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"Minor" conventional battles that would have constituted effective declarations of war by a major nuclear power? If two nuclear powers declare war on each othe
by jjoonathan 6y ago
"Minor" conventional battles that would have constituted effective declarations of war by a major nuclear power?
If two nuclear powers declare war on each other, that's it. Game Over. It feels redundant to be horrified by the possibility that warring nuclear powers would consider a first strike. Of course they would. That's... how war works.
- DennisP 6y agoBefore going full nuclear it's always possible to deescalate, and when a first strike means the end of civilization, deescalation is the only rational option.
- WillPostForFood 6y agodeescalation is the only rational option Probably true, but you don't need to actually use first strike capability, you just need to convince the other side that you are willing to use it.
- pbronez 6y ago“The Three Body Problem” series has some masterful exploration of this concept.
- curiousllama 6y agoWar != total war. War is an extension of diplomacy. It’s a negotiation. If increasing costs on my adversary increases costs on me, it may make sense not to do so.