3 ms·

All things being equal, wouldn't it be better to deal with a technological arms race in ICBM defensive capabilities instead of offensive capabilities?

• somenameforme 4y ago
  Theoretical or practical? Perfect offense is never going to be fundamentally different than what we have today - any countries involved will be irreconcilably reduced to ash. Perfect defense? The reason the world has not had major open war between developed powers since 1945 is not because we've somehow grown enlightened or moved beyond war, it's because of the above. It's the same reason the Cold War isn't called World War 3. Nukes removed any sort of win condition in war. Perfect defense enables the return of win conditions, and the end of peace. That's the theory. But in practice one could reasonably claim that ever more irrational and unwise individuals seem to be making their way into positions of power. And in this scenario, nuclear war will happen. The only question is one of when. And so here obsession on defense, regardless of its cost, would probably be the optimal route. Both views seem quite reasonable to me.