Latest news with #Cold War
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Russia issues warning to West as it pulls out of missile treaty
Russia has formerly pulled out of a treaty prohibiting the deployment of short and medium-range nuclear missiles, warning the West to 'expect further steps'. As missiles continued to rain down on Ukraine, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president, blamed Nato countries for their withdrawal from the Cold War-era agreement. Medvedev, who has been exchanging barbs on social media with Donald Trump, made his comments after Russia's foreign ministry said Moscow no longer considered itself bound by the moratorium on the deployment of short and medium-range nuclear missiles. 'The Russian foreign ministry's statement on the withdrawal of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles is the result of Nato countries' anti-Russian policy,' Medvedev posted in English on X. 'This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps.' Medvedev, who now serves as deputy head of Russia's powerful Security Council, did not elaborate. The US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 2019, citing Russian non-compliance. Russia later said it would not deploy such weapons provided that Washington did not do so. However, Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, signalled last December that Moscow would respond to what he called 'destabilising actions' by the US and Nato. 'Since the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of US-made land-based medium and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian foreign ministry notes that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have disappeared,' the ministry said in a statement. The INF treaty, signed in 1987 by Mikhail Gorbachev, the then Soviet leader and Ronald Reagan, the US president, eliminated an entire class of weapons – ground-launched missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres (311 to 3,418 miles). Medvedev, seen initially in the West as a potential moderate and reformer, has become one of the most hawkish senior officials on foreign policy in Moscow. Mr Trump last Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be moved to 'the appropriate regions' in response to remarks from Medvedev about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries. Overnight, Russian strikes hit a railway station in eastern Ukraine, killing a mechanic and wounding four workers, the national rail company said. 'Russian terrorists inflicted a massive strike on the railway infrastructure of Lozova,' Ukrainian Railways said in a Telegram post. 'A duty mechanic of one of the units was killed, four more railway workers were wounded. All the wounded are receiving necessary medical care.' Several trains have been rerouted, it added. Lozova's mayor said two children were among the wounded and residential quarters had been damaged. 'Lozova has survived the most massive attack since the beginning of the war,' Sergiy Zelensky said in a Facebook post. Two people were also wounded in a separate Russian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia, the region's military administration said. Ukraine's air force meanwhile said air defence units had downed 29 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight in the north and east of the country. It comes as a deadline set by Mr Trump for Russia to take steps to ending the war in Ukraine or face unspecified new sanctions looms. Three rounds of peace talks in Istanbul have failed to make headway on a possible ceasefire, with the two sides appearing as far apart as ever.
Forbes
31-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
‘Winning The AI Race' Is Not About Outpacing. It's About Outlasting
The headlines around America's sweeping new AI Action Plan trumpet a message of urgency—outbuilding, out-innovating, and "outpacing" global rivals (read China) in the pursuit of technological supremacy. But as the world settles into what some call a new Great Power rivalry defined by artificial intelligence, the real contest is not about who crosses the finish line first, but rather who can endure, adapt, and thrive—the nation that can truly outlast. Racing for Control, Not Just Speed The White House's newly unveiled strategy encapsulates American determination to "achieve and maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance." Its vision is saturated with Cold War echoes: a national mobilization for new chip foundries, data centers, and power infrastructure; tighter controls on AI-enabling exports; and a policy drive to preempt rivals from setting international standards. The rhetoric abounds with metaphors of sprints and space races—a clear signal that America intends to lead the digital century. Yet beneath the bravado, critical voices argue that this winner-take-all model may not secure lasting advantage in a world where technologies diffuse quickly, value chains globalize, and societal resilience is as valuable as technological brute force. Lessons from the Fast Followers History shows that first mover advantage is far less robust than policymakers often imagine. The digital landscape is littered with pioneers who stumbled while their more adaptable rivals flourished: Spotify eclipsed Pandora, and Samsung outshined Blackberry. China has internalized this lesson. While the U.S. pours resources into frontier model development and industrial megaprojects, China steadily wires AI into everyday reality—integrating smart logistics, education, and healthcare on a scale that eclipses any Western pilot program. China's AI strategy leverages a whole-of-society approach: mass digital literacy campaigns, tight government-industry partnerships, and a relentless drive to close the hardware gap. While the U.S. may win the sprint, China is positioning for the marathon—prioritizing widespread deployment over mere invention. America's Endurance Gap: Social and Civic Infrastructure For the U.S., the risk is becoming so committed to velocity that it neglects the foundations that ensure victory in a long-distance race. True leadership in the 21st century's defining technology will depend less on the rapid unveiling of the next breakthrough than on preparing society to absorb, adapt to, and guide the onrush of change. America's new plan is bold on physical infrastructure and regulatory streamlining, but not as aggressive when it comes to the "soft" fundamentals: building a digitally proficient workforce, retraining at a systemic scale, fortifying trust, and ensuring that communities left behind by globalization do not simply get displaced again. These are not sideshows. They are the sinews of national power and economic durability. Redefining Strength: From Dominance to Resilience As power competition with China intensifies, policymakers should pause to ask: What does it mean to win? If domination in parameter counts and patents comes at the price of worker displacement, community fracture, and deepening mistrust, what has really been gained? The true durable advantage lies in resilience, which in this AI era includes first the ability for a population to reskill quickly and confidently. Second, broad, inclusive access to AI's benefits across the economic spectrum, not just among tech elite. Third, a robust, secure digital infrastructure that is trusted by allies and citizens alike. And finally, systems that anticipate inevitable shocks, from automation to cybersecurity, and absorb them with grace rather than rupture. Such endurance requires both ambitious investment and humility: a willingness to learn from global peers, a pragmatic commitment to steady deployment over mere first-mover laurels, and a new era of cross-border collaboration (even with competitors) on safety, ethics, and shared standards. The Choice: A Sprint or a Marathon? America stands at a crossroads. It can continue to measure success in the raw speed of technological achievement or in the relentless pursuit of domination. Or it can recognize that the true measure of leadership is found in what endures: an economic system, a society, and a global order that remains dynamic, free, and hopeful even after the initial race is run. The ultimate victor will not be who launches the fastest model or fields the largest dataset, but who remains upright—trusted and adaptive—at the century's end. The AI era rewards not the sprinter, but the marathoner. For America, lasting leadership demands not just outpacing China, but outlasting by continuously investing in the resilience, dignity, and cohesion of its own society, and by shaping a global ecosystem where everyone has a stake in the intelligent world we are building together.
New York Times
26-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Removal of Castro and Guevara Statues Ignites Outcry in Mexico City
When Fidel Castro first met Che Guevara in Mexico City in 1955, they began planning a guerrilla war that would sweep Cuba and change the course of Latin American history. Mr. Castro became Cuba's Communist leader, defying the United States for decades. Mr. Guevara, an Argentine, became a legend to his supporters and enemies alike, even after he was executed in Bolivia in 1967. In 2017, Mexicans commemorated their meeting with statues, linking Mexico to a pivotal moment in the Cold War. But the statues were removed last week by a local Mexico City mayor, setting off a political firestorm that has drawn in the country's president and reignited a debate about how to recognize a divisive history. The local mayor, Alessandra Rojo de la Vega, said the statues were improperly installed and that the men should not be honored, calling them 'murderers' who 'continue representing a lot of pain.' She pointed to people who were silenced, jailed and killed under Mr. Castro's nearly half-a-century reign, and to how Cuba still struggles with food and electricity shortages. 'I understand that there are people who see Fidel and Che as their revolutionary figures, but governing isn't about choosing which victims to show solidarity to,' Ms. Rojo de la Vega said in an interview. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
