Russia also has over 225 times more land-based Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABMs) and enormous nuclear warfighting command centers that are impervious to even direct nuclear hits with blast shelters capable of protecting sixty million of its people or about forty percent of its total population. Russia’s belief that nuclear wars are winnable, particularly against non-nuclear powers like Ukraine, as the U.S. nuclear victory over Japan proved in 1945, is evidenced by the fact that Russia has deployed 5,000 non-strategic nuclear weapons, half of which are advanced battlefield nuclear weapons with very small yields of between 0.1-1 kiloton and emit no radioactive fallout, ensuring their use would entail minimal risk to nearby Russian military forces. By comparison, the United States has approximately 200 B-61 gravity bombs deployed in five NATO member states in Western Europe, giving Russia overwhelming nuclear superiority and escalation dominance over the United States in the European theater.

Discerning how to avert the outbreak of World War III with Russia and China is not rocket science. The United States only needs to keep its military forces out of their respective spheres of influence and stop supplying arms to Ukraine. This would also require the United States to cease its Taiwan Straits “freedom of navigation” air and naval sorties and for the Biden administration to cut off its lethal military assistance to Ukraine to incentivize it to return to the negotiating table. It would further necessitate that Biden provide the same strategic clarity on Taiwan that he provided on Ukraine by stating that the United States will not defend it militarily in the event of Chinese aggression. Instead, the United States would pursue a strategy of comprehensive economic sanctions in concert with U.S. allies to deter Chinese aggression and limit the spread of Chinese military and economic influence across the world. The need for the Biden administration to take the lead in working to resolve our disputes peacefully with Russia and China with comprehensive agreements that recognize the vital security interests of all three nuclear superpowers has never been greater. Indeed, this is the only way that we can pull the United States and the world back from the brink of a potential nuclear apocalypse.

David T. Pyne, Esq. is a former U.S. Army combat arms and Headquarters staff officer, who was in charge of armaments cooperation with the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas from 2000-2003, with an M.A. in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. He currently serves as Deputy Director of National Operations for the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and is a contributor to Dr. Peter Pry’s book ”Blackout Warfare“ as well as the upcoming book “Will America Be Protected?” which is due to be released later this year. He may be reached at [email protected].​

Image: Reuters.