Trump had the planes loaded for a massive strike on Yemen. Then he called it off. Charlie and Peter Erickson ask what that tells us: if the US had the means to punish the Houthis for taking Saudi Arabia's pipeline offline, it would have done so. It didn't. Meanwhile diesel is spinning past $6.54 on interstate signs, one in six French gas stations has no fuel, sulfur prices have doubled in India, United is cancelling flights, and JP Morgan has admitted it can no longer model an end game for this war.Charlie argues the US is a car that can't go forward or back. It can't win conventionally after losing its forward bases and the Fifth Fleet, and it can't admit it is no longer the hegemon, which leaves one option nobody wants to name: a tactical nuclear weapon. Peter agrees the option is always there and that Trump passes an off ramp every week, but pushes back on inevitability. This is an unpopular war, even Robert Kagan calls it a mistake, and Qatar is openly floating a new Gulf security architecture that includes Iran. Could Xi Jinping's visit on Wednesday give Trump a way out? Charlie puts the odds under five percent. Peter isn't so sure.They also dig into why MBS just signed a $24 billion F-35 deal with a country that couldn't defend his pipeline, why Europe's political class seems to want war with Russia more than the Americans ever did, what 1,600 Ukrainian drones over Moscow actually changed, and the human cost of a war where men are marched to the front in handcuffs while Western officials call the ones who flee cowards.00:00 Power out in Tennessee, fuel out in France: is the collapse here?01:20 Diesel at $6.54: why the US won't run dry but Europe ight03:20 JP Morgan admits it can't model the end game05:28 The lag effect, the SPR drawdown and Saudi Arabia offline06:39 Trump loads the planes for Yemen, then calls it off09:35 Out of conventional options: the tactical nuke debate12:15 US hegemony as religion: the cult of American exceptionalism15:27 Albright, Kagan, and the garden versus the jungle19:15 Too deep to turn back: Israel, Europe and now Trump22:50 The petrodollar bargain breaks: a car stuck in neutral26:17 Why a Yemen ground war would be a nightmare for the US29:45 MBS's $24B F-35 gamble and the exit from China's digital currency34:32 Can Xi give Trump a way out? Qatar's new security architecture46:19 Why Europe wants war with Russia53:00 1,600 drones on Moscow, Ukraine's dying nation, and the Anchorage AccordGo Deeper: https://ruinsreport.com/Substack: https://conversationsamongtheruins.substack.com/Support the Conversation:Join as a Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW9CSfmP6gEjqtOdGTD_JKw/joinBuy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/amongtheruins