3. Cold Wars and Porous Borders

Examined in this chapter is the rise of instrumental rationality alongside the Cold War. Specifically, I look at the films The Third Man and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and the novel One Lonely Night to examine the attempt to justify actions because of the perceived threat of the other’s evil possibilities. I show how the spies dealt with in this chapter are unable to decipher the intentions of their interlocutor, leading to what will become an ironic postmodern stance toward truth and information. Finally, I address Nicholson Baker’s recent work Baseless, in which he attempts to discover if the United States used biological weapons during the Korean War. Through his rigorous attempts to answer a straightforward question, I show the deep connection between the birth of the National Security State during the Cold War and our contemporary society.