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Mutually Assured Destruction
Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) was a Cold War doctrine in which both the USA and USSR maintained large nuclear arsenals capable of completely destroying each other if either launched an attack.
The threat of total annihilation acted as a deterrent, preventing either side from initiating a nuclear war.
Perestroika
Economic reform policy designed to restructure the Soviet economy by introducing market-like changes.
Sinatra Doctrine
The informal name for Gorbachev's policy of allowing Eastern European states to determine their own political direction without Soviet military intervention. It replaced the Brezhnev Doctrine and was named after Frank Sinatra's song "My Way".
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
A proposed missile defense system announced by President Reagan on March 23, 1983, intended to protect the United States from nuclear ballistic missile attacks using ground-based and space-based systems. Critics nicknamed it "Star Wars." Although never fully developed, SDI increased pressure on the Soviet Union by threatening to undermine Mutually Assured Destruction and forcing the Soviets into an arms race they could not afford.