Latest news with #RebeccahHeinrichs
Fox News
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says plan is to free, not occupy Gaza
Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs reacts to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to 'free Gaza' and the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war.
India.com
4 days ago
- Politics
- India.com
Doomsday clock ticks closer..., Nuclear war fears rise, three countries in spotlight, global fear grows as world edges to disaster, countries are....
Eighty years after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, experts are warning that the world may once again be facing a similar danger. Tensions between the United States, Russia, and China are rising, and the 'Doomsday Clock' which is a symbol used to show how close we are to global disaster, has been moved closer to midnight. The U.S. bombed Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9 in 1945. Even after the horrifying results of those attacks, the fear of nuclear war has never fully gone away. Speaking to Fox News, nuclear expert Rebeccah Heinrichs from the Hudson Institute said this is the first time the U.S. is facing two nuclear-armed rivals from Russia and China at the same time. She explained that both countries are building new nuclear weapons and are now working together against the United States. Because of this, the risk of nuclear war is higher than before. Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight, experts warn of rising nuclear danger Nuclear expert Rebeccah Heinrichs says the current threat of nuclear war is even more serious than during the Cold War. At that time, the U.S. had only one major nuclear rival which is the the Soviet Union. But today, it faces two powerful opponents: Russia and China. Both countries are heavily investing in nuclear weapons and preparing for possible retaliation, which has made the situation more dangerous. What is the Doomsday Clock? Earlier this year, scientists moved the 'Doomsday Clock' forward, bringing it closer than ever to midnight, a symbolic time that represents global disaster, especially from nuclear war. The clock was set at just 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been in its 78-year history. This symbolic clock is maintained by a group of nuclear scientists and security experts from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . Moving it forward shows that the world is facing an extreme and growing risk. Why has the Nuclear threat increased? While countries like North Korea and Iran are also causes for concern, the main nuclear threat today comes from the actions of Russia, China, and the United States. Russia has refused to follow key international nuclear agreements. China is rapidly expanding its nuclear weapons stockpile. The U.S. is also planning to grow its nuclear arsenal, which suggests that it believes small-scale nuclear weapon use can be controlled. A warning from history The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by scientists from the Manhattan Project, the team that developed the first nuclear bombs. They created the Doomsday Clock to warn the world about the dangers of nuclear weapons. Now, with major powers building up their arsenals and cooperation between Russia and China growing stronger, experts fear the world is heading down a very risky path, one that could lead to a nuclear disaster. What could be the solution? According to expert Rebeccah Heinrichs, the biggest danger is not how many nuclear weapons a country has, but how they choose to use them. She explained that Russia often threatens to use nuclear weapons to pressure Western countries into giving in to its demands. This kind of behavior lowers the global boundary for nuclear use and creates a serious risk for the entire world. Heinrichs believes the solution lies in clear and careful communication with Russia. She said it is important to send a strong message to Russian leaders that they will not succeed through nuclear blackmail, and that the United States has reliable and strong ways to respond if needed.
India.com
5 days ago
- Politics
- India.com
World War 3: Doomsday clock inches closer to midnight as nuclear war imminent between these countries; experts says threat level for US is...
The Doomsday Clock is just 89 seconds shy of midnight. (File) The symbolic Doomsday Clock is closest to midnight–the hour when a global catastrophe such as a nuclear war could erupt on the planet– it has been since its inception about 78 years ago, after the US decimated the Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively– the only battlefield use of a nuclear weapon in history. How close are we to a nuclear war? Earlier, in January this year, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock, closer to midnight than its ever been in its 78-year history, signifying how close the world to a nuclear war in wake of the ongoing conflicts, especially the imminent war between the United States with China and Russia– the top three nuclear armed superpowers in the world today. The symbolic clock is just 89 seconds shy of midnight, which signifies an unprecedented threat level, higher than what was witnessed during the peak of the Cold War, when the US and USSR had nuclear weapons armed and aimed at each other. Why US faces a higher nuclear threat? According to Rebeccah Heinrichs, a nuclear expert and a senior fellow at Hudson Institute as well as the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative, the US is facing an unprecedented nuclear threat because this is the first time when its faced with two major nuclear-powered opponents, Russia and China, both of whom are rapidly developing new nuclear capabilities, and actively working together to counter Washington. 