The Strategist: The Life and Times of Thomas Schelling - Hardcover

Didge, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1884186378 ISBN 13: 9781884186370

Publisher: Hollis Pub Co, 2006

Synopsis

It is strange that a book could carry endorsement from both Robert McNamara and Daniel Ellsberg, perhaps even more so when a prime minister is added to the mix. What could bring such a combination together is a man with a ready smile and a twinkle in his eye who had lived a life unknown to the general public until his profound yet quiet influence was recognized as he was awarded a Nobel Prize for Economics in 2005. Thomas C. Schelling had liked solving puzzles from his early days and that joy of solving puzzles would lead him to study economics, as the Great Depression had offered the most difficult of all puzzles, then to nuclear strategy when the puzzle became survival in the Cold War. This is his story.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Dodge was born and raised in North Dakota, where he attended college at North Dakota State University. In his senior year he was awarded one of the 20 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Post-Graduate Scholarships given nationwide that spring for scholar-athletes. After a period of military service he became a history teacher, and has remained in education for the past thirty-six years, ten in North Dakota, four in London, and the remainder in Singapore. Along the way he earned a master’s degree in education, and took time off from teaching to attend Harvard, earning a Master of Public Administration degree at the Kennedy School of Government. It was there that he met Tom Schelling.

From the Inside Flap:

On October 10, 2005, the Nobel Prize Committee announced that Thomas C. Schelling had won the Prize for Economics “. . . for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis.” It was an announcement many had long expected.Though little known to the general public, Schelling’s influence on the post–World War II world has been considerable. Notable in many areas, Schelling’s name continues to be associated most frequently with the Cold War and nuclear strategy.Deterrence, the “hotline,” Kennedy’s stance during the brinkmanship of the Berlin Crisis, and Mutually Assured Destruction are examples of his role in the world’s most dangerous era. Schelling emerged on the scene soon after the Cold War began, as he was off to Europe with the Marshall Plan, and his influence continued into the 1970s, contributing to the SALT I and ABM arms negotiation breakthroughs.It was with the think tank RAND that Schelling began to transform into a Cold Warrior, and where he adopted the game-theory analysis he would use as part of his strategic thinking. Always the rationalist, he sought to reduce situations to puzzles that could be solved and used metaphors to explain key elements, so those who made decisions would do so with understanding. He was remarkably successful, but the margin for error was small, and there were times when it was perilously close.Until now, his story, that of a strategic thinker behind the scenes during the major events of the turbulent Cold War, was a missing part of the drama.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hollis Pub Co
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1884186378
• ISBN 13: 9781884186370
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 260