Dr.D00p
Member
I wonder if Russia's actions can be explained via the degradation of the concept of MAD. If Russia's nuclear arsenal has become partially defunct, then their second strike capabilities would be severely curtailed. The reason that the "But Russia needs to protect itself from invasion!" argument is dumb is because under MAD, Russia is never getting invaded. However, if Russia's nukes suck now, and MAD is only partially relevant, then they would have reason to fear a more traditional invasion.
In such a scenario, the important questions are: if we know they can't fully enforce MAD, if they know we know, and if we know they know we know.
Game theory is a bitch.
The biggest problem isn't the state of their Nuclear arsenal but rather the apparent fact that the country is run by a bunch of outright nihilists.