Oppenheimer’s Lesson for American Leaders Today

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer tells the story of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos led by J. Robert Oppenheimer. The film was released in late July and has quickly captivated the nation, grossing over $400 million worldwide already.

The movie itself is thrillingly informative, and it masterfully tells the story of one of the most monumental scientific achievements in history. But another reason Oppenheimer seems to be resonating with the American public may be that for the first time in decades, the specter of nuclear conflict is once again on the horizon thanks to the failures of the Biden administration.

This threat has been brought to the fore by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As the war enters its 18th month and Vladimir Putin has grown more desperate, America’s leaders, instead of working toward de-escalation, have evinced a disturbing inclination to lob petty insults and needless provocations toward a nuclear-armed Russia.

From Hillary Clinton declaring that “Putin doesn’t have a soul,” to Joe Biden calling Putin a “murderous dictator” and “thug” while shipping controversial weapons to Ukraine, to even Republican politicians like Ron DeSantis calling Russia a “gas station,” it seems clear that most of America’s politicians are more concerned with creating media sound bites than actually resolving the conflict and reducing the risk that the United States and Russia enter direct conflict—something that has seemed alarmingly possible at times over the past year.

Part of the reason diplomacy is so important, even in times of war, is that it has the potential to save civilian lives and reduce the likelihood of nuclear catastrophe.

Referring to the leader of a sovereign nation as a “war criminal,” even if accurate,  implies that he should be hauled before an international body and tried in a world court. While Putin’s actions are undoubtedly heinous, with this threat on the table, successful negotiation becomes all but impossible and the opposing nation—in this case, a nuclear armed nation—will be pushed into a place of increasing desperation, rather than looking for compromise.

But it’s not just nuclear-armed Russia that is on the rise under Joe Biden. Iran has continued to expand its uranium supply and currently has enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons, according to the United Nations. North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear weapons program and is testing out new ICBM technology. And nuclear-armed China is threatening to take Taiwan, which Biden has promised to defend with military force if need be.

These rising international threats draw a sharp contrast to the peace and stability enjoyed by America and the world under the Trump administration. Under President Trump, Russia gained no new territory, making Trump the only president who has held Putin in check.

Meanwhile, nuclear armed North Korea came to the negotiating table, America’s European allies began to seriously contribute to their own military defense, ISIS was swiftly crushed, and the Islamist regime of Iran was kept at bay – in large part thanks to Trump withdrawing from Obama’s disastrous Iran nuclear deal, which Biden is now trying to resurrect. America was respected on the world stage, and of course, President Trump was the first Commander-in-Chief in decades to leave office without starting any new wars.

In light of all this, Oppenheimer does a marvelous job of showing the terrific destruction unleashed by the atomic bomb. The film brings the viewer back in time to the era when Americans lived in genuine fear of nuclear conflict.

Under President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy—which emphasized independence, military strength, and cooperation—the world’s nuclear threats were held at bay, international tensions were lowered, and such a conflict became only a remote possibility.

But thanks in significant part to the hubris and incompetence of the Biden administration, these tensions have only risen among the world’s nuclear superpowers. We are now undergoing a period of great power realignment, and potentially hostile nations are accelerating their nuclear programs at an alarming rate.

In light of this backdrop, it should be no surprise that Oppenheimer has been a hit at the box-office. In addition to being a spectacular film about the great achievements of the past, it focuses our minds on the threats of the future.

Tom Doniphon is the pen name of a former Trump administration official.