Over the last week, two political leaders have exchanged barbs underlining the powerful nuclear arsenals of their respective nations. It was not just a pointless demonstration of bravado ¡ª it also showed that careless words and vague military threats can move the world closer to a disastrous conflict.
The first to lash out was Dimitry Medvedev, a former president and prime minister of Russia, who now serves as deputy chair of President Vladimir Putin¡¯s security council. In a social media post on July 28, he said a U.S. ultimatum for Moscow to come to the negotiating table over Ukraine was a ¡°threat and a step towards war.¡± Later, he alluded to Russia¡¯s ¡°dead hand¡± nuclear launch system, which automatically fires a nuclear strike if the nation is attacked with such weapons.
U.S. President Donald Trump responded to Medvedev¡¯s comments by saying he had ordered two nuclear submarines ¡°to be positioned in the appropriate regions.¡± He concluded by saying, correctly, that ¡°words are very important and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.¡± (On Monday, a Kremlin spokesman warned against ¡°nuclear rhetoric.¡±)
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