Pro-Kremlin political scientist Karaganov called for the use of nuclear weapons

Pro-Kremlin political scientist, academic supervisor of the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics of the Higher Higher School of Economics Sergei Karaganov called for the use of nuclear weapons by Russia against Western countries. According to Karaganov, which he expressed in the magazine “Profile” (the article was also reprinted by the more respectable site “Russia in Global Politics”), “the use of nuclear weapons can save humanity from a global catastrophe.”

Karaganov actually bases his paradoxical thought on Russia’s failures in the war in Ukraine. At the same time, according to the political scientist, even a victory in the war with Ukraine – and even a hypothetical takeover of the entire Ukrainian territory under Russian control – will not help to end the “clash with the West”. Russia, according to Karaganov, will be “stuck” in Ukraine for many years, diverted from the “urgently necessary shift of its spiritual, economic, military-political center to the east of Eurasia.” And the West, Karaganov believes, only needs that.

Therefore, Karaganov believes, Russia needs a crushing victory not over Ukraine, but over the West itself. Karaganov suggests “restoring the persuasiveness of nuclear deterrence by lowering the unacceptably high threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, calculatingly but quickly moving up the ladder of deterrence-escalation.” The first steps, in his opinion, have already been taken – Karaganov mentions the placement of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus – but it is necessary to go further and actually present an ultimatum to the West. And in the case of non-fulfillment of the ego – “hit a group of targets in a number of countries to bring those who have lost their minds to their senses.” It follows from the text that it is about goals in Central and Eastern Europe. After that, Karaganov believes, the USA and NATO will surrender, because America will not want to risk Washington “for the sake of conditional Poznań.” As Karaganov writes, China and other countries of the non-Western world will eventually thank Russia for getting rid of Western “hegemony”.

Sergey Karaganov does not hold any position in the Russian government, but he is a member of many pro-Kremlin expert organizations, such as the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy or the Valdai Club.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, high-ranking Russian officials have repeatedly issued veiled or direct threats of nuclear escalation – not excluding President Vladimir Putin, who last fall discussed the possibility of changing the nuclear doctrine and introducing a preventive strike. This is exactly the kind of strike Karaganov is calling for, and he is calling for strikes not against Ukraine, but against NATO countries.

At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially declares that Russia is committed to the principle of the inadmissibility of nuclear war. Karaganov, however, also does not write about a nuclear war, but only about Russian nuclear strikes, which, in his opinion, will not be followed by a response.

Representatives of Western countries have repeatedly called on Russia to exercise restraint and criticized Moscow for its nuclear rhetoric. They emphasize that, supporting Ukraine, they do not aspire to a military clash with Russia. Representatives of US intelligence have repeatedly stated that they have not noticed any nuclear weapons being prepared by Russia yet.