Arms Race

As late as the 1950s, people were invited to sit outside and watch nuclear tests, like this Operation Teapot test, for the aesthetic pleasure of the mushroom clouds.

An arms race is any competition among parties for military supremacy through the buildup and development of superior military technology, and especially the phenomenon of escalating sophistication and efficacy of military technology as the result of such competition. When used figuratively, it refers to competitions in which there is no apparent end point, only the relative and transient victory of staying ahead of the other competitors. The weapons used in an arms race need not necessarily ever be used: the term without disclaimer or other context typically refers to the nuclear arms race between the United States and ...