The main argument made in this film is that of the dangerous Cold War stalemate we were separated from. At the time, around 1945, it was believed that just 10 large nuclear devices would be enough to destroy life on earth,1 a small fraction of the arsenal that countries possessed. This was expressed most clearly in the fictional metaphor of the “Doomsday Device”. Another great piece of satire within the film was the character background of Dr. Strangelove himself. At the time the film was set, it was widely believed that the US government was using past Nazi scientists to further its research during the Cold War. Doctor Strangelove can be seen as a Nazi scientist by his strong German accent and also by the "accidental" shout of "Hail Hitler". Finally, one of the most satirical, but perhaps least obvious, aspects was the secret hierarchy of leadership style in the US military at the height of the Cold War, due to the revamp of The Red Scare2. The prime example of this is that General Ripper was able to order a nuclear attack without asking questions, but he is also the only one who could call off the attack, a power that not even the President had. The second, less obvious example is when the Army division commander arrested the executive officer who didn't know why he needed to do so or anything about the impending nuclear attack. The film alluded to the danger of this leadership style as it caused people to blindly follow directions, even when those directions were wrong. I don't think this is the best movie that represents the feelings of Americans during a critical time in a historical context. Although it shows many hot topics that occurred during that time, you might not grasp them unless you know in advance that it was a popular issue of the