But stand-alone documentary is no longer an important part of public relations campaigns aimed at the general public.' Production 'Propaganda, also known as disinformation, public diplomacy, and strategic communication, continues to be an important tool for governments. Patricia Aufderheide, in Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction touches on the significance of The Atomic Cafe as a window into the past of government propaganda and disinformation during the years following the advent of the Atomic Bomb. nuclear buildup.Д«ob Mielke, in 'Rhetoric and Ideology in the Nuclear Test Documentary' ( Film Quarterly) discusses the release of The Atomic Cafe: 'This satire feature was released at the height of the nuclear freeze movement (which was in turn responding to the Reagan administration's surreal handling of the arms race.)' Posen and Van Evera argue that this counterforce strategy was a warrant for an open-ended U.S. Civil defense was a component of a counterforce strategy, as it reduced Soviet retaliatory capacity, hence civil defense was a candidate for more spending under Reagan's counterforce nuclear strategy. The counterforce mission was far more demanding than the assured destruction mission, and required a vast expansion of U.S. had always invested in counterforce but the Reagan administration put even greater emphasis on it. To this 'assured destruction' mission the Reagan administration added a second 'counterforce' mission, which required the capacity to launch a nuclear first strike against Soviet strategic nuclear forces that would leave the Soviets unable to inflict unacceptable damage on the U.S.

strategic nuclear forces be capable of one mission: inflicting unacceptable damage on the Soviet Union even after absorbing an all-out Soviet surprise attack. proposed the biggest military buildup since the Korean War.' Of key relevance to The Atomic Cafe, the Reagan move toward offense included the adoption of a more aggressive nuclear strategy that required a large U.S. Due to the greater demands of its more offensive strategy 'the Reagan Administration. They argue that in 1981вЂ“82 the Reagan Administration was moving from an essentially defensive grand strategy of containment to a more offensive strategy. Barry Posen and Stephen Van Evera explain this revival in their article 'Defense Policy and the Reagan Administration: Departure from Containment' published in International Security. The Atomic Cafe was also released during the Reagan Administration's forced civil defense revival. The Atomic Cafe reflects and reinforces this idea as it exposes how the atomic bomb's dangers were downplayed and how the government used films to shape public opinion. By 1982, Americans lost much of their faith in their government following the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, and the seemingly never-ending arms race with the Soviet Union. The Atomic Cafe was released at the height of nostalgia and cynicism in America. A quote to illustrate what can be perceived as black humor, culled from the movie: 'Viewed from a safe distance, the atomic bomb is one of the most beautiful sights ever seen by man,' a U.S. Much of the humor derives from the modern audience's reaction to the old training films, such as the Duck and Cover film shown in schools. Though the topic of atomic holocaust is a grave matter, The Atomic Cafe approaches it with black humor.

News footage reflected the prevailing understanding of the media and public.

government-produced films (including military training films), advertisements, television and radio programs. The film covers the beginnings of the era of nuclear warfare, created from a broad range of archival material from the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s including newsreel clips, television news footage, U.S.

Atomic coffee