M.A.D.: Mutual Assured Destruction (Modern Plays)

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a b c Jervis, Robert (2002). "Mutual Assured Destruction". Foreign Policy (133): 40–42. doi: 10.2307/3183553. ISSN 0015-7228. JSTOR 3183553. Finch, James P.; Steene, Shawn (2011). "Finding Space in Deterrence: Toward a General Framework for "Space Deterrence" ". Strategic Studies Quarterly. 5 (4): 10–17. ISSN 1936-1815. JSTOR 26270535. Although no one has tested the concept of mutual assured destruction by nuclear weapons, it seems to have prevented war between superpowers since nuclear weapons were invented in the 1940s. But it also led to periods of the Cold War when both the U.S. and the Soviet Union spent huge amounts of money to develop nuclear weapons and the methods to use them. a b c Burr, William; Savranskaya, Svetlana, eds. (September 11, 2009). "Previously Classified Interviews with Former Soviet Officials Reveal U.S. Strategic Intelligence Failure Over Decades". Washington, DC . Retrieved April 21, 2013. Animorphs: Crayak and Ellimist, two Sufficiently Advanced Aliens who would likely destroy the entire universe and themselves along with it if they ever fought openly. This forces them to engage in Proxy Wars with such groups as the Yeerks and the Animorphs.

America’s most powerful nuclear bomb in service, the B83, also boasts just a 1.2 megaton yield, and even the most powerful nuclear weapon in American history, the 9 megaton B53, rings in at less than 1/5 the yield of the mighty Sarmat.

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Proud Prophet was a series of war games played out by various American military officials. The simulation revealed MAD made the use of nuclear weapons virtually impossible without total nuclear annihilation, regardless of how nuclear weapons were implemented in war plans. These results essentially ruled out the possibility of a limited nuclear strike, as every time this was attempted, it resulted in a complete expenditure of nuclear weapons by both the United States and USSR. Proud Prophet marked a shift in American strategy; following Proud Prophet, American rhetoric of strategies that involved the use of nuclear weapons dissipated and American war plans were changed to emphasize the use of conventional forces. [37] TTAPS Study [ edit ] This is where mutually assured destruction comes in. Since multiple nations have nuclear bombs they could deploy, any one country deploying them would result in the destruction of nations and a majority of humanity. Knowing that worldwide, humanity would suffer from the deployment of a nuclear bomb forces each nation with nuclear bombs into a stalemate. The fear of retaliation inhibits action. Reverting to the childlike tendency of ‘I won’t if you won’t’, the development of mutually assured destruction as a result of nuclear bombs is actually a method of peacekeeping.1 It is a rational response to the knowledge that acting would lead to one’s own destruction.

MIRVed land-based ICBMs are generally considered suitable for a first strike (inherently counterforce) or a counterforce second strike, due to: The classic prisoner’s dilemma narrative is about two individuals who have been arrested and are being interrogated about a bank robbery. The authorities have only these two individuals as witnesses and will only be able to prove a case if one of them betrays the other and testifies as an accomplice. If both remain silent, the authorities will only be able to convict each of them on a charge of loitering (one year in jail each). If only one testifies, and the other stays silent, the one who testifies will go free while the other one will receive a three-year jail sentence. If both testify, each will receive a two-year sentence. 10

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Find sources: "Mutual assured destruction"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( March 2008) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Investopedia. (2021, January 1). Prisoner’s Dilemma. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/prisoners-dilemma.asp

As Green’s theory would expect, however, American policymakers correctly believed that they inhabited a far more competitive world. In their view, too much uncertainty surrounded the requirements of nuclear deterrence, including the survivability of nuclear forces. They could also not know with enough certainty if the Soviets agreed about the virtues of MAD. The costs of war would be very high if they were wrong. Toning Up the Nuclear Triad". Time. 1985-09-23. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008 . Retrieved 2010-10-08.

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No fallout shelter networks of sufficient capacity to protect large segments of the population and/or industry. HSIN, HONOR (2003). "Episode II: US Ballistic Missile Defense". Harvard International Review. 25 (3): 15–16. ISSN 0739-1854. JSTOR 43648994. McNamara estimated that a nuclear strike force with the equivalent explosive power of 400 megatons of TNT — a "few hundred" missiles, as some military planners said — was needed to ensure an effective nuclear deterrence, according to the Brookings Institution.

This ultimately is what ends the forty-plus-year-long war between the Republic of Cinnabar and the Alliance of Free Stars in David Drake's RCN series: Both nations were on the verge of total economic collapse and continuing the war would likely take the rest of human space with them due to their importance in the galactic economy. Although mutually assured destruction is likely only a term familiar to military strategists, the phenomenon has important implications for regular people’s lives. Most simply, it helps keep us alive. Unfortunately, nations don’t seem to trust one another enough to live peacefully without the threat of weapons, which makes mutually assured destruction necessary. It is a unique brand of trust based on knowing the other nation will not do anything because they too will suffer in the end. When disagreements occur between political leaders, nuclear deterrence means that hopefully, no nation will choose to unleash the devastation weapon. Chen, J. (2020, February 3). Nash Equilibrium. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nash-equilibrium.asp

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Note that meteor drops can be stopped (either by shutting off/destroying the thrusters or by destroying the ship before it can tow in any asteroids), particularly if the defender has total space superiority. It's simply disproportionately difficult to do so unless the disparity in forces in capabilities is truly massive. In Mass Effect 3, Garrus casually suggests dropping a few planet-killing meteors on Geth-held Rannoch, and no one treats this suggestion as impossible even though the Geth held space superiority at the time and were winning the space battle against the Quarians. The only problem is that the Quarians spent the last three centuries trying to reclaim Rannoch as their homeworld, and nuking it with meteors would destroy any hope of making it habitable again. Britain managed to work out its arms race with France and Russia with two separate treaties. But Germany had also drastically increased its military budget and might, building a large navy to contest Britain’s naval dominance in hopes of becoming a world power.