4 ms·
I think MAD was an effective strategy when you had one and only one sure adversary. Only one other country that was willing and able to come at you with nukes.
by seer 7y ago
I think MAD was an effective strategy when you had one and only one sure adversary. Only one other country that was willing and able to come at you with nukes.
Today’s world - say someone nuked Moscow - who would the russian nukes be set to fire on? USA, China, Germany? If it was a single nuke it most probably is from a terrorist / under cover organization from one of the smaller nations Russia has wronged in the past who had gotten their hands on a nuke somehow. And Russia’s calculus is relatively simple. Who has the USA wronged recently? Quite a lot of players outside of China, Russia, Europe would like to see USA’s demise. So who should the USA retaliate on?
I highly doubt that a MAD doctrine is still in effect. That’s why nuclear subs are such an attractive weapon - you can wait and see who your enemy is, and then glass the bastards days / months later.
- true_religion 7y agoWe know thanks to 9/11 that if the US is attacked it will retaliate against it's historic regional enemies without bothering you wait for confirmation or proof. I bet if the US were nuked they would say it was Iran and North Korea working in sync and try to find confirmation in the ruins of a devastating counter strike.
- perl4ever 7y agoPerhaps, so in that case, why would you expect the world to be blown to pieces?
- loopz 7y agoThe world IS being blown to pieces: Libya, Syria, etc. Of course, there are regional reasons for this, multiple reasons that sadly never seem able to coexist with other people or tackle global challenges.
- true_religion 7y agoI never said that. Maybe someone else in the thread did though.
- perl4ever 7y agoI didn't say you said that, I prompted you for whether you agree with the statement.
- csallen 7y agoA bomb unexpectedly exploding in a major city is only one of many possibly nuclear scenarios. What happens if, say, the US or Russia detect what they think is an incoming attack and have the time to respond before it hits?