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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3783 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 9, 2022

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Was there really a plan to nuke neutral countries in case of a full-on nuclear exchange between USSR and US?

Thanks. My concern is that, in a multipolar world where more and more countries nuclearize, and nuclear weapons get cheaper, every country gets the ability to nuke the world. Then, in a nuclear exchange between two countries, knowing they are doomed, they might strike ‘loose allies’ of the other out of spite (or even neutrals, “samson option”) , or to make sure they can’t be conquered by them afterwards. The loose allies in turn have to think about nuking them in case of a war they are not even a party to. If hit, they may retaliate in the same way, hitting other loose allies etc, and so in the end, even though there are no blocks, everybody nukes everybody.

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