The Policy of Mutually Assured Destruction Essay Example

The policy of Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD, was used both during and after the Cold War. MAD was based on the principle of never letting the enemy have more firepower than you. This escalated during the Cold War to a nuclear arms race, with each side looking to gain an advantage over the other through nuclear fire power. The policy of Mutually Assured Destruction has been viewed differently throughout time. During the Cold War the policy was presented in a more positive light, with attempts to highlight the USSR’s danger to the US to gain support for MAD. However, post-Cold War the policy was viewed in a much more critical way, with it often being perceived as overzealous and an almost war-mongering way of life. The change in perception of MAD can be seen in popular geopolitical material, spanning from the post cold war 1990’s to the 2000’s. 

Early Post-Cold War geopolitical imagination of Mutually Assured Destruction can be seen in The Hunt for Red October (1990). The film depicts a Russian sub commander and his officers' journey to defect to the US. The film uses a Binary Vision of the world, with only the 1st and 2nd worlds present. This vision of the world presents an ideological war between Capitalism and Communism. The policy of Mutually Assured Destruction is demonstrated in the film, with a submarine being explicitly stated as an act of war, and a first attack in and of itself. With this, an image of MAD as a warmongering way of life is presented. This vision of Mutually Assured Destruction presents a world on the brink of all out nuclear war. The very real and present threat of MAD presented in the film is a depiction of the geopolitical imagination of the policy at the time. 

A later version of the geopolitical imagination of Mutually Assured Destruction can be seen in the film Bridge of Spies (2015). The film details the swap of a Soviet spy captured in America, for a captured US soldier and US student. As seen in the previous film, the world is only shown as the 1st and 2nd world, with the 3rd world being completely missing in this imagination. The policy of Mutually Assured Destruction is addressed primarily through the views of a child, with the main character’s son being shown the Duck and Cover (1952) film. However, the idea of MAD is almost swept aside, while presented as a reality it is also shown as an impossibility. The idea that no attack shall occur, and that to even be worried is unnecessary is presented. This change in the perception of Mutually Assured Destruction in popular geopolitical material indicates the policy falling out of favor, and being viewed as an overzealous way of life. 

The popular geopolitical material I intend to create will be a poster. The poster has an image of politicians, one clearly marked as an American, and the other easily identified as Russian. Both politicians holding a weapon pointing at the other, while in front of the politicians, two children pointing sticks at each other are depicted. With the contrast between politicians and children a clear difference in the threat of MAD is presented. This opposing view is intended to mirror the geopolitical imagination of MAD following the end of the Cold War. The idea of MAD as a real reality that was a constant threat is shown with the politicians, while the changing vision of MAD as an improbable situation, in which no one will ever shoot first is shown with the image of the children. One concern I have with constructing this poster is whether or not a clear image of MAD will be expressed, or if it will be misinterpreted as an imagining of politicians and their roles in society.