War is a suicide pact.

In his scholarly article, William Hogeland portrays the Declaration of Independence as a kind of suicide compact; that by signing their names to it, “fifty-six men put their lives on the line” — words mixed with blood. Benjamin Franklin had already written the abstract, however, when he declares: “We must all hang together or we shall hang separately.”

The Cold War introduced an ecumenical and succinct variation: mutually assured destruction.

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William Hogeland, “Suicide Pact: 56 Men Put Their Lives on the Line by Signing the Declaration of Independence,” American History 48, no. 3 (2013).