Putin’s Nuclear Threat Is Terrifying Even If He’s Bluffing
An autocrat driven by grievance and pride is using deterrence strategy to fight a land war in Europe. When the old doctrines go, only terror remains.
The ultimate option?
Photographer: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP/Getty Images
All eyes are on the conventional war unfolding in Ukraine. But a very different kind of conflict looms over the conflict. Before invading, Putin staged nuclear weapons drills around Russia’s border with Ukraine. In case anyone missed the point, his speech justifying the invasion reminded listeners that his country remained “one of the most powerful nuclear powers.”
Worse, this rant went hand in hand with a sinister warning: “Whoever tries to hinder us, and even more so, to create threats to our country,” he declared, would suffer “consequences that you have never encountered in your history.” Next came his announcement that Russia’s nuclear forces had been put on a “high alert.”