What if Russia wins?

Discussion of nuclear weapons has returned both to our news cycle and to the cultural conversation.

Last week, President Donald Trump said that the US would resume testing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, several recent films and books imagine a near future scenario where a nuclear attack is threatened or carried out.

Tristan talks to Carlo Masala, professor of international relations at the Bundeswehr University Munich and author of If Russia Wins. His book imagines a scenario where Russia attacks a Nato country to see whether the alliance will respond, risking a nuclear confrontation. Masala believes Russia is already engaged in ‘hybrid warfare’ with Europe, and he wrote his book as a warning to the west.

Producers: Viv Jones, Aron Keller, Xandra Ellin and Valerio Esposito

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Image: A photo published by Swedish armed forces that it says shows a Russian mig-31 fighter jet that took part in the violation of Estonian airspace. Swedish Armed Forces/ Reuters.

Credits:

The War Game (1965) / Dir: Peter Watkins / BBC

Dr Strangelove (1964) / Dir: Stanley Kubrick / Columbia Pictures

A House of Dynamite (2025) / Dir: Kathryn Bigelow / Netflix