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Chapter one is 1949 to 1991, when the Soviet Union broke up,
第一個時期從1949年到1991年蘇聯解體
and what we were dealing with, at that point and through those years, was a superpowers' nuclear arms race.
我們要關注的是在這些年間有一場超級大國之間的核軍備競賽
It was characterized by a nation-versus-nation, very fragile standoff.
這場核軍備競賽最主要的特點就是，國家之間的對立導致核戰爭一觸即發
And basically, we lived for all those years, and some might argue that we still do,
基本上可以毫不夸張地說，我們那些年，有些人認為直至今日情況仍然是
in a situation of being on the brink, literally, of an apocalyptic, planetary calamity.
就像走在世界末日的懸崖邊，
It's incredible that we actually lived through all that.
我們能活到現在簡直是難以置信
We were totally dependent during those years on this amazing acronym, which is MAD.
這些年我們（之所以能活下來）完全是依賴于這個神奇的叫做MAD的東西
It stands for mutually assured destruction.
它是“確保相互毀滅”的縮寫
So it meant if you attacked us, we would attack you virtually simultaneously,
它的意思是，如果...如果你襲擊我，我也會襲擊你，雙方幾乎同時發動襲擊
and the end result would be a destruction of your country and mine.
這樣做的結果就是你我兩國同時被摧毀
So the threat of my own destruction kept me from launching a nuclear attack on you. That's the way we lived.
因此由于擔心我自己被毀滅，我不會發射（核武器）來對你進行核打擊。這就是我們為什么能活下來
And the danger of that, of course, is that a misreading of a radar screen could actually cause a counter-launch,
不過這么做的危險就是，雷達的一次誤報就可能引發一次反擊
even though the first country had not actually launched anything.
即使另一個國家事實上根本沒有發射任何東西
During this chapter one,
在這個時期
there was a high level of public awareness about the potential of nuclear catastrophe,
民眾很清楚地意識到確實可能發生潛在的核災難
and an indelible image was implanted in our collective minds
一個難以抹掉的畫面出現在每個人的腦海中
that, in fact, a nuclear holocaust would be absolutely globally destructive
那就是一次核災難將帶來全球性的毀滅
and could, in some ways, mean the end of civilization as we know it.
而且，從某個角度來說，這也意味著人類文明將走到盡頭
So this was chapter one.
這就是第一個時期
Now the odd thing is that even though we knew that there would be that kind of civilization obliteration,
不過奇怪的是，即使我們知道可能會發生這種文明滅絕
we engaged in America in a series -- and in fact, in the Soviet Union -- in a series of response planning.
我們美國人正忙于一系列--事實上蘇聯也一樣--一系列應對措施
It was absolutely incredible.
這簡直讓人難以置信
So premise one is we'd be destroying the world, and then premise two is, why don't we get prepared for it?
一方面是我們隨時都可能毀滅世界，另一方面我們卻在考慮如何為此做好準備？
So what we offered ourselves was a collection of things.
所以，我們提出了一堆方案。
I'm just going to go skim through a few things, just to jog your memories.
我將只回顧其中的幾個，只是為了喚起你們的回憶
If you're born after 1950, this is just -- consider this entertainment, otherwise it's memory lane.
如果你是1950年之后出生的，你可以把這些當作娛樂，或者是懷舊
