Public Forum: Mutually Assured Destruction (PRO)

Declaring “no first use” is no longer radical. Many leading countries have adapted this as their policy regarding nuclear weapons. Having the power to use a nuclear weapon is a huge responsibility and there needs to come a point where a country decides not to be the first one to strike. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) was a theory that surfaced during the Cold War the in the 1960s. The theory is that if one country strikes, another country will strike back and as a result, both countries will be destroyed. The United States should adapt a No First Use policy for its nuclear weapons so that it can avoid being destroyed. As of right now the United States has a Negative Security Assurance policy that agrees not to nuke non-nuclear countries that are members of the NPT [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty]. However, this policy is vague and does not go far enough.