Could a nuclear war happen in slow motion with one city nuked per week? Briefly at first perhaps as a show of force. Most people would not want to go full mut

Could a nuclear war happen in slow motion with one city nuked per week? Briefly at first perhaps as a show of force. Most people would not want to go full mutual destruction. There could initially be some strategic strikes that hit small cities as a show of force. I think the escalation risk would be countries that feel they are on the way out, have a history of not caring about their people and in effect feel they have nothing to lose. failing nations or governments going out with a bang vs. a whimper so to speak. One hit or fallout too close to a bordering nation could escalate quickly. Another possibility for a first strike could be a few dozen stratospheric high altitude balloons carrying an EMP that wipe out electronics for a several countries or continents at the same time. I do not know how people might respond to that. There are also nuclear missile submarines all around the world that would be protected from initial kinetic and EMP damage.