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Well, it’s not really that simple. Plenty of countries are still sovereign without nuclear weapons. And even nuclear armed nations aren’t exactly able to use t
by ericmay 1y ago
Well, it’s not really that simple. Plenty of countries are still sovereign without nuclear weapons.
And even nuclear armed nations aren’t exactly able to use their weapons to devastate an opponents military - see Ukraine and Russia.
- paxys 1y agoWhich country? Do you think Canada is sovereign? Do you think it will be able to defend itself if Trump gives the military an order to make them the 51st state by any means necessary?
- ericmay 1y agoWell, Afghanistan defended itself for a bit. As did Vietnam, as clear examples. Neither possess nuclear weapons. Today countries as various as Brazil and Australia are independent, sovereign nations. Even Ukraine which was invaded by nuclear-armed Russia is still sovereign and fighting. Iran for that matter still has its sovereignty, they just lost some military assets.
- nemothekid 1y agoCanada is sovereign because of its proximity and interconnection with US. If your economy is large enough, you can "nuke" your opponents by using mutually assured poverty. But I largely agree, if you aren't a giant economy and you don't have nukes - then if the US or Russia accesses you of building nukes, you need to start building nukes ASAP.
- ekianjo 1y agoTaiwan has no nukes, and still has not been invaded by China.
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- pixelpoet 1y agoI don't expect this to stay true for very long :(
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoTaiwan has a good friend with nukes though.
- ekianjo 1y agoMost countries have good friends with nukes. Iran included.
- jopsen 1y agoDoes Iran have friends or are they more like business relationships? Even despite Trump, I think the US and many western countries have actual friends that would show up if bad things happened.
- _zagj 1y agoThe US isn't nuking China over Taiwan, and China maintains an explicit "no first use" policy.
- hajile 1y agoTSMC is an economic nuke and not just by accident. The Taiwanese intentionally tried with several industries it heavily subsidized to find one where it could make itself so valuable that other countries (with nukes) would be compelled to protect it (potentially with nukes).
- jordanb 1y ago> Do you think Canada is sovereign Well the prime minister who was elected promising not to bend the knee to Trump has bent the knee to trump. https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/06/20/Carney-Elbows-Down/ https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/06/20/Carney-Elbows-Down/
- ericmay 1y agoOk and so now Canada isn’t a sovereign country? That would be astonishing news to Canadians everywhere! Can someone tell them??!
- twothreeone 1y agoI was looking forward to an interesting argument, sadly it's just a very badly written opinion piece.
- dkjaudyeqooe 1y agoThats because they have friends with nukes (or thought they did).
- tgv 1y agoIran also has friends wit nukes: Russian and China. And China does care: it needs a secure oil supply.