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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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"As long as there has been war, there have been efforts to deter actions a nation considers threatening. The advent of the nuclear weapon introduced entirely new factors. It was possible, for the first time, to inflict at the beginning of a war the maximum casualties. The doctrine of mutual assured destruction represented this reality. Deterrence based on nuclear weapons, therefore, has three elements: It is importantly psychological, depending on calculations for which there is no historical experience. It is therefore precarious. It is devastating. An unrestrained nuclear exchange between superpowers could destroy civilized life as we know it in days. Mutual assured destruction raises enormous inhibitions against employing the weapons."
This excerpt from commentary by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, Distinguished Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, former U. S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger appeared in Wall Street Journal (online edition), March 7, 2011.
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