Yeah that way, we all get dragged down. But atleast we are together.
I hate the EU, all it does is increase the amount of damage stupid politicians can inflict. Why ruin just your country, when you can ruin several.

Relying on other countries to save you isnt something I like. Every country should be independant and able to stand alone, its good to have allies, but you shouldnt be reliant on them.

Agreed. I was once chased by some angry teenaged chavs, and I managed to lose them almost as soon as I'd stepped foot in a cornfield.


http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4126/5192221149_9558ae40b1.jpg Last year I briefly dated a guy born in China and raised in South Korea. He was very careful about what he said about both countries. I got the impression it wasn't a safe place to live. I don't want to delve into politics though so I'll leave it.

I don't think anywhere can be a 'safe haven'. Crime, war, or simple natural disasters. Plus, the whole bathroom thing someone mentioned earlier.

What, isnt South Korea like Japan, just without the organised crime and tsunami's.

Only when compared to North Korea I'd say. Compared to most Western countries it is a police state.

Don't forget Godzirra.

I have no issue with that, depending on their governments views.

I don't think a nuclear war will result from an energy crisis. In fact I don't think any nation is [censored] enough to start a nuclear war, as no one gains from it and it would just end up in annihilation of their country and quite possibly the world.

I don't think the EU will ever unite into one country, European nations are too diverse in culture that it would never work. Not to mention lots of people including me would be pissed off, it would eliminate the cultural identity of every country in Europe, and one country (probably Germany or something) will end up ruling all the others.

You're assuming all leaders take rational decisions... I'm not sure I share that point of view :/

Underground in a places that doesn't have much seismic activity. I'm thinking Kansas.

I do indeed assume leaders make rational decisions, otherwise they wouldn't be leading in the first place.

Those that aren't probably don't have nuclear weapons.

In my opinion many leaders get to the top thanks to their charisma and/or ruthlessness, not because they are able to take rational/sensible decisions that's just secondary. Also some people simply inherit leadership, like in North Korea, and in those cases you can easily end up with incompetent/irrational leaders.

North Korea?

SILENCE!

Ok one idiotic country has nuclear weapons, but have they started a nuclear war? Everyone has at least some competence.

If I remember correctly they were tensing their muscles at one point and launching missiles near Australia.

See that dark alley over there? Yeah I'm gonna need you to come with me for a little chat

*conceals knife*

I didn't know that, but they seem like the kind if country that flexes its muscles and shows its might but not actually following up on it. I don't think they'd want a full scale war with anyone, because what would they gain besides a huge crater where Pyongyang used to be?

Their currently in famine, Russia isn't the ally it used to be, they've lost their leader and an unknown amount of the populace hates their leaders. I doubt they would attack NATO but someone should definently be wary.

I doubt they would either, but having a dictatorship with nuclear weapons means it takes one crazy to kill a lot of people

It's not all about the leaders though, would the army generals and government officials carry out the will of a psychopath? I think they would care about their own lives and country.

The caring about their own lives is the main reason they would start a war for their leader, depending on the cult of personality said dictator has. I would also hazard a guess if they are ranked high in a dictatorship wouldn't be too fussed about the country as long as he had a bunker to chill in.

Yay I get to live underground for the rest of my life out of fear of dying a horrendous death from radiation if I dare venture outside doesn't sound like a really good thing to aspire to. The points you make are all valid but I think the chances if a nuclear war happening is pretty much not there.

Ah, but if the other guy shoots first who knows how much damage he'll wreak? Better that we launch first; Hopefully we'll be able to knock out a few key targets and stop him before he can get anything off the ground...

Depends on the level of cronyism and the number of yes-men. One can also inculcate one's armies with belief/obedience and cull those who show any sign of disobedience. Not the most effective way to run an army, but we're not talk about competence here .

Yeah if everyone just pitched in and nuked Nortg Korea it would only benefit the world. Who actually likes them really? Plus points if it could happen without harming civillians.

That is impossible to do without hurting North Korean civilians or drafted civilians, and the amount of warheads required to actually cripple a country militarily would affect most of South Korea and Japan as well.

We need the Simpsons. Quick! Put a glass dome over North Korea!

All you would do is kill lots of innocents, and probably [censored] up some peoples children because radiation is a horrible lingering thing, and it dosent care who it [censored]s up.

The only good thing about nukes is the idea of mutually assured destruction, stops most people from killing eachother.
Well it worked until Israel/Iran anyway. I think they will eventually just say [censored] it, and attack eachother.

Well it was good while it lasted I suppose.

Not just those two countries; fallout can spread somewhat unpredictably. It's dependant on stuff like the wind currents at the time, just how high the dust goes, and so on. Stuff from Japan's recentish meldowns http://www.mapsnworld.com/japan/nuclear-radiation-effects.html, and a power plant going into meltdown is nothing like a nuclear warhead going off. A missile would kick up more material and launch it higher into the atmosphere, allowing it to spread further and in higher concentrations. You wouldn't see drastic effects outside Korea, but you'd get junk making its way into the ecosystem and our food sources. Just how much effect that would have I don't know, but wouldn't want to find out from a real-world experiment...