I think they weren’t ever going to use them because they know they would get nuked in turn. Once it became clear the bluff wasn’t working, makes you look weak to use a threat and not follow through.
Some countries will use the threat of nuclear war to get what they want. But what they want often involves still being alive afterwards. Putin, like the rest of the leaders of countries with nuclear arms, knows that a nuclear strike demands a nuclear response. There is no other option and unfortunately the whole world suffers as a result.
He should at the very least care about the oligarchs in the country who are reliant on the Russian people to build and maintain their wealth. There’s no wealth without people.
You wouldn’t even need a working one. A lot of nuclear responses work by going off the moment a likely missile fitting that criteria launches, since it would be too late otherwise.
Someone making the wrong decision at a given time could easily cause everything to go up in a nuclear conflagration. It’s nearly happened before.
I always loved this acronym, because while it means Mutual Assured Destruction, which is a given in a world with numerous nuclear-weaponry-equiped nations, it’s clear that someone who thought they could just send out nukes and not get any in return is literally madder than a hatter.
The less you remember, the more open is the gate for the next one like him to show up. It's for a similar reason that Germans very much do make sure the Nazis aren't forgotten about, e.g. Let him have his fame in history books.
As an example of what to avoid and how to avoid getting someone like him back.
The current trend of nationalists who willingly adopt the Nazi theme and name is strong and everyone remembers Hitler very clearly. The problem is that the name is also shorthand for other Nazi bullshit. The message of nationalism is clear - teach the subject, show how it works and what to look out for, and attach no person to the ideology to undercut any culture growth around the celebrity.
The surest way to deter fascists is to make the losers look as uncool as they are by making fun of them. Even small nothing statements get under the skin of the dictators so be juvenile and save history.
The threat wasn’t to attack. It was more of a warning, saying that if NATO was to step onto Russian soil he would use them.
Nuclear weapons are basically a defensive weapon. You never aim to use them but you have them as a deterrent. No country wants to mess with it or test whether a nuclear nation would use it
To do so is suicide, both to call their bluff or to use the weapons. So you get into a state where militarily no one can do anything (except wage a war in a country that doesn’t have nuclear weapons).
That’s kinda the purpose of nuclear weaponry. To use then it’s basically game over for everyone everywhere.
The proviso of this is that all the countries involved are led by sane, (reasonably) rational leaders. It also breaks down if they get into the hands of non-governmental forces. If they get into the hands of someone willing to act irrationality, a lot of people will be very screwed.
Interestingly, Ukraine was once a nuclear power. They had a significant chunk of the USSR’s arsenal. They decommissioned them, due to safety concerns. Part of that deal was protection from invasion (both from Russia and NATO). I suspect they now regret giving up their nukes.
Well military yes. You still have economic and cyber wars and colour revolutions (upsetting the locals to raise up against the power). Which honestly you’re seeing more of.
Don’t worry, the powers will always find ways to innovate.
I’ll go ahead and venture another guess I don’t see mentioned yet. It was one of many stall tactics he’s employed, hoping to drag things out while the West (specific groups at least) grows weary of paying for proxy war.
Honestly I suspect the countries supporting Ukraine are the ones dragging it out. Russia is getting it’s military destroyed.
Five digit numbers of armored vehicles gone, around a thousand aircraft, incredibly expensive and irreplaceable military equipment in flames, and many men never coming home.
Russia is hurting because of this war, so from a certain cold-hearted utilitarian perspective the war is a good thing. Someone living somewhere like Latvia, and old enough to remember how badly the Russians treated them during the USSR, would see their military getting destroyed as a blessing even if they were sad to see the Kremlin leaving a trail of bodies through Donbas.
People act like Russia can just keep on fighting because of it’s larger population, but it was having serious demographic trouble before this even started. Whereas Ukrainians have a just cause, and they’re defending their homes and families.
B- I really appreciate this comment because it taught me that if somebody edits their comment Lemmy will also retroactively change the comment notification to the edited text as well (when I saw it originally it was before your edit so the message said “I am an internet person” but now shows your Zuck joke)
He finally got an accurate inventory and found out all of the delivery systems and most of the nukes had required components sold off by the commanders
If I remember correctly it was always the clown Medwedew who threatened to use nuclear weapons and throw them on London or some other bullshit, but never Putin directly
And actually, nukes are part of the reasons we won’t do much. Not only western nations aren’t keen to send their kids dying in Ukraine. But Russia has nuke. A nuclear power engaging an offensive inside the territory of another nuclear power is a big risk of nuclear escalation. Remember the missile crisis in Cuba ? US officers considered a preemptive nuclear strike.
Nuclear power fight each other by proxy. See how NATO provide weapon to Ukraine, or how Wagner mercenaries attacked french troops in Africa.
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