You know that saying, maybe it's on a Hallmark card you got, "Perception is just as important as reality?" GOD! I hate that saying. It is so dumb. No, perception is NOT just as important as reality; go have your eyes checked.
With Putin and nukes, it is. :(
All the evidence is Putin really believes he can win a tactical nuclear war in the European theater. So even if Jessica T. Matthews is correct, Putin ain't wearin' her glasses! And since Putin is the actor and not Matthews it is Putin's vision, his "perception" of the nuclear balance of power that guides the behavior here. "We Russians may not understand puts and calls," a Russian official told his American counterpart, "but we understand tanks and troops!"
Whether it is reality or perception Vladimir Putin is acting in Ukraine as if he has nuclear superiority over the U.S. and NATO in Europe. We must change that and not with smoke and mirrors, not with "Quaker guns," with real nuclear tipped missiles in silos in Europe. Putin will perceive those. The "international status quo" is at stake.
With Putin and nukes, it is. :(
All the evidence is Putin really believes he can win a tactical nuclear war in the European theater. So even if Jessica T. Matthews is correct, Putin ain't wearin' her glasses! And since Putin is the actor and not Matthews it is Putin's vision, his "perception" of the nuclear balance of power that guides the behavior here. "We Russians may not understand puts and calls," a Russian official told his American counterpart, "but we understand tanks and troops!"
Whether it is reality or perception Vladimir Putin is acting in Ukraine as if he has nuclear superiority over the U.S. and NATO in Europe. We must change that and not with smoke and mirrors, not with "Quaker guns," with real nuclear tipped missiles in silos in Europe. Putin will perceive those. The "international status quo" is at stake.
