Escalation is required for nuclear war to a be a risk. If there were no escalation, the sequence of events would be:
Putin nukes a city in Ukraine
USA/NATO nukes a city in Russia
End of the game.
It’s the trivial rational outcome, just trying to understand why the scenario you outline above where any major USA city is going to be targeted could ever really happen.
Escalation is required for nuclear war to a be a risk. If there were no escalation, the sequence of events would be:
Putin nukes a city in Ukraine
USA/NATO nukes a city in Russia
End of the game.
It’s the trivial rational outcome, just trying to understand why the scenario you outline above where any major USA city is going to be targeted could ever really happen.