re: #147 Dr Lizardo

If Russia finds itself a situation where they’re losing, I can all too easily see Putin going full scorched earth on Ukraine. I was talking with a friend yesterday, and we both kind of figured that Putin not only has some variety of messianic complex but that he’s conflated his own personal existence with that of Russia itself - “I am Russia!” is what Putin seems to be thinking. This war in Ukraine seems to have become, in Putin’s mind, an existential matter and that if he is defeated in this, then Russia itself will be defeated. Therefore, rather than confront a defeat, he will choose the path of total destruction of Ukraine.

And once he’s done with that, he’ll go after the Baltics, threatening the use of nuclear weapons and saying, “Behold Ukraine - such is your fate if you resist.”

Which sort of brings us back to what started this, which was the argument that Putin is not a sane actor in this whole conflict. If he’s willing to use everything within his arsenal up to NBCs to win wars of conquest, then he would be willing to nuke the West if we got in his way. And thus any discussion of measures such as no-fly zones are not about “if” but “when” will the nukes begin to fly.