This is what I was thinking the other day
What if we could get every country with nukes to dismantle their weapons and make new ones that are a little less scorched earth?
Clearly people aren't going to give them up and more countries want them.....
So maybe this is the only way.
Or maybe nothing will stop the game....
I don't think we're winning the game
And the thing is - Putin wanted to be able to nuke anyone that didn't want to be his friend
That's an exaggeration... But not much.
He wants the power to be able to use first strike with nuclear force on any country he feels threatened by - for natsec purposes
(I think about this a lot actually)
Despite insincere assurances to the contrary, there are two classes of nation-states.
(a) Those who have nukes and sovereignty.
(b) Those who do not.
I'll grant there is a grey zone inhabited by Japan, Taiwan, maybe South Korea where they've had the blueprints for years, and have the components built, but haven't tested and play along at being non-nuclear good citizens.
Everyone else needs a nuclear Daddy, and they need to keep him very happy.
If the US fails South Korea, they can always buddy up with the North 🤷🏽♀️
A funny thought! And we might be surprised. But Kim's friendship probably has too high a price.
SK did some very interesting work in the 80s on laser enrichment. Unlike gas centrifuges, lasers are not that closely watched. 1000 sats says they have working nukes three months after breaking up with USA.
Which is really not that impressive a timeframe, I guess.
I don't know... The North has been trying for what... 12 years?
East and West Germany went through a few cycles of rapprochement and hostility, before tying the knot under less-than-equal circumstances.
I suppose the Korean Peninsula could to. A rapprochement between Japan and the PRC could catalyse it.
