Nuclear War

 ON THE BEACH was a movie that was first released in 1959 at the peak of the COLD WAR.  In 2020, there was a remake of the classic movie, but the plot and conclusion did not change much except to give it a more modern twist.

The movie was about the aftermath of a nuclear war where all of humanity, animals, and plants died as a result of nuclear radiation.  The last place where radiation death occurred was in Australia.  They were able to survive about 60-90 days longer.

The global cold war was a field day for spies on both sides but mainly between Russia and the USA.  While the spies played around with stealing secrets and creating double agents, the military was busy building nuclear weapons.  The race to build nuclear weapons was predicated upon the idea of MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction.

In other words, there were no wars of any consequence because each side had enough nuclear bombs and missiles to destroy the world.  Of course, this idea of MAD has changed a little based upon three concepts.

First - more and more countries are developing nuclear weapons, and these countries are far from stable and would just as soon as destroy the entire world than to keep the other side from winning.

Second - there is the belief that humans can survive a nuclear war if they do so underground.  However, it would be hundreds of years before mankind would be able to revisit the surface.

Third - some countries like the USA, Russia, and China, believe that we can postpone the development of a nuclear war long enough to build colonies on Mars or some other planet.

NOTE:  this third concept is enhanced humanoid robots with AI that will serve as flight crews of the spaceships, and builders of the colonies.