In my admittedly amateurish opinion, having a vivid picture of the horrors of nuclear weapons can be very effective in curbing nationalistic and pro-war tendencies among both citizens and leaders of nuclear-armed states. MAD is effective only if all parties are keenly aware of the "Destruction" part of the deal.

I have seen this work first hand myself when India and Pakistan mobilized their militaries on a large scale a couple of times after the 1998 nuclear tests by both nations. A few articles that came out during that time about the effects of nuclear weapons decidedly served to cool off the fervor of several uber-patriotic people I knew.