For those of you who thought there is no one crazy enough to risk a nuclear Armageddon in a war against Russia, we present for you a [recent article]( https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2023/09/29/the-urgent-imperative-to-maintain-natos-nuclear-deterrence/index.html) by Gregory Weaver posted in NATO Review. Weaver, a military strategist and former principal advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, makes the argument that NATO must be prepared for localized and “flexible” nuclear escalation with Russia.
The entire article is pervaded by a bizarre and inhuman logic, and expresses Weaver’s assumption that there is some tactical approach wherein the use of low-yield nuclear weapons could be used to win the nuclear chicken game in a war against Russia. After making the assertion that Russia will soon be resorting to the use of nuclear weapons in order to cause NATO to back down and/or splinter the alliance, Weaver warns against the “perilously flawed assumption” that once one nuclear weapon is used it will rapidly escalate to a full-scale nuclear exchange. Weaver disagrees: “It is of course possible that limited nuclear use could lead to uncontrolled escalation, but it is by no means certain and may not even be likely.” He then says: “This flawed assumption may lead to a flawed prescription: to rely primarily on the threat of uncontrolled nuclear escalation to deter Russian nuclear use at any level…”
In other words: NATO must be prepared to escalate following Russian nuclear attacks, otherwise Russia will take advantage of our fear and will attempt to “split the Alliance in a future crisis or conflict with acceptable risk that NATO will not respond.” Instead, Weaver calls for a NATO preparation in all areas of nuclear capability, what he calls a “Flexible Response” strategy. This includes forward-deployed tactical nuclear weapons, as well as conventional military buildup. In addition, NATO must be able to continue operating in a “limited nuclear use environment,” as well as be prepared to counter a Russian nuclear strike.
