Devastation
A song by Regime of Power on their debut EP. Fun fact, this is the first song written by Regime of Power.
Devastation is the name of the military and foreign policy doctrine, dubbed from the operation name given to the counter attack carried out by East Forgotten Isles against the West Forgotten Isles during war precipitated by the Mayhem Incident. It often implies the use of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction to trigger larger natural disasters with a extreme risk of extinction of most the planet's life, and often with severe devastation to at least the region targeted (usually the target of the attack). An important distinction is that the attacker's own region is also at risk of fallout from the attack, such as a close range explosion in 1-2 Megaton detonation, or detonating your neighbor's volcano.
As such, Devastation implies a much higher cost than the military doctrine known as Mutually Assured Destruction. Mutually Assured Destruction ensures that the attacking nation would also be destroyed in a nuclear war. Devastation goes this step further, ensuring not only total destruction of the warring parties, but that your civilization cannot survive afterwards, with a risk of triggering an Extinction Level Event. The methods can vary wildly, but the most popular example promoted by the Dictator is "Super Volcanic Fulmination", quite similar to the attack on West Forgotten Isles but on a super volcano capable of much more catastrophic results for the entire planet.
To quote the Dictator's speech at the UN during the The Autarchia Question UN Summit of 2024
"After a suitable candidate volcano is surveyed and found with the sufficient magma below, you would then use a high intensity energy weapon to create a hole so you can shoot a nuclear weapon deep inside of it, triggering a catastrophic eruption. If the immediate Nuclear and Volcanic Blast does not destroy the targeted country entirely, then the lava belching from the bowels of the earth will certainly cover the immediate vicinity. If you somehow managed to survive that, then the ensuing lack of sunlight worldwide caused by the plumes of ash released would decimate crops, causing localized and global famine. Before starving, you would first be sick from the widespread radiation poisoning from breathing in the now nuclear-volcanic ash now covering the planet. There would also be the earthquakes, and the other unforeseen long term geologic consequences, which might cause further crustal displacement."
Most sane leaders abhor this level of destruction, and vow to never give in to that pressure. Despite these words, it proves to be a highly effective gambit for Autarchia for many years, as nobody ever accused the Dictator of having too much sanity, and nobody wants lava in their living rooms.
