Mutually assured destruction (MAD) is a term often deployed in the discourse of nuclear strategy, referring to a state of strategic balance where one adversary's initiation of a nuclear attack would result in the total annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. This doctrine hinges on the guarantee of reciprocal destruction, thus theoretically deterring any party from launching a first strike, as the retaliatory response would ensure shared devastation. In the broader perspective, it illustrates the precarious equilibrium sustained by the threat of absolute collapse, embodying the tragically paradoxical notion that creating conditions for catastrophic reciprocal injury can be a deterrent to hostile actions. As a result, MAD reflects the perilous reliance on deterrence strategies that eschew constructive conflict resolution in favor of an existential standoff, wherein the brinkmanship exposed may precipitate inadvertent global catastrophe.

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