Yup, it’s tricky to know what’s “tolerable”, and there’s also an option for deniable terrorist use of “stolen” nukes. But in any case, it won’t be a gradual escalation—use of nukes against a NATO member or on US soil is the classic Schelling line that can’t be crossed slowly. (Literally; that’s a large part of Thomas Schelling’s work).
Yup, it’s tricky to know what’s “tolerable”, and there’s also an option for deniable terrorist use of “stolen” nukes. But in any case, it won’t be a gradual escalation—use of nukes against a NATO member or on US soil is the classic Schelling line that can’t be crossed slowly. (Literally; that’s a large part of Thomas Schelling’s work).
I didn’t realize there was an automatic threshold of total retaliation the moment Russia nukes Ramstein air base.
it’s called mutually assured destruction for a reason.