U.S. undergoes massive nuclear weapons modernization program
New York Times, 10/10–To understand how America is preparing for its nuclear future, follow Melissa Durkee’s fifth-grade students as they shuffle into Room 38… One by one, the children settle in for a six-week course taught by an atypical educator, the defense contractor General Dynamics… The U.S. Navy has put in an order for General Dynamics to produce 12 nuclear ballistic missile submarines by 2042 — a job that’s projected to cost $130 billion…The coursework …welding crackers together with Easy Cheese to create mini-submarines — is one small facet of the much bigger preparations America is making for a historic struggle with its nuclear rivals. With Russia at war, China escalating regional disputes and nations like North Korea and Iran expanding their nuclear programs, the United States is set to spend an estimated $1.7 trillion over 30 years to revamp its own arsenal…The federal government has said little about the plan in public, outside of congressional hearings and strategy papers, or the vast amount being spent. There has been no significant debate. The billion-dollar programs move under the radar.
A genocide within a genocide in Northern Gaza
Al Jazeera, 10/13–A senior Palestinian diplomat to the United Nations has sounded alarm over Israel’s ongoing siege of northern Gaza, in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the last week and hundreds of thousands of civilian residents are either trapped or ordered to flee amid intense bombardment … 400,000 Palestinians are trapped in northern Gaza, with the Israeli military not allowing anyone to leave the area despite issuing an evacuation order. “What’s happening now is a continuation of the genocidal acts that began a year ago,” he said, adding that more than 70 bodies are still on the streets, with civil defense workers unable to retrieve them because of relentless Israeli attacks … “The occupation is blowing up roads and destroying residential districts. People can’t find anything to eat. They are trapped inside their homes, fearing bombs could fall onto their heads.”
Interimperialist competition trumps international legal bodies
Foreign Affairs, 10/7–For over 75 years, the multilateral trading system has helped ensure stability and order in the global economy. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO), brought states together to cooperate in lowering tariffs and other trade barriers, promoting global economic integration and establishing rules to govern trade … But now this liberal trading order is in crisis. International cooperation on trade has largely broken down. The United States, the longtime champion of open markets, has abandoned its commitment to free trade, multilateral cooperation, and respect for the rule of law. By imposing tariffs and providing massive subsidies across multiple industrial sectors, Washington has openly violated the WTO’s rules and principles. China has likewise distorted and increasingly weaponized trade through its own use of subsidies and economic coercion … Many other countries are increasingly following the United States’ lead … to openly defy WTO rules.
China-U.S. conflict over Taiwan continues to escalate
Reuters, 10/14–China's military started a new round of war games near Taiwan on Monday, saying it was a warning to the "separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces" and offered no date for when they may conclude … Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, had been on alert for more war games since last week's national day speech by President Lai Ching-te … said China had no right to represent Taiwan even as he offered to cooperate with Beijing … The Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command said the "Joint Sword-2024B" drills were taking place in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan … Chinese ships and aircraft are approaching Taiwan in "close proximity from different directions", focusing on sea-air combat-readiness patrols, blockading key ports and areas, assaulting maritime and ground targets and "joint seizure of comprehensive superiority" … China's coast guard circled Taiwan and staged "law enforcement" patrols close to Taiwan's offshore islands
