Mutually Assured Destruction

MQ: Hey guys, Petrov, if he even exists, or whoever really runs the NeoSoviet Bloc just issued a statement saying “Nato interference in the basic right of Moldova’s people to self determination and their will to join their Slav brothers led by Russia is unacceptable. If NATO continues to enslave them in their economic grip and continue to feed them lies, we will be forced to resort to the Mutual Destruction option.”

Pierre: What? No way! Petrov is trying to force them into his backward little universe just like he did a few years ago with the Baltic states. I worked with a guy called Karu in Estonia and obviously have lost all contact with the poor guy ever since.

MQ: The US says that it has put all NATO security personnel in the Hi-Tech Clean zones on high alert, ready to destroy all the equipment at the first sign of Moldova braking away. Romania reports that hundreds of refugees have already crossed over their border.

Lisa: Look, those Moldovans don’t want to get cut off from the world forever, they don’t want to know nothing but lies. But they’ll probably vote to succeed because it’s better for them than the world ending.

Gavin: Yes, but Poland, for one, is going to vote to press the MAD just because of the threats from the NeoSovs. Remember, we go MAD automatically if 15% of NATO security council vote for it. We built in this process of unpredictable devastation so that nobody calls our bluff.

Lisa: Maybe our anti-missile defenses are good enough to block the NeoSovs. We’re the side for full disclosure but we never reveal how good our tech is.

Gavin: You think? We’ve no idea how good the Russian tech is. I know their chip manufacturing is where we were at the turn of the century but they seem to come up with amazing AI despite their ancient hardware.

Pierre: So what’s the choice, people? If our deterrence isn’t credible and they get Moldova, what’s to stop them from bringing down all of us? You want to live like them? Not worth continuing humanity in that case.

Photo by Javier Miranda on Unsplash