Sicher kann man mit Atowaffen drohen und damit durchkommen.

Israel macht es so (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Option)

We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets for our air force. Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: 'Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.' I consider it all hopeless at this point. We shall have to try to prevent things from coming to that, if at all possible. Our armed forces, however, are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under.

Ausgenommen die USA, wo die ersten Atombomben mit der Absicht ihres Einsatzes im Krieg gebaut wurden, haben alle Atommächte sich ihr atomares Arsenal zugelegt, um damit zu drohen. Die NATO-Doktrin "Massive Retaliation" funktionierte beispielsweise auch so.