ChloeTzang
Literotica Guru
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- Apr 14, 2015
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Alaska and most of Cascadia, what the rest of the world knows as the maritime Pacific Northwest, hosted some Muscovite bases a couple centuries back, so we’re in Putin’s sights, if obviously to a lesser extent than Finland or Lithuania. Hawai’i was once on Moscow’s radar, so Medvedev would surely claim it too if he could. Oregon’s Willamette Valley is today home to tens of thousands of Old Believers, refugees from the Muscovite-dominated branch of the Orthodox faith. Putin claims sovereignty over them, too. Spot the inherent threat in the ruscist claim to speak for all Russian-speakers everywhere and have a right to use nuclear weapons to defend the russian world? The crux of Muscovite claims on Ukrainian territory is that Ukraine isn’t a real country at all, just a bunch of rogue russians contaminated by western (particularly Polish and Lithuanian) ideas. Ukraine has no inherent sovereignty - and really, neither does the USA when Russian-speakers are involved, Constitution be damned. Moscow didn’t sign it, after all.
Aware that American leaders treat nuclear weapons as the horsemen of the apocalypse, by taking time during a highly security-challenged visit to go to an Orthodox Church near Anchorage Putin was deliberately undermining American sovereignty just like he does in Ukraine. His message: we know you’ll never use a nuke against us because of the potential consequences, so talk of deterrence through mutual assured destruction is a joke. The world is all about deals, so count yourself lucky we’re not actually demanding Alaska. Today. When Putin goes on about Ukraine and russia sharing the same origin and heritage that they’re brotherly countries, he’s also warning Americans that there are no rules or limits when Moscow’s interests are involved. Stabbing a so-called brother in the back is to be expected in the russian world. But you’d better stay out, or else you might have to face the bear yourself. The irony, of course, is that Moscow only makes this rhetorical play because it can’t actually make good on its claims. Putin’s regime would not have survived this long if it was truly willing to commit suicide. Putin is still trying to score gains on the cheap.
A truly strong American leader would respond to this sort of messaging with the spirit of Bastogne: nuts! Make us not do whatever we please!
That’s demonstrating strength, which is a prerequisite to deterrence. American leaders have lost the head game of it all.
The whole point of having a big shiny nuclear arsenal - or even a small one - is to make it clear that everybody dies if things get truly out of control. The moment you start acting like this is something that can never be allowed to happen at any cost, you break the deterrence spell, practically begging someone like Putin to make a move. A real nuclear escalation becomes much more likely to happen through accident or sabotage. What Team Trump revealed about themselves in Alaska is that their lust for power in D.C. is so strong that they really will sell out anyone if threatened with a nuclear fight. Everything for them reduces to establishing the grounds for never having to cede power at home. This means that Europe, Taiwan, and South Korea are all just bargaining chips. America’s only true ally is Israel, for ideological reasons - and because none of Israel’s enemies have nukes. Yet.
Trump’s partial demolition of Iran’s nuclear program is further confirmation of the primacy of nuclear weapons in his foreign policy. Even if Iran does get half a dozen nukes, that doesn’t actually mean much in practical military terms. Yes, Tehran could probably take out one or two targets and kill a lot of people. The response would be infinitely more painful - and Israel would survive. Yet there would be no Tehran, possibly even no Iran. Look at Gaza, pointedly obliterated by conventional means in a signal to Israel’s potential enemies. If Israel were ever nuked, does anyone truly believe that Israel wouldn’t kill tens of millions in reply?
Attacking Iran’s nuclear program was never about stopping Iran from getting a bomb someday. It was about delivering a message to any country the US or Israel dislikes: we will use extreme violence to stop you from joining the nuclear club in an operational sense, because we know full well that once you’re to that level, you can bluff us at will. North Korea has proven it as much as the fall of regimes in Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
Team Trump may have gone into the Alaska summit aiming to balance the priorities of the three main wings of his coalition - Rubio-Graham, Vance-Hegseth, Musk-Kennedy - and this seems to have prevented him from proclaiming that a deal had been done outright. But in the wake of a meeting where Putin clearly successfully bluffed that American support for Ukraine is starting world war three, Trump’s rhetoric has betrayed his active choice to side with Putin, whether out of political convenience or fear. He’s still retaining a hedge position where he’ll try to take credit for any Ukrainian counteroffensive this fall, but fear of looking like a chump ranks below fear of Putin, it seems. And US media will probably downplay any Ukrainian victories anyway.
