As Putin’s war against Ukraine grinds on, the Russian President has done something unexpected. Russia has now raised its nuclear alert to its highest level and is on standby to unleash its nuclear weapons.
Putin’s move of opening his nuclear arsenal caught the world by surprise and raised the stakes by turning the Russia-Ukraine war from a regional conflict to a global one. While there are a bunch of theories on why Putin raised the stakes, most appear unconvincing.
The fact is Vladimir Putin has never been unhinged. He is a cold and calculating leader who has been successful over the last 20 years by carefully projecting his might as well as utilizing his energy resources in ways to take control of European markets.
Ultimately, this war is all about NATO and NATO expansion. Putin is no Hitler and while he may have his sights on Kiev as well as some sort of control over the Levant, including Jerusalem, thats about it. Putin wants a strong Mother Russia that is back in charge. After all, the Soviets were humiliated by the West. Russian culture is all about honor and Putin believes his destiny is to restore Russian honor and hegemony.
So why the nuclear arsenal?
As the war grinds on and taking longer than Putin assumed, NATO began moving forces, including fighter jets to its eastern flank. NATO’s move started before Putin announced he opened his nuclear arsenal. Russia clearly responded to NATO threats and sees the NATO advancement as a direct threat to it. Regardless of Putin being culpable in invading Ukraine, his decision to open the arsenal is probably the best way to create deterrence when it comes to NATO amassing a large force near his border.
The lesson in all of this, is that the Russia-Ukraine War is really a war between two global powers – NATO and the Russian Federation with Ukraine caught in the middle. With Putin upping the ante by putting his nuclear arsenal on alert any wrong move by NATO and especially the Biden administration may spell doom to the entire planet.