Russia Looking West

*Is anyone else hearing that Russia is modeling plans for a movement on Baltic states as a response to France’s nuclear expansion east?* No, I haven't heard anything. I guess news about Russia 'modeling plans for a movement on Baltic states as a response to France’s nuclear expansion east' would probably be classic Russian disinformation justifying Russian actions as a response to supposed Western aggression. In reality the changes in France's nuclear policy are not as radical as they may have been portrayed. Essentially, if French nuclear forces are dispersed throughout Europe it strengthen's France's second-strike capabilities increasing in that way deterrence (in simple terms, if you attack me first trying to eliminate all my nuclear weapons, you will not suceed and thus I will be able to hit you back with my remaining nuclear forces). See also: [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj4zlnezrl7o](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj4zlnezrl7o) . 'This would allow France's Strategic Air Forces (FAS) to "spread out across the depth of the European continent... and thus complicate the calculations of our adversaries", the president said. (...) There will be no explicit "guarantee" given to partner countries, and it is the president of France who will retain sole decision-making power over when to fire a nuclear missile. The aim remains to convince potential adversaries that "if they have the audacity to attack France... there will be an unsustainable price to be paid," the president said. Until now there has been a deliberate vagueness about what France regards as its "vital interests", an attack on which would trigger a nuclear response. In recent years governments have hinted that "vital interests" could also include interests in Europe. With Macron's "advanced deterrence", this concept has been given further shape – though in accordance with the general theory of deterrence nothing is spelled out.'