JSPES, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Summer 2005 )
pp. 131-136

Do We Still Live In A MAD World?

E. Fox and S. Orman

The article examines the difficulty of sustaining security as nuclear warhead capabilities and missile technologies continue to proliferate. The effort to utilize preemption as a means of preventing others achieving a nuclear offensive capability has floundered in Iraq, and an effective missile defense capability is still beyond our capacity. The Free World will have to rely on deterrence, otherwise known as mutual assured destruction (MAD), for several years to come. A problem exists, however, in that the American nuclear warhead industry has been degraded to such an extent that even ensuring the continued functionality of the existing stockpile of nuclear warheads is in doubt. It will be difficult and very expensive to recreate the capability to develop and produce new warheads if such are required.

Key Words: Mutual Assured Destruction; Deterrence; Missile defense; Nuclear warheads; Proliferation; Preemption.