THE LOGISTICS OF THE END

The Nuclear Threat Initiative and SIIS are meeting. They are discussing strategic stability and nuclear risks between the United States and China. This is just a way to talk about the end of the world. They are trying to manage the threat of nuclear war. It is the administration of a disaster.

The participants are looking at the mechanics of destruction. They use words like stability to mask the reality of nuclear buildup. There is no way to stop the movement toward conflict. There is only the ritual of talking about it.

The dialogue has several depressing features.

• The formal management of extinction.
• The academic study of accidental death.
• The maintenance of a global standoff.