“The truth is that in order to keep the peace you must prepare for war. That is the whole essence and spirit of the principle of ”deterrance” and the philosophy of ”mutually assured destruction” which invariably and inevitably results in peace and d’etant. It is the application of that principle that actually stopped the post- World War 2 “cold war” in Europe from turning into a very “hot” one. It also stopped the world from experiencing a third world war between the Americans and the Soviets which could have witnessed the end of the world as we know it. It is the application of that same principle that keeps the peace between the world’s major nuclear powers till today.”
______________ Femi fani-Kayode, on the principle of deterrance, May 2010.