″[The West] must realize that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?” — Russia strongman Vladimir Putin, State of the State Address, Feb. 29, 2024
“I would not protect you (NATO). In fact, I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” — Former President Donald Trump to NATO nations not reaching the required 2 percent of national gross domestic product (GDP) defense expenditure requirement
“Destruction of civilization?” They get it.
The leading nominee for the Academy Award for Best Picture is Oppenheimer as in the story of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, dubbed as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.”
The New York born genius hailed from a non-observant Jewish family. When the time came to build the bomb for use against Hitler’s Germany, there was plenty of motivation and justification. When it turned out to be Japan, there were questions.
Consider the present day irony of Das Land in der Mitte with zero fission power plants, but potentially armed with nuclear weapons? Will the civilized world actually welcome nuclear proliferation to include a nation, which was once the globe’s pariah?
Since the end of World War II, one certainty has essentially remained the same (e.g., Russia is still a menace). One has changed for the better, much better (e.g., Germany’s improved standing in the world).
Almost DailyBrett has repeatedly commented on Germany’s soft power public relations miracle from the most despised nation on earth (no hyperbole) to one of the most respected countries on the planet.
The combination of good behavior, national humility, economic success and time has worked wonders for the global image of Germany. Does Deutschland’s completely changed conduct make the world comfortable with Germany joining the nuclear bomb club?
Hmmm …
When You Sleep With The Bear …
“It’s a very complex discussion that would be better not to pursue. A nuclear debate is the last thing we need. It would amount to an unnecessary escalation.” –– German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on the prospect of a nuclear deterrent
“When you sleep with the bear, you do not snore.” — New NATO member Finland’s earlier strict neutrality stance for decades bordering the USSR, now Russia
Approximately 60 percent of polled Germans oppose nuclear weapons (surprised the percentage isn’t higher). The Green Party (part of the ruling coalition), which wouldn’t rest until the last three of Germany’s remaining nuclear power plants were shut down, certainly is not going to be favorable to nuclear weapons.
Almost DailyBrett is amazed by the rate of change in Europe in the aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s 2022 reprehensible invasion of Ukraine and related destruction of civilian centers. These brutalities were not lost on Finland, which at long last joined NATO. And just this week, the same became true for long-time neutral Sweden.
If the United States is no longer a reliable shield over the skies of Europe (read: Trump), does America’s potential absence put more responsibility on major NATO nations in the European Theater: (United Kingdom, nuclear armed), France (nuclear armed), Germany (no nukes)?
If so, does that unholy combination put more pressure on European nations to raise their defense expenditures, and in some cases develop nuclear weapons?
Does the once unthinkable since 1968 become thinkable in today’s Germany?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/02/28/germany-reconsiders-using-nuclear-weapons
https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-triggers-germanys-nuclear-nightmare
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/02/22/caught-between-putin-and-trump
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/02/18/can-europe-defend-itself-without-america
(Almost) DailyBrett 