POLSCI 1G06 Lecture 13: Political Science L13 Cold War and Nukes Part2 Feb24
21 Sep 2016
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Recap from before reading week (l12): cold war and security problems and solutions. >both sides had the power to end civilization as we know it. This is a security strategy utilized by usa and soviets; it is based on a threat. Any invasion directed at the nuclear state or its allies will automatically be responded to with a devastating nuclear retaliation. In essence deterrence makes the cost of military conflict too high for it to be rational. If you threaten to hurt me i"ll annihilate you idea. If this logic is extended to a bi-polar system where both parties have access to nuclear weapons, the net result is that all-out-war of any kind becomes less rather than more likely. Mutually assured destruction (mad) is the only outcome that could result from either side using its weapons against its opponent. The cost of aggression to high to be rational. For mad to work, certain conditions must be met: rationality.
