I actually think the empire may go out with a whimper (no nukes) because the leadership is so incompetent and they would have such a hard time justifying a kinetic war to the population.

I think there’s a different reason they won’t use nukes. The empire serves the interests of the capitalists, and capitalists make less money in a nuclear wasteland. Between a nuclear wasteland and a world where they can’t control the superpower, they’ll take the latter. It’s more profitable.

It’s why China is surviving US hostility where the USSR didn’t. Deng’s “Lay low and develop the productive forces” strategy made SWCC like a virus that bypasses the immune system and gets into the vital organs. They can’t harm China without harming themselves.