The world of MAD actually looks quite civilised in retrospect, in that it seems to have kept everyone reasonably clear headed. — Brett
The Cuban missile crisis being one example. How would such an event pan out today? — Brett
Did MAD actually work or have we just been lucky? — Brett
The USA already did enact it. The name says it. It was only strategic. It was always a technical impossibility. And it was effective. — ernestm
Well sure, but as you say, and I agree totally, the SDI is not an issue, especially now nuclear bombs can be carried by aircraft-carrier supersonic bombers. — ernestm
In 2018 and early 2019, US strategic bombers engaged in a variety of forward deployments, including B-52s, B-2s, and non-nuclear B-1s to Guam in January 2018 (Lamothe 2018 Lamothe, D. 2018. “In a Rarity, the Air Force Temporarily Deploys Three Kinds of Bombers to the Pacific.” Washington Post, January 16.[
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2018/01/16/in-a-rarity-the-air-force-temporarily-deploys-three-kinds-of-bombers-to-the-pacific/?utm_term=.a55cb3a28f86
In March 2019, the Air Force deployed an unprecedented (in post-Cold War times) six B-52 bombers to the United Kingdom from where they flew missions over Europe from Norway, to the Baltic States, to Romania, to Greece, and to Morocco. Four of the six B-52s were nuclear-capable. The operations included a five-bomber operation over Norway (US Air Force Europe 2019a US Air Force Europe. (“B-52s Operate over Europe.” March 30, https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2002107687/); and a four-bomber mission over the Baltic Sea (US Air Force Europe 2019b US Air Force Europe. “U.S. Air Force B-52s Train over Baltic Sea.” March 23, https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Press-Releases/Article/1793735/us-air-force-b-52s-train-over-baltic-sea/ ).
In noticeable contrast to other trends, annual large-scale US-South Korean military exercises – Foal Eagle and Key Resolve––were significantly scaled back in 2018 due to ongoing diplomacy efforts between the United States, South Korea, and North Korea. In a stark departure from previous years, the 2018 exercises did not include US nuclear-powered submarines, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, or strategic bombers (Gady 2018 Gady, F.-S. 2018. “US, South Korea Kick Off Annual Military Drill Without US ‘Strategic Assets’.” The Diplomat, April 3.
https://thediplomat.com/2018/04/us-south-korea-kick-off-annual-military-drill-without-us-strategic-assets/
In March 2019, immediately following the Hanoi Summit, the United States and South Korea announced that these two annual strategic exercises will be cancelled and reorganized into a series of smaller exercises (Starr and Crawford 2019 Starr, B., and J. Crawford. 2019. “US, South Korea Scale Back Joint Military Drills ‘To Reduce Tension‘ with North Korea.” CNN, March 3.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/02/politics/us-south-korea-military-exercises/index.html
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.