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I agree with you, but it seems to be a minority opinion among the general population here in Western Europe. I meet a lot of people who think their life will b

by Luc 4y ago

I agree with you, but it seems to be a minority opinion among the general population here in Western Europe. I meet a lot of people who think their life will be short and nasty if Russia drops a nuclear weapon over Ukraine (which, at a distance of 2000km, would affect us not at all).

tsimionescu 4y ago
You do realize that dropping that nuke essentially means WWIII, which will absolutely affect you quite a bit?
- PeterisP 4y ago
  As far as I have read, all the major NATO countries have expressed a position that they would respond immediately and violently to a nuclear attack by Russia in Ukraine (to act as a deterrent for such an unprecented attack), however they have all indicated that the response would likely be significant but non-nuclear, e.g. one response option that was mentioned was sinking of the whole Black Sea fleet with conventional missiles.
  - tsimionescu 4y ago
    That would mean the start of a NATO-Russia war, that will almost certainly attract responses from China and other nations - the start of World War III. I didn't say that we would immediately nuke Russia, but if you think NATO directly attacking Russian troops would not change your way of life wherever you live in Europe, you're far more optimistic than I am.
    - PeterisP 4y ago
      I believe that deterrence works - it doesn't work perfectly, and is not a guarantee, but I strongly believe that a credible deterrent works far better than any plausible alternative we might have.
      - tsimionescu 4y ago
        I agree, though the line between deterrence and escalation is quite thin and easy to cross. My point was only to reply to the person thinking that a nuclear strike in Ukraine affects them not at all somewhere else in Europe, which I think is extremely shortsighted.
        Luc 4y ago
        I was talking about the physical effects of a nuclear detonation, but I can see how that was not clear to you.

by Luc 4y ago

tsimionescu 4y ago

You do realize that dropping that nuke essentially means WWIII, which will absolutely affect you quite a bit?

PeterisP 4y ago
As far as I have read, all the major NATO countries have expressed a position that they would respond immediately and violently to a nuclear attack by Russia in Ukraine (to act as a deterrent for such an unprecented attack), however they have all indicated that the response would likely be significant but non-nuclear, e.g. one response option that was mentioned was sinking of the whole Black Sea fleet with conventional missiles.
- tsimionescu 4y ago
  That would mean the start of a NATO-Russia war, that will almost certainly attract responses from China and other nations - the start of World War III. I didn't say that we would immediately nuke Russia, but if you think NATO directly attacking Russian troops would not change your way of life wherever you live in Europe, you're far more optimistic than I am.
  - PeterisP 4y ago
    I believe that deterrence works - it doesn't work perfectly, and is not a guarantee, but I strongly believe that a credible deterrent works far better than any plausible alternative we might have.
    - tsimionescu 4y ago
      I agree, though the line between deterrence and escalation is quite thin and easy to cross. My point was only to reply to the person thinking that a nuclear strike in Ukraine affects them not at all somewhere else in Europe, which I think is extremely shortsighted.
      - Luc 4y ago
        I was talking about the physical effects of a nuclear detonation, but I can see how that was not clear to you.