RT reported June 17 on the strident opposition of various leading Russians against Professor Sergey Karaganov’s proposal for Russia to launch a preemptive nuclear strike in Europe to restore “the fear of atomic escalation” and thus “save humanity from a global catastrophe.” The four Russian think-tankers and “philosopher” Alexander Dugin cited in this report, all reject his proposal. (https://eng.globalaffairs.ru/articles/a-difficult-but-necessary-decision/ )
The sharpest rebuttal came from Elena Panina, a former State Duma deputy, who now is the director of the Institute of International Political and Economic Strategies. She mocks Karaganov’s use of the “streamlined formulation `use of nuclear weapons,’” writing: “Is there a line before which `use of nuclear weapons’ is not nuclear war, and after which it is? Is it not clear that the first use of nuclear weapons will immediately trigger a retaliation of much greater force? Nuclear weapons are the last resort on the chessboard. When all other means have been exhausted, all resources expended, and defeat is inevitable….”
