Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) is a military strategy in which two opposing sides deter each other from waging nuclear war by threatening the total destruction of both nations. MAD is based on the concept of mutually-assured-deterrence that was developed during the Cold War. It requires one side to convince their adversary that should they launch a nuclear attack, the adversary will respond in kind, leading to a state of mutually assured destruction. Such a strategy relies heavily on deterrence by establishing a credible threat of retaliatory action. As a result, it makes nuclear war the least attractive option due to the foreseeable risk of estimated losses across both nations.

See also: arms race, nuclear weapon, dystopia, superstructure