Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) is a strategic concept where two or more opposing sides possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other completely. This balance of destructive power discourages any side from launching an attack, because they know they would face devastating retaliation. The idea promotes a tense stability, discouraging war through the threat that no one would win because everyone risks total destruction. Essentially, MAD relies on the principle that mutual vulnerability prevents conflict, maintaining a fragile peace through the fear of mutual annihilation.