Game of Thrones: Dragons are the nuclear option
By Dan Drollette Jr | August 7, 2017
We’re in the midst of a new Game of Thrones season, which seems to be finally reaching a grand finale.
In the latest episode, known as “The Spoils of War,” viewers get a climactic, graphic, explicit view of the power of the heroine’s dragons, which reduce men, women and children to ashes in seconds, destroying homes and fields — much like nuclear weaponry, notes The Atlantic, drawing out the comparison by referring to a 2014 Bulletin article, “Game of Thrones: The dragons and nuclear weapons nexus.”
Our original piece notes that “[o]n the surface, Game of Thrones is merely another cable television series with the requisite battles, backstabbing court intrigue, and scantily clad (or unclad) characters. But it has deeper meanings with a surprising number of lessons about peace and security for real life. Commentators from institutions such as the Fletcher School of Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, and theatlantic.com have written about how this HBO show … helps explain international relations in the real world.”
It also notes the limitations of nuclear weapons: Some terrain is unsuited to their use, and some forms of warfare (such as guerrilla war or acts of terrorism) are likewise not easily resolved by nukes. Nor does the ability to destroy a world mean that you have the power to build a better one.
Publication Name: The Atlantic
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Topics: Nuclear Weapons, Special Topics, What We’re Reading
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Dan Drollette Jr
Dan Drollette Jr is the executive editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He is a science writer/editor and foreign correspondent... Read More
