Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

By the 1960s, the ability of both superpowers to inflict devastating nuclear destruction underpinned Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD. Starting a nuclear war would not secure victory if the opponent could survive the first attack and retaliate. Fear of this outcome encouraged caution.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the nuclear arms race between the USA and USSR raised the possibility of Mutually Assured Destruction: each side could inflict catastrophic destruction on the other.