RE: Does the prospect of nuclear disaster still frighten anyone these days?
March 21, 2015 at 12:35 am
I don't think the chance of nuclear war between big powers is significant right now. The great nuclear powers know losing any economic or geopolitical struggle does not mean the end of their nation or the end of their way of life, therefore there is no need to risk nuclear holocaust to avert some disasterous economic or geopolitical outcome.
The greatest threat to this current happy stability is IMHO the United States, not Iran, North Korea, Russia or China. The reason is not just that we have 7000 wars heads. It is the fact that, as the Iraqi and Ukrainian crisis shows, the United states is still stuck in a self-righteous post-Cold War triumphalist mindset which suggests to it that nothing it desires is either morally wrong, or is really beyond its reach if it were to only push aside such niceties as respecting other major countries's security interests, and shove other major powers against a wall and box them in. We are than idiotically surprised when the other country reacts violently. This is the mind set which can convince other countries that losing an economic or geopolitical struggle with the U.S. would be so unacceptably damaging to its own nationhood or way of life that risking nuclear war to thwart the U.S. is an acceptable trade off.
The greatest threat to this current happy stability is IMHO the United States, not Iran, North Korea, Russia or China. The reason is not just that we have 7000 wars heads. It is the fact that, as the Iraqi and Ukrainian crisis shows, the United states is still stuck in a self-righteous post-Cold War triumphalist mindset which suggests to it that nothing it desires is either morally wrong, or is really beyond its reach if it were to only push aside such niceties as respecting other major countries's security interests, and shove other major powers against a wall and box them in. We are than idiotically surprised when the other country reacts violently. This is the mind set which can convince other countries that losing an economic or geopolitical struggle with the U.S. would be so unacceptably damaging to its own nationhood or way of life that risking nuclear war to thwart the U.S. is an acceptable trade off.
