I tend to agree with you that they have gambled and lost.
But... there is this former Nato military commander who said that he did not beleive that Russia will escalate to total nuclear war if Nato use only small battlefield nuclear shells .
So not sure they finished gambling.
The peoples behind this war really have an enormous power. They shouldn't be underestimated.
For example, this crisis is an absolute economical and political desaster for Europe. The European Union might very well desapear after that.
All european leaders are well aware of this, but you wont find a single one - except may be Orban - to criticise the US and UK policy.
This is because 3 levers of power are now in the hands of the united states : le mainstream european media , a large part of the judiciary and the European Union (thanks to the new poor EU members, all bought by the US).
The total control of the public narrative is certainly the most powerfull of all tools.
We are still trying to understand the very deep consequences of this fundamental change : the disappearance of the free press.
This is a civilisationnal change that happened because the mainstream media former business model was broken.
Much too many new channels, and a too small advertising global market to pay for them.
Result : Large media outlets can only sell propaganda to survive Result : The financial power is shapping all perceptions and control almost everything.
The only hope is that a major antagonism appears at the top.
We have it with the emergeance of three new wold powers (China Russia, India). But the Empire will not easily gives up its gripp on the word, the futur of humanity be damned.
