Scenarios about 'mutually assured destruction'
Mutually assured destruction (MAD) refers to the military doctrine where full-scale use of nuclear weapons by opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and defender. This strategic concept emerged during the Cold War as nuclear arsenals grew, creating a paradoxical stability where the threat of total destruction deterred either superpower from initiating nuclear conflict. MAD fundamentally shaped international relations and military planning for decades, influencing alternate history scenarios exploring what might have happened had this delicate balance failed.
What If Nuclear Proliferation Was More Widespread?
Exploring the alternate timeline where nuclear weapons technology spread to dozens of nations, fundamentally reshaping global security, international relations, and the modern world order.
What If Nuclear Weapons Were Used After World War II?
Exploring the alternate timeline where nuclear weapons were deployed in subsequent conflicts following WWII, fundamentally altering geopolitics, warfare, and humanity's relationship with this devastating technology.
What If The Arms Race Led to Nuclear War?
Exploring the alternate timeline where Cold War tensions escalated to actual nuclear conflict between superpowers, forever altering human civilization's trajectory.
What If The Cold War Turned Hot in The 1960s?
Exploring the alternate timeline where Cold War tensions escalated into direct military confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union, fundamentally altering global history and geopolitics.
What If The Cold War Turned Hot?
Exploring the alternate timeline where the decades-long Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union erupted into direct military conflict, fundamentally altering global geopolitics, society, and the development of the modern world.