Three Minutes to Midnight: Civil Defense in the Late Cold War Period

[摘要] This thesis examines civil defense in the United States under the Nixon, Carter and Reagan administrations. Throughout the late Cold War period civil defense policy planners employed a philosophy of dual-use. The Defense Civil Preparedness Agency (DCPA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) instructed the American public to plan for a nuclear attack as well as natural disasters. Civil defense directors implemented crisis relocation plans for Americans that lived in designated high-risk areas. In an imminent nuclear attack, Americans in high-risk areas would temporarily relocate to host communities in low-risk areas of the county. This study is a blend of both civil defense policy and the reactions to nuclear war through the prism of popular culture in the late Cold War period.

[发布机构] University of Waterloo

[效力级别] United States

[关键词] civil defense;United States;crisis relocation plans;late Cold War period;Defense Civil Preparedness Agency;Federal Emergency Management Agency;nuclear war and popular culture;History