ABSTRACT
United States policymakers and civilian strategists have approached the question of how to protect the United States and its overseas interests with two parallel assumptions. The first is a belief that nuclear weapons, especially the possession of second-strike capability by the two superpowers, have revolutionized strategy in such a way as to bring about mutual vulnerability to total destruction for both sides. The second assumption holds that the best way to deter an attack against one's vital interest is to have a favorable local balance of power and be able to meet the threat on one's own terms at all levels. The two assumptions can be categorized as Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) and Flexible Response, respectively. The chapter focuses on MAD—specifically, in terms of the difficulties it faces in its applications to the Gulf. The existence of a second-strike capability is the necessary condition for deterrence to work.
