MAD, known in full as Mutual Assured Destruction, is a military strategy and a policy of national security. It has its basis on the deterrence theory where the positioning of troops in readiness for battle is necessary so that the enemy is threatened and this prevents the enemy from using the same weapons. The earliest reference to this term was during the Franco- Prussian war in 1870.it was also used during the cold war where it was passed by the then U.S secretary of defense, Robert McNamara.
MAD is of significance in the national security of the U.S in that they assume that each of the sides say the U.S and Afghanistan, have enough nuclear weapons capable of destroying the other and that if either of them is attacked by the other , would make an attack for a similar attack on them ,either with equal force or even greater force .in such a situation , both sides will be totally destroyed so that there will be no winner or loser .this is of importance in the U.S national security because their enemies will not dare launch an attack on them as they know that they will retaliate immediately , automatically and overwhelmingly, with warning and the end result will be total destruction of both parties and the world at large (Eden and Miller, 123). The reasoning behind this policy was that there will be a tense but stable peace due to the consequences and in this way prevents any direct full scale conflicts between the U.S and their enemies.
All Channel Networks. This refers to a communication system that is used by smaller groups of people. it is participatory and open in that every node in the network is connected directly to every other node .the fact that all the nodes are connected directly to each other enables information to flow fast and if one node fails , the entire network of nodes is not affected .
The all channel network is important to the U.S national security in that where terrorist groups used the hub network initially; they are now using the all network channel to communicate to each other. The challenge with the all channel network is that it requires constant and robust communication .it is mainly used by the U.S domestic maritime intelligence because it allows them to actively share information at all levels , make a formal interagency line of communication and get rid of the competition that exists between intelligence agencies. The all channel network favors the intelligence maritime environment largely because there are many jurisdictions and agencies involved that requires them to share information which is extremely important. Sharing of information between the jurisdictions and agencies involved in maritime intelligence is vital because they need to constantly monitor and predict terrorist movements and actions. If information across all levels fails to pass along the all network communication channel in a timely manner, then the U.S will be vulnerable to terrorist attacks as these terrorist groups will try to adapt their swarming tactics to look for gaps in the intelligence information flow. The all channel system allows the relevant information to flow to the relevant agency that needs it. In addition, these agencies have strong and frequent communication, which enables intelligence to flow with speed and efficiently through the all channel network.
Joint Warfare. Joint warfare is a military doctrine that was adopted by the U.S where there is integration of all the branches of the United States armed forces into one unified command. It also refers to the combined arms of the army, navy, air and also Special Forces where they work together in joint operations rather than planning and executing military missions as separate entities. It cloud also refer to the combined military operations of two or more allied operations.
Joint warfare adopted this doctrine where they integrated the combined efforts of all their capability so that they maximize their combat capability into one unified action. In this way they are able to give support to current conflicts and protect the citizens of the U.S especially against terrorist attacks through air, land, water and space.
Hegemonic Stability Theory. This theory refers to an international relations theory. It states that a there is a possibility of the international system to remain stable if a single nation state is in the position of the dominant world power.
The HST is important to the national security of the U.S in that their preferences take precedence over the preferences of other countries .the US for example possesses structural power and resources and they give economic aid to many countries. This is important in that if it says that Russia should destroy its missiles then that is what is done, they wield a power that other states do not have. If they declare war on Afghanistan, then almost the whole world supports it.
Complex Interdependence is an idea in international relations that say that states and their fortunes are tied together. One of its characteristics is the bringing of a decline in the use of military force and coercion in regard to power.
Complex interdependence is important to national security because many nations depend on it and the aid that they give comes with strings attached so that they are not free to exercise their power. They are therefore the only power who defines the rules and nations who depend on them cannot wage war against them because the aid will be withdrawn. Also instead of resorting to threats, they cooperate and peace is maintained (Codevilla, 27).
Nuclear Deterrence. This refers to a situation where the fact that a nation possesses nuclear weapons, is a deterring factor to the attacks from the enemy
This is important in the U.S national security because their possession of nuclear weapons deters their enemies form attacking them as they will retaliate with the same force and both states and their people will be totally destroyed. In this way they prevent war.
Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA). This is a strategy that was adopted by the united state where they preferred to ki8ll terrorists before they could attack the US and when this failed, the US military destroyed the capabilities of their enemies to attack them.
Adaptations have been made by the U.S military so that they are able to deal with changes in technology and trap the movements of terrorists. it also refers to the adoption of technology weapons , IT , military organization in planning and attacking enemies.
NMDS. The NMDS Is a national missile defense system is a canister that has sensors that will be launched in space to destroy the enemy war heads that are streaking towards the US. This helps in maintaining national security in that they are able to destroy the war heads that have been set up by hostile nations. They also reduce the ballistic deployments of missiles.
Works cited
Angelo Codevilla, While Others Build: A Commonsense Approach to the Strategic
Defense Initiative, (New York: The Free Press), 1988, p. 27.
Lynn Eden, and Steven Miller, Nuclear Arguments: Understanding the Strategic
Nuclear Arms and Arms Control Debates, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press), 1989.
