Why Did the US Adopt the Strategy of Massive Retaliation?
Journal: Military Strategy Magazine
Year: 2013

Massive retaliation, a landmark in strategic history, was the cornerstone of the US’s response to the significantly challenging international security environment that had gradually emerged in the early 1950s. In this article, Dimitrios Machairas analyses the underlying parameters that informed the new doctrine, and highlights the multicausal character of strategic decision-making, showing how, in this case, the imperative for efficient deterrence combined with a set of individual-, state-, and