The prospect of global destruction in the Cold War has faded from people’s consciousness, but the prospect of living on a nuclear wasteland remains.

  • Suffa@lemmy.wtf
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    3 days ago

    Who cares about maybe nukes when we have guaranteed global warming.

      • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        2 days ago

        It’s an ongoing joke in several futuristic fandoms like Star Trek and Futurama

        Humanity beats global warming by going through nuclear winter caused by global nuclear war.

  • Guidy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    3 days ago

    Or be gen-x and been worrying about them all along since that’s how you grew up.

  • el_bhm@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 days ago

    Ah yes. Better watch ooout. ruskies have nookies. They may useeeee it.

    Nuclear waaaaar. Nuuuuuucleaaaaar. WWWWWWAAAAAAAARRRRRRR.

    paniced hand waving

    Fuck off already.

  • FistingEnthusiast@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    3 days ago

    The biggest problem is that Trump wants to

    He is an idiot child, and he’s itching to press every button

    He also sees sending a nuke as the most “dominant power” thing he could do

    It’s a sad indictment on America that this is where things are right now

    There are so many people there who deserve better, but it’s just a broken country

    • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      2 days ago

      The biggest problem is that Trump wants to

      Remember last time when he suggested nuking a hurricane? Ah, good times when one could still pretend he wasn’t serious about this shit.

  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    2 days ago

    I mean, vis a vis Russia and China, the equation hasn’t really changed.

    What has changed:

    • low key pretty certain that orangeboi wants to set one off just because he can, because he has a psychopathic toddler mindset
    • nuclear proliferation is the new black. As a direct result of the non-Russian signatories of the Budapest Memorandum doing effectively fuck-all to concretely back the security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity guarantees laid out in the agreement, it’s very obvious to any geopolitical actor worth their salt that the Memorandum is worth far less than the paper it’s written on. Nukes are the absolute, final word in territorial and sovereignty guarantees. Nobody will invade you if a possible response is “we will start glassing your cities”.
    • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      2 days ago

      it’s very obvious to any geopolitical actor worth their salt that the Memorandum is worth far less than the paper it’s written on.

      This has always been the case. Treaties are worthless if your opponent has more military might than you and decides you’re its next target because fuck you that’s why. After what happened with Ukraine, no country is ever going to give up their nukes again.

      • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 days ago

        Well, yes and no.

        We COULD have created a world in which security guarantees backed by major powers and/or alliances could serve as an effective guarantee of territory and sovereignty. All it would have taken is the geopolitical will to actually meaningfully assist Ukraine way back in 2014. But we didn’t, and here we are.

        • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          2 days ago

          Oh absolutely.

          But again, at the end of the day, the treaty is still a piece of paper, and the backing would only hold until the next megalomaniac rises to power, decides you’re its next victim because fuck you that’s why, and has the military might to back it up.

          It’s one of those weird paradoxes. If world leaders are sincerely interested in world peace, treaties are a formality that are barely even necessary. If our world leaders are the Donald Trumps and Vladmir Putins of the world, treaties are worthless pieces of paper.

          • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 days ago

            It’s all about credibility.

            If the promises/threats backing any geopolitical agreement aren’t seen as realistic, actionable, and credible, then the promises/threats are not meaningful.

            Side note: what the US is doing right now is setting the credibility we’ve built up over a literal century on fire.