'The current nuclear threat environment is more than the pressure faced by the US during the Cold War . At that time, the US had only one nuclear rival in Soviet Union, but today China and Russia have have heavily invested in their nuclear capabilities, with the only goal being to thwart a US nuclear strike or make a preemptive one,' Heinrichs told Fox News. Which countries face the highest nuclear threat? As per experts, the US, Russia and China face the highest level of nuclear threat despite being three of biggest superpowers on the planet and the ones with largest nuclear stockpile. Smaller players like North Korea, and India and Pakistan are unlikely to resort to nuclear weapons, unless faced with an existential threat, while there are also concerns over Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions and Israel opting for the nuclear option, they say. Several western experts have blamed the increased threat level on Russia's alleged flouting of international nuclear treaties and China's insistence on expanding its nuclear arsenal, while other believe that the US under Donald Trump and his tariffs, is pushing Washington's rivals to enhance their nuclear capabilities. Despite growing nuclear threats from North Korea and concerns over the Iranian nuclear program, the threat level is limited to the three biggest players in the nuclear field: Russia, the US and China. The increased threat is attributed to Russia's refusal to abide by international nuclear treaties and China's insistence on expanding its nuclear arsenal. Is World War 3 imminent? Last month, Russia media reports, citing experts and analysts close to the Kremlin, claimed that NATO is preparing for a major conflict with Russia, amid heightened tensions between Moscow and the US-led Western powers due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Experts believe that such a conflict could potentially trigger World War 3 as Russia's allies like China would step in military, resulting in a global conflict. Its believed these reports are designed to prepare the Russian citizens for a major war with NATO, including a nuclear conflict.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Russia and China tick Doomsday Clock toward midnight as Hiroshima bombing hits 80 years
Wednesday marks the 80th anniversary of when the U.S. employed the first ever nuclear bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, followed by the bombing of Nagasaki three days later on Aug. 9. But despite nearly a century of lessons learned, nuclear warfare still remains a significant threat. "This is the first time that the United States is facing down two nuclear peer adversaries – Russia and China," Rebeccah Heinrichs, nuclear expert and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Fox News Digital. Heinrichs explained that not only are Moscow and Beijing continuing to develop new nuclear capabilities and delivery systems, but they are increasingly collaborating with one another in direct opposition to the West, and more pointedly, the U.S. "It's a much more complex nuclear threat environment than what the United States even had to contend with during the Cold War, where we just had one nuclear peer adversary in the Soviet Union," she said. "In that regard, it's a serious problem, especially when both China and Russia are investing in nuclear capabilities and at the same time have revanchist goals." Despite the known immense devastation that would accompany an atomic war between two nuclear nations, concern has been growing that the threat of nuclear war is on the rise. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which collectively killed some 200,000 people, not including the dozens of thousands who later died from radiation poisoning and cancer – have been attributed with bringing an end to World War II. But the bombs did more than end the deadliest war in human history – they forever changed military doctrine, sparked a nuclear arms race and cemented the concept of deterrence through the theory of mutually assured destruction. Earlier this year the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved forward the "Doomsday Clock" by one second – pushing it closer to "midnight," or atomic meltdown, than ever before. In January, the board of scientists and security officials in charge of the 78-year-old clock, which is used to measure the threat level of nuclear warfare, said that moving the clock to 89 seconds to midnight "signals that the world is on a course of unprecedented risk, and that continuing on the current path is a form of madness." Despite the escalated nuclear threats coming out of North Korea, and international concern over the Iranian nuclear program, the threat level largely came down to the three biggest players in the nuclear arena: Russia, the U.S. and China. The increased threat level was attributed to Russia's refusal to comply with international nuclear treaties amid its continuously escalating war in Ukraine and its hostile opposition to NATO nations, as well as China's insistence on expanding its nuclear arsenal. But the Bulletin, which was founded by scientists on the Manhattan Project in 1945 to inform the public of the dangers of atomic warfare, also said the U.S. has a role in the increased nuclear threat level. "The U.S. has abdicated its role as a voice of caution. It seems inclined to expand its nuclear arsenal and adopt a posture that reinforces the belief that 'limited' use of nuclear weapons can be managed," the Bulletin said. "Such misplaced confidence could have us stumble into a nuclear war." But Heinrichs countered the "alarmist" message and argued that deterrence remains a very real protectant against nuclear warfare, even as Russia increasingly threatens Western nations with atomic use. "I do think that it's a serious threat. I don't think it's inevitable that we're sort of staring down nuclear Armageddon," she said. Heinrichs argued the chief threat is not the number of nuclear warheads a nation possesses, but in how they threaten to employ their capabilities. "I think that whenever there is a threat of nuclear use, it's because adversaries, authoritarian countries, in particular Russia, is threatening to use nuclear weapons to invade another country. And that's where the greatest risk of deterrence failure is," she said. "It's not because of the sheer number of nuclear weapons." Heinrichs said Russia is lowering the nuclear threshold by routinely threatening to employ nuclear weapons in a move to coerce Western nations to capitulate to their demands, as in the case of capturing territory in Ukraine and attempting to deny it NATO access. Instead, she argued that the U.S. and its allies need to improve their deterrence by not only staying on top of their capabilities but expanding their nuclear reach in regions like the Indo-Pacific. "The answer is not to be so afraid of it or alarmed that you capitulate, because you're only going to beget more nuclear coercion if you do that," she said. "The answer is to prudently, carefully communicate to the Russians they are not going to succeed through nuclear coercion, that the United States also has credible response options. "We also have nuclear weapons, and we have credible and proportional responses, and so they shouldn't go down that path," Heinrichs said. "That's how we maintain the nuclear peace. That's how we deter conflict. And that's how we ensure that a nuclear weapon is not used."
Fox News
27-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Hamas has 'weaponized hunger,' says Rebeccah Heinrichs
Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs discusses ceasefire talks between the United States and Hamas collapsing and growing pressure on Israel to allow aid into Gaza on 'Fox Report.'
