# Why should I care if country X gets a nuclear weapon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 30, 2026, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662 "2026-04-30T10:35:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/41 "2026-05-01T12:28:30Z")
For now, maybe. But things change. Tweak a frw variables and the whole equation changes. I’d rather not wait for that to happen. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/42 "2026-05-01T12:38:42Z")
But acting without very thorough long term planning and strategy has its own risks, as we’re finding out right now. We may be strengthening Iran and increasing the likelihood they get nukes (which is what I believe). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/43 "2026-05-01T12:48:40Z")
What, do you think the Iranians haven’t gotten nukes until now thanks to the kindness of their hearts? They’ve had a clear and incontrovertible need for nuclear weapons since 1979. The fact that they don’t have them now is through lack of ability, not lack of motivation. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/44 "2026-05-01T12:57:39Z")
I’m unconvinced. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/45 "2026-05-01T12:59:34Z")
That, or salvaging one from a sunken warship. Or stealing one. Or being given one, by a semi-sane Nation. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/46 "2026-05-01T13:21:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A lot of the truly huge warhead numbers of the 1960s were due to the low accuracies (and reliabilities) of then-current delivery systems. Then multiply that by the very large size of the US & USSR, and add in the long distances between the belligerents and suddenly a few thousand was barely enough. I had also assumed that early on there was a notion that a strategic nuclear war could be fought and won. Along with that, the idea that there needed to be the capacity to take losses and still be able to fight means that they needed more delivery systems and more warheads to say… be able to have 30% destroyed and still be able to achieve the mission. At some point, warhead numbers became a sort of international dick measuring competition that took on a life of its own, independent of the actual warfighting needs. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/47 "2026-05-01T13:23:09Z")
So do most countries. But non-state actors like terrorist groups aren’t really easy to nuke, which is why I was wondering. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/48 "2026-05-01T13:47:32Z")
For most of the past decade or so Iran seems to have pursued a nuclear threshold strategy that a lot of countries go with. It never really made sense to me to do this as itvseems like it invites strikes like in 2025 (and possibly now) - would nake more sense to either go all the way to getting nukes and have that veto ccard forever or not give anyone a reason to think they have one final chance to bomb your nuclear program. But a lot of countries do it so apparently there’s some reason. Also possible that it’s a way to resolve an internal struggle between factions (i.e. one faction wants to get a nuke, one doesn’t and the compromise is to develop 70, 80, 90% enriched uranium and the deployment technology but technically not develop an actual nuke) but doesn’t actually make sense as a coherent strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/49 "2026-05-01T17:39:04Z")
I have no idea. My only theory is that they’ve tried and failed. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/50 "2026-05-01T20:45:26Z")
No sane national leader would actually use nukes if he had them. The problem is that if enough countries get them, there will eventually be an insane leader. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/51 "2026-05-02T17:04:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The Iranian government is not suicidal - in fact, it’s rational, pragmatic and brutal. Iran is a big country with a big population; Israel is not. They may believe that they _can_ survive a nuclear exchange, in which case, sacrificing 10, 20, 30 million Iranians could be an acceptable price to pay in order to eliminate their enemy once and for all. If Israel is so weak, where even a nuclear strike will fail to defeat Iran, then it seems the only rational move is peace, not the escalation we have been seeing? That or invade with ~1 million guys. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/52 "2026-05-02T18:01:44Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > If Israel is so weak, where even a nuclear strike will fail to defeat Iran, then it seems the only rational move is peace, not the escalation we have been seeing? That or invade with ~1 million guys. We’d love to make peace with Iran, but they don’t seem to be in the market. The conflict between Israel and Iran was initiated by the latter and could be stopped by it in a second if it wanted to. It doesn’t, so we’re going with Plan B. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/53 "2026-05-06T16:54:18Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > What could possibly go wrong giving nuclear weapons to two countries that hate each other and believe in reincarnation? I’d think reincarnation would make them less likely to nuke the world. Who would want to reincarnate in a nuclear wasteland? Now, people who believe in Heaven, they’ll be happy to toss a few nukes, because they think they’ll never suffer the inevitable consequences of a nuclear war. One quick flash, and then you’re sitting at the right hand of God. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/54 "2026-05-07T00:47:49Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I’d think reincarnation would make them less likely to nuke the world. Who would want to reincarnate in a nuclear wasteland? I don’t know. Mutants? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/55 "2026-05-07T01:06:59Z")
> [@Ancient\_Nerd](#): > > Playing Risk long ago as a teenager, a three way game tended to remain peaceful. If one player started anything, the other two would join forces to resist. But “the others joining forces to resist” is exactly the scenario we’re trying to avoid, because that’s what World War III is. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/56 "2026-05-07T02:01:22Z")
The larger critical difference between Risk & the real world is that good bet your fellow Risk players were not megalomaniacs surrounded by yes-men. In the real world, attacking a neighbor who has friends bigger than you are can sound like an excellent plan. If you’re crazy enough and are being egged on by “advisors” who hope to remain alive through your next purge. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/57 "2026-05-07T05:42:44Z")
Or even worse, if you have advisors who honestly believe that your tactics/technology/some other quality (pick however many you like) makes you unbeatable and they advise you to engage into an avoidable war of aggression. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/58 "2026-05-07T11:38:35Z")
One of the problems with yes-mmen at the top is pretty quickly the yes-man disease infects the next layer down. And the next. And the next. Such that, as you say, you may have advisors who honestly AKA sincerely believe [whatever]. But they too are misinformed and their belief may be sincere, but it’s also wrong. C.f. MAGA for an example of what happens when a self-reinforcing system of lies becomes entrenched. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662/59 "2026-05-07T14:13:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Such that, as you say, you may have advisors who honestly AKA sincerely believe [whatever]. But they too are misinformed and their belief may be sincere, but it’s also wrong. > > C.f. MAGA for an example of what happens when a self-reinforcing system of lies becomes entrenched. See also, Russia invading Ukraine. Putin really believed that Russia would walk over Ukraine in a few days, because lies up and down the chain of command hid the reality of how threadbare the Russian military really was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-if-country-x-gets-a-nuclear-weapon/1029662.md?page=2)