I think it is entirely possible that the unipolar neocon wet dream is more of a news click distraction than an actual messianic plan. Not saying I believe this, but it wouldn’t surprise me. The MIC is an institutional addict; it needs more influx of cash on a daily basis. This is a cynical take, but if the billionaires wanted to get blank checks upon blank checks, with virtually no resistance, what better way than convincing the world that you’re prepared to use nuclear weapons to achieve your goal of global hegemony? It leaves only a handful of geeky bookkeepers to follow the ballooning upward surge in “defense appropriations,” because manufactured crises on the ground convince onlookers that such budgetary excess is required! It calls to mind Richard Nixon’s on-the-record remark that he would authorize dropping “A-Bombs” on the Vietnamese. He later said that he wanted America’s enemies to believe that it was a serious plan. Everybody who knew Nixon believed it was! Tricky Dick would be very much at home in today’s Washington, I imagine.