Though in baring his belly like a good puppy to uncle Vlad, Trump has placed himself in an impossible bind: European leaders have assembled in a massive show of support for Zelensky, making it clear that they’re not going to smile and go along with the USA any more. Why bother? Trump is pushing tariffs and trade wars that explicitly target NATO allies while questioning the Article Five commitment to collective defense. Who would trust their security to the USA under these conditions? Europe’s economy is nearly as large as the USA’s and boasts a bigger population. European military potential is already ramping up at a pace American companies can only dream of, because Americans will still be holding stakeholder meetings while the Europeans finish five new factories.
Aware that American leaders treat nuclear weapons as the horsemen of the apocalypse, by taking time during a highly security-challenged visit to go to an Orthodox Church near Anchorage Putin was deliberately undermining American sovereignty just like he does in Ukraine. His message: we know you’ll never use a nuke against us because of the potential consequences, so talk of deterrence through mutual assured destruction is a joke. The world is all about deals, so count yourself lucky we’re not actually demanding Alaska. Today. When Putin goes on about Ukraine and russia sharing the same origin and heritage that they’re brotherly countries, he’s also warning Americans that there are no rules or limits when Moscow’s interests are involved. Stabbing a so-called brother in the back is to be expected in the russian world. But you’d better stay out, or else you might have to face the bear yourself. The irony, of course, is that Moscow only makes this rhetorical play because it can’t actually make good on its claims. Putin’s regime would not have survived this long if it was truly willing to commit suicide. Putin is still trying to score gains on the cheap.
A truly strong American leader would respond to this sort of messaging with the spirit of Bastogne: nuts! Make us not do whatever we please!
That’s demonstrating strength, which is a prerequisite to deterrence. American leaders have lost the head game of it all.
The whole point of having a big shiny nuclear arsenal - or even a small one - is to make it clear that everybody dies if things get truly out of control. The moment you start acting like this is something that can never be allowed to happen at any cost, you break the deterrence spell, practically begging someone like Putin to make a move. A real nuclear escalation becomes much more likely to happen through accident or sabotage. What Team Trump revealed about themselves in Alaska is that their lust for power in D.C. is so strong that they really will sell out anyone if threatened with a nuclear fight. Everything for them reduces to establishing the grounds for never having to cede power at home. This means that Europe, Taiwan, and South Korea are all just bargaining chips. America’s only true ally is Israel, for ideological reasons - and because none of Israel’s enemies have nukes. Yet.
Trump’s partial demolition of Iran’s nuclear program is further confirmation of the primacy of nuclear weapons in his foreign policy. Even if Iran does get half a dozen nukes, that doesn’t actually mean much in practical military terms. Yes, Tehran could probably take out one or two targets and kill a lot of people. The response would be infinitely more painful - and Israel would survive. Yet there would be no Tehran, possibly even no Iran. Look at Gaza, pointedly obliterated by conventional means in a signal to Israel’s potential enemies. If Israel were ever nuked, does anyone truly believe that Israel wouldn’t kill tens of millions in reply?
Attacking Iran’s nuclear program was never about stopping Iran from getting a bomb someday. It was about delivering a message to any country the US or Israel dislikes: we will use extreme violence to stop you from joining the nuclear club in an operational sense, because we know full well that once you’re to that level, you can bluff us at will. North Korea has proven it as much as the fall of regimes in Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
Team Trump may have gone into the Alaska summit aiming to balance the priorities of the three main wings of his coalition - Rubio-Graham, Vance-Hegseth, Musk-Kennedy - and this seems to have prevented him from proclaiming that a deal had been done outright. But in the wake of a meeting where Putin clearly successfully bluffed that American support for Ukraine is starting world war three, Trump’s rhetoric has betrayed his active choice to side with Putin, whether out of political convenience or fear. He’s still retaining a hedge position where he’ll try to take credit for any Ukrainian counteroffensive this fall, but fear of looking like a chump ranks below fear of Putin, it seems. And US media will probably downplay any Ukrainian victories anyway.
Though in baring his belly like a good puppy to uncle Vlad, Trump has placed himself in an impossible bind: European leaders have assembled in a massive show of support for Zelensky, making it clear that they’re not going to smile and go along with the USA any more. Why bother? Trump is pushing tariffs and trade wars that explicitly target NATO allies while questioning the Article Five commitment to collective defense. Who would trust their security to the USA under these conditions? Europe’s economy is nearly as large as the USA’s and boasts a bigger population. European military potential is already ramping up at a pace American companies can only dream of, because Americans will still be holding stakeholder meetings while the Europeans finish five new factories.
