Reference News Network August 3 report: The UK's Daily Telegraph website published an article titled "Trump's Reckless Nuclear Performance Is High Risk but Low Cost" on August 1, written by Adrian Blomfield. The article is excerpted as follows:
Normally, this would be an unusual, historic, and terrifying moment. During the Cold War, no U.S. president had ever openly sent nuclear submarines into Russian waters. No U.S. leader had ever chosen to adopt such a nuclear brinkmanship policy.
It is well known that in 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union transported nuclear warheads within 90 miles of the U.S. coastline, triggering a nuclear showdown. For 13 days, the world was worried about a major battle that could lead to the end of the world.
However, given Trump's Don Quixotic style of governance, few people are panicking now. This is clearly not a 2.0 version of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that what the current U.S. president just did carries no risks. He changed Washington's nuclear posture toward Russia in a way that his predecessors dared not do, almost casually climbing the first rung of the nuclear escalation ladder. If Putin chooses to retaliate, a major crisis may follow.
This seems unlikely - this is probably how Trump is calculating it. In fact, he seems to be following Russia's script.
In recent days, former Russian President Medvedev warned that Trump's threats might trigger a war between the United States and Russia. Trump clearly stated that he was exposing Russia's bluff. He spent a lot of words telling Moscow that he understood their threats literally rather than metaphorically. In a social media post addressed to Medvedev, he wrote: "Words are very important and often lead to unexpected consequences."
Therefore, it is best to view Trump's threats as a performance - a high-risk, reckless performance, but ultimately just a performance.
Other motives may also be at play. In the coming days, the U.S. president will have to announce how he intends to respond to Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine. Secondary sanctions against countries that purchase Russian energy represent a major diplomatic dilemma.
If Trump backs down on these threats, he can describe the deployment of submarines as evidence that he is seriously dealing with Russia - a strategy with high risks, while the cost may be far lower than increasing tariffs on allies that Washington needs to express goodwill in other areas. (Translated by Qiu Fang)
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7534327977769796137/
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