970s, "Imagine a room awash in gasoline, and there are two implacable enemies in that room. One of them has nine thousand matches, the other seven thousand matches. Each of them is concerned about who's ahead, who's stronger."

This is the comprehensive and complete story of Cold War strategic rivalry between the East & West, spanning across Land, Air, Sea and Space realms;and told from the perspective of nuclear & thermonuclear weapons at the core and with strategic delivery systems, geopolitics, diplomacy, economic & psychological warfare and the periodic shifts in nuclear and overall balance of power, at the periphery, through the over 4+ decades-long relentless struggle for dominance & supremacy. Derived from and based on the latest, declassified documents released by the U.S. State Department under the Freedom of Information Act and Russian intelligence sources; the book provides unknown facts and unravels the complete truth behind the high-octane nuclear rivalry between the superpowers which kept the entire world on the edge and almost on the verge of existential threat for over 4+ decades.

The book takes a deep & serious re-look at the reckless Cold War rivalry between the Superpowers, in the light of recently declassified documents, with nuclear weapons at the center of it all and with mankind being held hostage and almost pushed to the edge of extinction, either by miscalculation or by the onset of an accidental nuclear war, amid the raging Cold War tensions, high-octane action, tactical maneuvers and the extensive usage of deception & pure dramatics, including, psychological operations (PSYOPS) between the two sides in a no-holds-barred style strategic competition and war of ideologies.

With a fresh, 3-way Cold War 2.0 nuclear arms race building-up among Russia, China and the United States in the 21st century, amid the uncertainty & anarchy of the current 'Purgatory of Polarity', as the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has put it; it's imperative to revisit the hard-learned lessons from the past and apply them now, before it's too late, in order, to prevent their reoccurrence, especially, as the lurking shadow and existential threat of nuclear weapons still looms large on the horizon for humanity with just one single exception, which is, that the current generation does not fully comprehend it, in terms of risks & stakes involved, and does not have the memory bank of those bone-chilling years of Cold-War with the fate of mankind, having been simply relegated to the 'Hanging Sword of Damocles', with the outcome being just a matter of 'when' rather than 'if'...

Mankind was simply lucky to have survived that 'Hanging Nuclear Sword of Damocles' and the Doomsday scare for over 4+ decades back then but this time around we may not be that lucky and run a serious risk of running out of luck & divine grace simultaneously and of just a few awry, flying matchsticks ending up (God forbid) lighting the apocalyptic fire...

Rajat Narang is the Co-Founder and Partner of a niche Research Firm pivoted on the Global Aerospace & Defense Industry for over a decade now apart from being a serial Author and active Podcaster.

He has authored over 2000+ syndicated research reports (across industries & sectors) and has authored around 8 books on Commercial & Military Aviation and Leadership. The end users of his reports have been senior executives of leading Commercial & Military Aviation OEMs led by Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, Gulfstream, Dassault, Textron Aviation and their supplier base, including, engine OEMs and T1 suppliers such as GE Aviation, Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney, Safran & Spirit Aerosystems. His reports have also been leveraged by the U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin Corporation, BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) on the defense side of A&D.

His educational background includes a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in International Business with Business Strategy as the core pivot followed by a Masters in Political Science with specialization in International Relations.

His podcasts "Birds of Fray: Top Gun Maverick" and "M.S. Dhoni: Leadership Masterclass from the Master of the Craft" are available on most leading global platforms, including, Amazon Music, Spotify and Apple & Google Podcasts and have a substantial following.

Bitten early by the A&D, Strategy & Leadership bugs while growing up, he has been actively following, tracking & pursuing them for almost 2 decades now.