One of the policy objectives of MAD was how to addess an adversary with a military command authority who was either insane enough or stupid enough to think he could go get away with it, without his command structure deciding to isolate him before he did anything highly consequential.
It's often said of Kruschev that he never understood how JFK, a man whom he considered to be a young Turk, was able to stand up against him. Actually, Kruschev was nothing more than an ill-educated bar room brawler,and a man of the soil, and it was his entourage who were able to finally defuse the situation by skilful posturing and managed withdrawal.
Whether ISIS too could be measured against the same pattern. Foolish hotheads, but backed by rational wealthy patrons in another ME entity, able to take the toys away when they start getting dangerous remains to be seen.
For the UK though; we have cut material defence whilst leaving the civilian element extant. Throwing White Papers at the enemy is about all that's left.
The fact that the enemy were able to put a submarine into Holyloch should be warning enough, the fact that we had no counter is a national disgrace.
That's what you get with a generation of professional politicians, rookies who know nothing abaout anything, and spin doctors who care only about the public perception of their actions.
I look forward to the rise of the professional soldiers who have spent the last 25 years in combat, and who know what it means to send a man to his death. When they step up and take the levers of power, I shall be able to sleep again.
For the UK, I fear it's too late.