What Would Actually Happen If A High-Altitude EMP Was Detonated Above The United States?

What would happen?

Could a country or a group of countries effectively invade the United States in the aftermath of the detonation?

Would the United States be weakened?

But surely the United States military across the planet would race back home to the States to secure the mainland?

What do you think?

Anything could happen. But I think that North Americans are smarter than they think when dealing without electricity for a period of time. Invasions are overrated, Wars are overrated, Violence is overrated. There has, is, & always will be beings that can put a complete halt on the violence. Nukes are overrated (& I'd like to say not allowed on Earth).

Humanity is more connected than it previously has perceived.

We need more healers, artists, & peacekeepers. Not tyrants, entrepreneurs, massive egos.

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Of course there could always be skirmishes. But hell, life is one big skirmish. If you need to truly live, you will.

What would happen is every ATS member would learn to use the search function instead of recycling this thread over, and over, and over, and over...

On a serious note, our power grid is not protected so it would kill electronic devices in a large area.

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens

Could a country or a group of countries effectively invade the United States in the aftermath of the detonation?

The only country that could even think about pulling off an invasion logistically is Russia. Mostly because of the Bering Sea (they barely have to move before they're technically in the US). China currently doesn't have the lift, or the long range experience to pull one off, and no one else is even close to the ability to do it.

There would be short-term chaos, as we have become so pathetically reliant on electronics....but I suspect we'd get it worked out soon enough.

I don't see us getting invaded, although I can imagine that cities might explode in looting and crime, causing martial law to be implemented, and perhaps UN troops would be brought in to "assist".....which is a kind of invasion in itself.

Oh, I would miss my laptop and TV, but I have hundreds of books to read, and with no electricity, I'd surely be kept busy with simple tasks which would suddenly take forever, like it used to be at the turn of the last century.

Our financial systems would freak out, which is why I have been withdrawing cash and stashing it around just in case.

reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens

Could a country or a group of countries effectively invade the United States in the aftermath of the detonation?

This would be extremely difficult. Simply put, the US is thousands of miles away from the likely candidates, and most have very limited means to land troops and war materiel at that range, at least in any kind of significant numbers. We can project power due to our carrier groups and worldwide network of bases as the world police. Our enemies do not have this logistical means.

Would the United States be weakened?

Absolutely, but the rest of the world would suffer too. Can you imagine the global effect of the world's largest national economy suddenly slamming on the brakes? The stock market closed, etc.? The effect would be self throat-slitting for whomever did such an act, financially speaking. At least for the time taken to get back to semi-normal (which would likely be 6 months or more, on a good day).

But surely the United States military across the planet would race back home to the States to secure the mainland?

No doubt, but there are a LOT of troops, reserves, and other possibilities as well, in the mainland too. We don't leave the henhouse unguarded. Too many foxes in the world.