Fail Safe is a movie about a dystopia of the Cold War period between the US and USSR. Unlike the Cold War period in history, in the movie, as a result of a computer error, the US’s nuclear attack on Moscow cannot be canceled. The President then offers to bombard New York to compensate for the damage. At the end of the movie, two important cities in the world were destroyed and all people including civilians died just because of an error.

The movie emphasizes the danger of nuclear weapons and it shows how nuclear weapons can change the character of war and security. There are some advantages of having nuclear weapons, however; disadvantages are more than its advantages. Advantages of having nuclear weapons can deter other states or being a security threat in the perception of other states. On the contrary; because of misinformation or irrational decisions, nuclear weapons can destroy a country easily and kill many people for no reason and this is the most important disadvantage.

Both in the movie and the history, because of using deterrence to ensure their survival, both the US and USSR did not trust each other. The realist quote “You have only yourself to trust.” Perfectly explains both US’s and USSR’s attitude.  An example of this from Fail-Safe is the scene when the US’s minister called the minister of USSR, the USSR did not believe that it was a computer error. USSR thought that this is a trick rather than a real threat. In addition; nuclear weapons negatively affect international security. No one is trusting each other and they would not trust. Yet; it is a realist perspective, “trust no one” was and will be the common feature of war. Since two sides do not trust each other, they perceive themselves as a constant threat and this could not bring peace. The last scene of the movie also shows that there would not be any peace in the international realm with the usage of nuclear weapons.

Whether nuclear deterrence can work or fail, it is clearly seen that, in the movie, nuclear deterrence can fail easily. It can fail apart from leaders, only with a computer error.

Since the technology improves day by day, a war between current great powers is still possible with its worse version. Because, many countries today, not only have nuclear weapons, but also have chemical and biologic weapons. As Waltz said, “There is always a constant potentiality of war.” There was during the Cold War years and there will be in the future.

Sagan has a pessimism about the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He claims that having a more nuclear weapon is worse because deterrence does not always work. He claims that nuclear states are needed to be check and restrain their capabilities. Old nuclear states have been checked and restrained by NPT and the international system, however; there is nothing to check or restrain new nuclear states, failed states and non-state actors he further claims. Since there is nothing to control and limit them, new nuclear states failed states and non-state actors are the major problems now because they can act aggressively, thus; they might tend to use their nuclear weapons. Also; these states and actors can make irrational choices when they are under stress or just because of misinformation. Sagan emphasizes that states are rational but not all of them are, that is why something is needed to check and restrain them. In addition to this emphasis; miscalculation of cost and benefit is also quite possible since they are not fully rational. Even if they are rational, only an error in the system can cause a disaster. Moreover; Sagan claims that nuclear weapons bring more instability because the peace which is established by nuclear deterrence is based on fear and this is not a good way of keeping and sustaining peace. This may cause a security dilemma again and again. It is seen in the Failed Safe that more nuclear did not bring peace. It only brings chaos and fear.

In international law and order, nuclear weapons can only be limited under an international agreement or a treaty. As earlier mentioned while talking about Sagan; in order to limit nuclear proliferation, in 1968, the US, Russia, UK, France, and China signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The treaty was about states nuclear capabilities and their rate of usage. It was an elimination and giving up from their nuclear weapons attempt. However; it cannot bring peace because it is not universal. Since there are some important nuclear states, such as India, Israel, North Korea (withdrew) and Pakistan, did not sign the treaty, the NPT cannot be successful and cannot bring peace. In addition, the states can also use or keep nuclear weapons secretly when it is seen to be needed. Moreover; there are some critiques about NPT that it is a weak provision of enforcement.

To conclude; Failed Safe is a movie about the Cold War period. It shows the danger of nuclear weapons and how nuclear weapons can change the character of war and security. It supports Sagan’s ideas about proliferation, thus; it has a pessimist perspective about the proliferation of nuclear weapons.