BREAKING: North Korea Has Just Fired Another Ballistic Missile

[Anomalocaris]

Any no, the only way most nuclear weapons around the world will fly is if American or Russia launch a big portion of theirs first.   If any other nuclear power launch some or all of theirs, the chances are the exchange will be limited to well within an order of magnitude of the number they launched.

No, once the first one hits a nation, it's allies will retaliate. Kim is the adopted toddler of China, do you think China won't retaliate if an american nuke lands near it's doorstep?  This whole nuclear deterrence concept is like a mexican-standoff, when one shoots, everyone dies.

No, nuclear deterrence is not about big nations actually committing national suicide on behalf on small nations that might be nice to have as a strategic pawn but not essential for the big nation's Fundamental survival.  American nuclear arsenal still outnumber Chinese arsenal 15:1.  China will not commit national suicide on behalf of North Korea.

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Kim could only have 3 or four, but that is not the point, it will start a war and then all sides will jump in and then both friend and foe will shoot them off. I don't think 45s supporters have any fucking clue what "mutual destruction" means. JFK did, Reagan did, and even Bush Jr and Sr did. Trump is as much a selfish egotistical narcissist as Kim. The only advantage so far right now, is we still have a free press, but 45s rhetoric could dare our enemies to start it.

Kim has all of China's and Russia's nukes backing him up.

When it comes to North Korea hitting the US with nukes for the hell of it,  China's nukes are insufficient to back north Korea up.  See above.   Russia does have enough nukes to back north Korea up but 1. doesn't have that much riding on north Korea's survival,  2. If Russia proves America's own nuclear arsenal, equal to Russia's, is insufficient to protect it even against being nuke by little fry like north Korea, then afterwards how much, in the eyes of Russia's numerous enemies, would russia's own nuclear arsenal be worth do you suppose?  Russia owes the perception that it is a greater power to the perceived value of its nuclear arsenal to a vastly larger degree thank either China or the US.   If the credibility of nuclear weapons as a guarantor of nation security and influence are all suddenly removed, both the US and China would remain super powers with global Influences by virtue of the sizes of their economies and their global political and economic influences.   The US would also be able to focus overwhelming conventional military superiority upon most places in the world.    Russia would be a second rate regional power without a seat in any region but some of the former Soviet republics.

Americans tend to think in terms of us and them, with them all being in cahoots against us as if they have no other priories than to collaborate to mess with us, because you know, we are so cool how could they possibly think about anything but us.  In some ways by being willfully stupid and decline to recognize the separate interests and priorities of each player on the chessboard, we kill two birds with one stone - we simultaneously feed our narcissism and Stoke our paranoia.  What more can one ask from acts of immature self importance?   With this level of junior high maturity in our thinking no wonder it proves to be not a reach at all for us to seat an elementary school bully in the white House.