Latest news with #Intermediate-rangeNuclearForces
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First Post
18 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
From deterrence to danger: How Trump policy is fuelling global nuclear risks
With a slew of decisions over many years, US President Donald Trump has raised the risk of a nuclear catastrophe to the highest level in years, undoing decades of nuclear arms reduction and non-proliferation efforts. read more A Dongfeng-41 intercontinental strategic nuclear missiles group formation marches to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, on October 1, 2019 (Photo: Shen Shi/Imagine China/Reuters) In the latest episode of dangerous nuclear sabre-rattling, Russia on Monday ended the moratorium on the deployment of nuclear-capable intermediate range missiles. The development came days after US President Donald Trump deployed nuclear submarines near Russian waters in response to threats of war from Dmitry Medvedev, a top ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. With such back and forth actions over the past years, often triggered by impulsive decision-making of Trump, decades of nuclear arms reduction and nuclear non-proliferation efforts are being undone and the world is now closest that it has been to a nuclear catastrophe in decades. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It's not just that nuclear powers like the United States, Russia, and China, that are building more nuclear weapons and modernising delivery platforms. But more countries, such as those traditionally under the US security umbrella in Europe and East Asia, are considering developing own nuclear weapons as well. While every country, whether Poland in Europe or South Korea in Asia, has its own rationale, the reason underpinning all such pursuits is Trump's disruption of the international world order that he began in his first term. As a result, the likes of Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and even Japan, conversations around the development of a nuclear weapon are no longer taboo. His mistaken strategy of 'maximum pressure' had already put Iran on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon, necessitating the three-war earlier this year. Trump & Putin flex nuclear muscles Over the past two weeks, the war of words between the United States and Russia finally led to real-world consequences. Since the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin and his top allies like Medvedev had frequently invoked nuclear weapons. Medvedev frequently threatened Western capitals with nuclear strikes over their support of Ukraine. Last month, Medvedev finally overstepped with his personal feud with Putin on X. After he threatened the United States with a direct war, Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines near Russia. Days later, Russia responded by withdrawing from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Trump had already withdrawn the United States from the INF in his first term in 2019. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Under the treaty, which was originally signed in 1987 between the United States and Soviet Union, the two countries had agreed to ban and gradually dismantle intermediate- and short-range nuclear missiles between the range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres. Trump kills arms control treaties The INF is not the only arms control treaty that Trump has quit. In 2020, Trump withdrew the United States from the Open Skies Treaty with Russia, which allowed the two countries to fly over each other's territories with sensor equipment to assure that none of them were preparing for conflict. In his usual hubris, Trump had said that he would make new treaties with Russia for INF and Open Skies. Those deals, of course, never happened. Instead, in 2023, Russia quit the New START treaty, which was the last remaining arms control agreement with the United States. Under the New START treaty signed in 2010, which succeeded the Moscow Treaty of 2002, the two countries agreed to 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and up to 800 delivery platforms of various types. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump nudges friends & foes alike towards nukes With his actions, Trump has consistently nudged allies and adversaries alike towards nuclear weapons since his first term. In the first term, Trump withdrew the United Stats from the Iran nuclear deal of 2015 and applied the 'maximum pressure' strategy. While his idea was to pressure Iran into negotiating a new deal that purportedly favoured the United States, it turned out to be a spectacular failure and pushed Iran towards the brink of developing a nuclear weapon. Israel used Iran's near-nuclear weapons status as a pretext for war earlier this year that eventually dragged the United States into the conflict as well. As Trump has virtually withdrawn the longstanding security commitment to Europe under Nato's collective defence principle out of his friendship with Putin and has threatened to abandon Asian allies like Japan and South Korea as well, there is anxiety in these countries that their adversaries —Russia in Europe and China and North Korea in Asia— could use the US abandonment as an encouragement for a more muscular policy or even pursue outright attacks and invasions. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Such concerns have led to real conversations in countries like Poland, South Korea, and Japan about developing nuclear weapons as ultimate deterrence. In West Asia, Saudi Arabia is believed to have similar discussions as well.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Remembering RAF Greenham Common 25 years on
Memories of RAF Greenham Common have been shared on the 25th anniversary of the site being opened to the public. The Berkshire airbase became a key hub for the US Air Force and, during the Cold War, the United States used it to host 96 nuclear warheads. This led to more than a decade of protests by the Women's Peace Camp, which continued until RAF Greenham Common was decommissioned in 2000. Since 2014, the land has been managed by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) on behalf of West Berkshire Council. Thousands of women marched from Cardiff to Greenham in 1981, and then attempted to disrupt construction work between 1981 and 1983, when the first cruise missiles arrived. In 1982, more than 30,000 women gathered to join hands around the base. Protests continued throughout the 1980s. In 1987, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The last of the Greenham women left the base in September 2000. Lynette Edwell took part in all of the Women's Peace Camp protests action at the site during the 1980s and 90s. "It was a site where I had probably my happiest experiences with other women, and it is still for me a place for terror," she said. She said Greenham was a potential target and the fact the Americans would retaliate offered "no comfort". "At any time those missiles could be discharged and in return we get the SS20s targeting the whole of Newbury," she said. "That's something that became very vivid and very real and was my motivation for protest." The grounds are now home to "a whole host" of wildlife, according to BBOWT chief executive Estelle Bailey, including nightingales, skylarks, and over 30 species of butterfly. "It's been incredible, the journey of what we've seen and what we've planned for," she said. "You can't always put nature in a box so we let the box go, we let it out. And what's happened to it in terms of the habitats that have been established are really quite incredible." The Liberal Democrat MP for Newbury, Lee Dillon, said Greenham Common was very important to local residents. "It's played a massive part in my childhood," he said. "And now with my own children, we bring them up here regularly as well, just so we can get out and about and enjoy that access to the open countryside, the fresh air." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. The women who fought against nuclear missiles Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust
BBC News
08-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Remembering RAF Greenham Common 25 years on from public opening
Memories of RAF Greenham Common have been shared on the 25th anniversary of the site being opened to the public. The Berkshire airbase became a key hub for the US Air Force and, during the Cold War, the United States used it to host 96 nuclear warheads. This led to more than a decade of protests by the Women's Peace Camp, which continued until RAF Greenham Common was decommissioned in 2014, the land has been managed by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) on behalf of West Berkshire Council. Thousands of women marched from Cardiff to Greenham in 1981, and then attempted to disrupt construction work between 1981 and 1983, when the first cruise missiles 1982, more than 30,000 women gathered to join hands around the continued throughout the 1980s. In 1987, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) last of the Greenham women left the base in September 2000. Lynette Edwell took part in all of the Women's Peace Camp protests action at the site during the 1980s and 90s."It was a site where I had probably my happiest experiences with other women, and it is still for me a place for terror," she said Greenham was a potential target and the fact the Americans would retaliate offered "no comfort"."At any time those missiles could be discharged and in return we get the SS20s targeting the whole of Newbury," she said."That's something that became very vivid and very real and was my motivation for protest." The grounds are now home to "a whole host" of wildlife, according to BBOWT chief executive Estelle Bailey, including nightingales, skylarks, and over 30 species of butterfly."It's been incredible, the journey of what we've seen and what we've planned for," she said."You can't always put nature in a box so we let the box go, we let it out. And what's happened to it in terms of the habitats that have been established are really quite incredible."The Liberal Democrat MP for Newbury, Lee Dillon, said Greenham Common was very important to local residents."It's played a massive part in my childhood," he said."And now with my own children, we bring them up here regularly as well, just so we can get out and about and enjoy that access to the open countryside, the fresh air." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
