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Indeed. It's the whole reason to never allow a nuclear conflict to erupt in the first place. And particularly to not get into a scenario where a weak third world type power can threaten the existence of a superpower (because it may topple the MAD premise in the after-consequences; MAD has a rarely discussed psychological requirement involving the people of a nation: acceptable parity exchange, aka great powers with a lot to lose choosing to not destroy each other; ie how does a superpower react to being destroyed by a country like NK? what's left of MAD afterward?).


Yes. People have a very negative view of MAD.

But when you stop and think about it, MAD kept the world safe for 60+ years.

It's a bit paradoxical that the most powerful bomb and the doctorine named after the word "insanity" achieved (relative) world peace.

"Peacemaker" ICBM and "Peace is Our Profession" from Dr Strangelove comes to mind.




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