China

[LP]

NATO should have taken Ukraine in instantly, Putin's a bully but the Kremlin isn't full of morons, they are not going to go down a path mutually assured destruction. All these powers have tactical nuclear weapons, much smaller devices than those used against Japan but still capable of destroying an air or naval base in a single blow. If there was any serious intent to use nuclear weapons I think they would have used these smaller devices by now because they are unlikely to cause an escalation.

So for me that is a huge tell, this is about wealth and power and nothing to do with ideology.