President Biden is an old man. This is not something American officials and those close to the White House are usually keen to signal but this week — as Russia made repeated thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons over Ukraine — they were. The commander-in-chief has vivid memories of the Korean War. The man making the calls in the situation room came of age during the Cuban Missile crisis. All of which is suddenly rather helpful as the Kremlin hints at nuclear brinkmanship.
American officials are currently working out how to respond if Russia, its armies forced into retreat, its mobilisation sparking panic and unrest, decides to break the taboo on nuclear weapons use that has held since 1945 in desperation. This will not start, at least, like the 1984 cult Cold War film Threads, with a thermonuclear first strike bringing out the near annihilation of civilisation across the northern hemisphere. Instead, officials in the National Security Council are discussing what to do if Vladimir Putin starts small — in an attempt to terrify Ukraine and the West not to defeat him.
