SOFREP Cartoon: Tactical Malfunction at the Bar

There he sits: a lumbering, vodka‑soaked bear in a battered Russian sailor’s suit, roaring about “nukes” like Armageddon is a happy hour special.

Showtime Deterrence in Deep Waters

Enter the U.S., not with a fist‑fight but with submarines. Trump has flipped the script on Truth Social, deploying two Ohio‑class boomers nearer to Russia in response to Medvedev’s “foolish” warnings—despite military analysts warning it undermines stealth and offers no real strategic edge.

But the message is clear: nuclear theater beats nuclear drunken bravado. With roughly 4‑5 boomers patrolling at any given moment, each capable of carrying dozens of Trident II warheads, the U.S. still holds the invisible trump (pun intended) card beneath the waves.

Bluster, Deterrence, and the Recipe for Risk

This isn’t about logic—it’s about optics. Russia has pushed deterrence thresholds lower with threats; the U.S. counters with ambiguity and posture.

New START is expiring next year, arms control is being crudely unravelled, and yet here we are: threats and counters in place of diplomacy.

Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is still the equilibrium, if terrifyingly fragile.

As analysts plead for restraint and temper the rising arms race, the world holds its breath while provocation masquerades as policy and submarines become the props in this nukes‑as-performance play.