mutual assured destruction

Meanings

1. The threat of massive retaliation using nuclear weapons should a potential enemy use them first, both sides being annihilated in the event of war.

Etymology

A pun on "assured destruction" ("a highly reliable ability to inflict unacceptable damage ... even after absorbing a surprise first strike"), a term used in discussions of American nuclear strategy in the 1960s. Perhaps coined by Donald Brennan, conservative defense analyst and a public critic of the policy.