The committee’s views were succinctly expressed in an essay by Richard Pipes, a history professor at Harvard and one of the group’s founders: “Why the Soviet Union Thinks It Could Fight and Win a Nuclear War.” The Soviets were violent, deceitful, authoritarian, and cunning, Pipes argued, and they’d already shown a willingness to commit mass murder on behalf of communism. The downfall of the United States now seemed within their grasp and would be pursued, regardless of the cost.
