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Old 08-23-2010, 21:50   #33
Sigaba
Area Commander
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Southern California
Posts: 4,482
Quote:
Originally Posted by NosceHostem View Post
Regarding deterrence, the Mutually Assured Destruction which kept nuclear stability/stalemate throughout the Cold War is predicated on the international actors being rational.
IMO, this statement is overly broad. If mutually assured destruction was accepted as the norm, then why did both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. pursue increasingly sophisticated nuclear weapons technology throughout the Cold War but especially during the Reagan administration?

(MOO, America's pursuit of "escalation dominance" across the spectrum of warfare during the Reagan presidency was a clear rejection of "mutually assured destruction.")
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