On: Putin puts Russian nuclear forces on high alert as west steps up sanctions

[croes]

Could simply be, "If I must go to hell, I take everyone with me".

[awb → croes]

Still requires a chain of consent. No world leader is operating the missle silos themselves.

[GameOfFrowns → awb]

>Still requires a chain of consent. No world leader is operating the missle silos themselves.

You can't be sure how strong the climate of fear inside the Russian chain of command is. Consider the common bystander effect: almost everybody is expecting somebody else to act and do what's necessary but inconvenient and potentially lethal.

[awb → GameOfFrowns]

True but the bystander effect applies to threats to someone else.

When the threat is to you and your family, I think fight or flight is more common.

But yeah if the chain of consent thinks they can launch nukes without suffering retaliation then I could see a bystander effect coming into play.

[Koshkin → croes]

Nah, in his own words, he is going to heaven while everyone else will just die.