IMO, nukes are actually sort of encouraging a !@#$% form of peace out of fear. The USA and Russia are allies. Lord knows that they probably don't like each other, but they're not enemies. Way back when, the USA and Russia could have started fight like that (pretend I snapped my fingers). Now, both sides are somewhat afraid of going to war. They think that the other side could send nukes. And if they send nukes, we'll have to send nukes. Overall, both sides know that neither would survive. They're afraid of that. That's why a terrorist getting a nuke is so scary. He doesn't have that fear since he doesn't care about the country and if it's bombed, whereas the target is fearing for their lives and they care about the other country, since they're not actually the ones that need to be bombed. The nuke's devastation is terrible. They should never be used as a weapon. All they're doing now is instilling fear. Around the world. Some people actually go around day after day thinking "Oh crap! what if we get nuked today?!" and for a moment, they fear for their lives. I'd be afraid if the USA got nuked, since odds are they'd aim for big cities. New York is a big city. Montreal is pretty damn close to New York. I don't want to be hit by the USA's destruction's spillover. But, the fear is the price we pay for being so "powerful". And despite the power, the countries with nukes are powerless to use them since it would mean suicide. Pure and simple, nukes do nothing but cripple both sides, launched or not.