Discussion on M.A.D.: The doctrine of mutually assured destruction has been the driving force behind nuclear weapons proliferation. In case youʼve been living under a rock (likely in fear of a nuclear attack, Mutually Assured Destruction is the notion that a nuclear attack on one power will be met with devastating retaliatory force, enough to deter any initial aggression between two nuclear powers. The relative lack of military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War has been attributed to this doctrine, although it can be contested by suggesting that other deterrents such as economic interest played a major role. In the world of the resolution, its important to note that the resolution does not say that states ought to possess nuclear weapons. This means that there is no resolution-specific mandate favoring expanded proliferation, or even preventing a treaty limiting the nuclear stockpiles of the world. That gives the affirmative some degree of ground to argue for or against MAD, although the vast body of literature that does support nuclear weapons would be based on the ideology. Thus, if the negative wants to bring up MAD, the debater must make certain to argue that the existence of nuclear technology necessarily leads to some degree of proliferation and North Koreaʼs nuclear tests have demonstrated the failure of the international community to prevent this trend.