ABSTRACT
Later, officials and military experts from both superpowers informally accepted the strategic doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), which meant that living under the sword of Damocles (threat of nuclear war) was acceptable to both countries as long as both were deterred (i.e., prevented) from initiating a nuclear war.2 After the Vietnam War, they reached agreements that included limits on the number of weapons in their strategic nuclear arsenals, which helped to further stabilize their political relationship.
