Historical importance of Joseph Stalin

The Soviet premier is not technically an enemy of the United States during this story, as it takes place during World War II when the Soviet Union was part of the Allied Powers. Stalin’s threat, however, is foreshadowed throughout the story, as he has spies in the facility producing America’s first nuclear weapons, has an unstoppable (and barbarous) military occupying Eastern Europe and invading Manchuria, and desires to use these things to acquire more global dominance. When he appears in the book he frequently hides his ambitions behind mere rudeness – insisting that an ill Roosevelt meet him in Crimea, communicating with simple grunts, barely reacting to news of the first bomb test – but the authors clearly portray him as a threat the U.S. will have to face later, making the development of the first nuclear weapons important not just for dealing with Japan.