![]() ![]() This approach to nuclear deterrence calls into question the often-cited logic of mutually assured destruction, or “MAD.” This traditional notion assumes that mutual nuclear vulnerability-that is, a situation in which both sides have nuclear forces that can inflict significant retaliation on the other, even after suffering a nuclear first strike-can actually stabilize world politics and make conflict between nuclear adversaries, even over third parties, less likely. Putin is betting that despite the conventional military might of the US and its allies, they will shrink from confrontation at least partly out of fear of nuclear escalation. Having bolstered in recent years its arsenal of nuclear weapons that can evade missile defenses and hit targets in Europe and the US, Russia is attempting to use these forces as a shield for conventional aggression. Putin’s unusually explicit rhetoric has sent a clear message to the West: Stay out of my attack on a third party or risk nuclear conflict. Countering them will require the US and its friends to tailor both their conventional and their nuclear postures to the emerging danger-not only in the current crisis with Russia but also to prepare for the possibility that China might follow the same playbook in a future war over Taiwan. They are part of a deliberate strategy to advance Russia’s revisionist political and military goals. The US cannot overlook these chilling threats. He admonished that “anyone who tries to interfere with us…must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never before experienced in your history.” In case anyone misunderstood his warning, he added that Russia remains “one of the most powerful nuclear powers” with “certain advantages in a number of the latest types of weapons” and stated that “no one should have any doubt that a direct attack on Russia will lead to defeat and dire consequences for a potential aggressor.” A few days later, he upped the ante further with the public announcement of a Russian nuclear alert. hospitals surpassed 87,000 on Tuesday, an all-time high, while 30 of the 50 states reported a record number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations this month.On the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin issued a nuclear warning. The number of patients being treated for coronavirus infections in U.S. ![]() Yet the metrics of the virus have only worsened. ![]() More than half the nation’s governors have imposed - or reimposed - statewide measures this month to slow the contagion, ranging from tougher face-mask requirements and social curfews to stringent new limits on restaurants, bars and other businesses. “We’re just trying to do the right thing.” “We are on fire with COVID,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on CNN, defending unpopular restrictions he ordered last week that included new limits on retail activity and school closures. It marked the highest 24-hour loss of life from the pandemic since early May. death toll climbed above 2,000 - at least four deaths every three minutes. The chorus of public appeals intensified heading into a holiday weekend expected to further fuel an alarming surge of infections nationwide, while the daily U.S. ![]()
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