•“Assured destruction” implies that only offensive weapons can make MAD stable; defenses are only useful if they protect a nation’s second strike
capability
•However, defenses that reduce civilian casualties are inherently destabilizing
•Even if one percent of offensive warheads were to get through an SDI system, the US would have to survive one hundred nuclear attacks
•According to MAD doctrine, defense have to be “leakproof” to be useful; semi-effective defenses are
the worst
•Hoffman claims that missile defenses should be analyzed by how they deter preemptive attack and reduce collateral damage