Moving away from MAD

Treaties governing nuclear-arms reduction and missile defences are languish ing for political and more fundamental strategic reasons. START and the ABM Treaty reflect the logic of Mutual Assured Destruction, or MAD, the centra l organising principle of strategic-arms control during the Cold War. MAD's two basic tenets, as practised by the United States and the Soviet Union, were nuclear overkill and vulnerability to missile attack. Now that the Col d War is over, these tenets no longer command widespread public or congress ional support in the United States. A sustainable and bipartisan basis for future US policies geared toward the reduction of nuclear dangers must be b uilt on different ground. While nuclear deterrence will remain important in the twenty-first century, Cold War conceptions of MAD can no longer guide future US decisions regarding nuclear weapons and missile defences. The tim e has come to replace MAD with a new principle, one that embodies a coopera tive approach to reducing nuclear threats.