Abstract
Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) operates as far more than political satire. Examined through the theoretical lenses of classical realism, the security dilemma, and mutually assured destruction (MAD), it reveals itself as a systematic critique of the assumptions underpinning nuclear deterrence. This article argues that the film functions as a 'realist nightmare' a world in which rational deterrence logic is fatally undermined by human irrationality, bureaucratic dysfunction, and the paradoxes of automated destruction. Six decades later, the structural dynamics Kubrick dramatised nuclear rivalry, great-power competition, and technological escalation remain disturbingly contemporary.
Citations
IRE Journals:
Roshni Mehta "A Realist's Nightmare: Enduring Warnings of Dr. Strangelove" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 9 Issue 10 2026 Page 2485-2488 https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I10-1716762
IEEE:
Roshni Mehta
"A Realist's Nightmare: Enduring Warnings of Dr. Strangelove" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 9(10) https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I10-1716762
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