Mutually Assured Destruction - Research Paper Example

Their own children fought the first man versus man battle with Abel as the first human casualty. From then onwards, from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation, every chapter exposes the wars human beings have had to win. On the other hand, the theory of evolution paints an even more difficult birth for the human kind. It is survival of the fittest. Perhaps the Homo sapiens specie is indeed the fittest because it had survived the tests of time and nature. Sadly though, we did survive millions of years of evolution only to stand at the brink of total annihilation on our own hands.

Apparently, Armageddon would come not through the Beast of the Book of Revelation or through a colliding giant asteroid. Contrary to the prophecies of prophets and filmmakers, the end of days would be brought by the beast of man called nuclear weapon when the interests of the world’s powers collide. Worse, there is no need for a world war three in order for the world to be in chaos. All it needs is a war between two nuclear superpowers and the earth will stand still, or whatever is left of it.

War in this day and age is unthinkable but we need to think about it. War in the twenty first century is simply mad. Well, as a matter of fact, it is MAD. This paper shall look into the theory of war called Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and its role in the World War I, World War II and the Cold War. Moreover, this paper shall explore into the future of weapons and war in light of the technological advancements of our time. The MAD Theory When John F. Kennedy took over the reins on January 20, 1961, he declared in his inaugural address: "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

” Essentially, this was a confirmation that from then onwards, the USSR will never catch up on the mighty USA. The government will do everything in its power and utilize all available resources to ensure that the USA shall remain the world’s guardian of democracy and anyone who chose to disagree and oppose shall feel its power. True to his words, the President brought in Robert McNamara from the business sector to help him pound the competition and ensure its monopoly on world power. And McNamara managed the Department of Defense like he would a multinational company – always with a sharp eye on profit and always calculating the odds with the aid of cost-benefit analysis.

The US developed more products that would be a big hit in the world market (read: weapons that would destroy the world). And the business of war was indeed good. President John F. Kennedy’s Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara introduced the world to the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction otherwise known as simply MAD. In his own words: “Mutual Assured Destruction is the foundation of deterrence… If you want a stable nuclear world… it requires that each side be confident that it can deter the other.

And that requires that there be a balance and the balance is the understanding that if either side initiates the use of nuclear weapons, the other side will respond with sufficient power to inflict unacceptable damage. Mutual Assured Destruction. So Mutual Assured Destruction is the foundation of stable deterrence in a nuclear world. It's not mad, it's logical.” (Interview) Robert McNamara is credited with the doctrine of Mutually Assur