Kahn, Herman (1922–1983)

Celebrated physicist, mathematician, and nuclear strategist who began his career in the 1940s with the RAND Corporation, where he was hired as a physicist and nuclear strategist. After leaving RAND in 1961, Kahn founded the Hudson Institute, a think tank organization that attempts to forecast long-term trends and short-term solutions for government, business, and nongovernmental organizations. It was while connected with the Hudson Institute that Kahn conducted his most significant research into questions of national security and the future.

Applying such analytic techniques as game theory, systems analysis, and military theory to his research, Kahn produced a series of important essays, including On Thermonuclear War (1961), Thinking About the Unthinkable (1962), On Escalation (1965), The Emerging Japanese Superstate (1970), The Future of the Corporation (1974), The Japanese Challenge (1979), and Thinking About the Unthinkable in the 1980s (1984). His work sparked much attention and controversy. The terms massive retaliation, overkill, and mutually assured destruction (MAD) are conceptual notions linked to Herman Kahn. Unlike conventional scholars and strategists, Kahn asserted that nuclear war was winnable. He reportedly was the model for the title character of the 1960s film Dr. Strangelove.

Kahn died in 1983, leaving behind a legacy as one of the most celebrated intellectuals of his era. President Ronald Reagan said, “Herman Kahn was a futurist who welcomed the future. He brought the lessons of science, history, and humanity to the study of the future and remained confident of humanity's potential for good. All who value independent thinking will mourn the loss of a man whose intellect and enthusiasm embraced so much.”