BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are holding joint exercises in the South China Sea at a time of heightened tensions with Beijing over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
US holds drills in South China Sea amid tensions with China
Tag: deterrence theory
CSIS advises US to prepare for possible redeployment of tactical nukes to S. Korea
A Washington think tank is advising the US government to review military exercises in preparation for the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea. The think tank also advised the US to consider partial sanctions relief for North Korea on the condition that it ceases its nuclear weapons and missile tests.
CSIS advises US to prepare for possible redeployment of tactical nukes to S. Korea
H/T: WENT2THEBRIDGE.ORG
Germany Risks Forgetting Its History
In deciding to supply Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, Olaf Scholtz breaks the self-imposed constraints on the military’s role in German foreign policy that had been in place since the end of WWII.
Germany Risks Forgetting Its History
Opinion: Blinken ponders the post-Ukraine-war order
Opinion: Blinken ponders the post-Ukraine-war order
Crimea is a particular point of discussion. There is a widespread view in Washington and Kyiv that regaining Crimea by military force may be impossible. Any Ukrainian military advances this year in Zaporizhzhia oblast, the land bridge that connects Crimea and Russia, could threaten Russian control. But an all-out Ukrainian campaign to seize the Crimean Peninsula is unrealistic, many U.S. and Ukrainian officials believe. That’s partly because Putin has indicated that an assault on Crimea would be a tripwire for nuclear escalation.
The administration shares Ukraine’s insistence that Crimea, which was seized by Russia in 2014, must eventually be returned. But in the short run, what’s crucial for Kyiv is that Crimea no longer serve as a base for attacks against Ukraine. One formula that interests me would be a demilitarized status, with questions of final political control deferred. Ukrainian officials told me last year that they had discussed such possibilities with the administration.
As Blinken weighs options in Ukraine, he has been less worried about escalation risks than some observers. That’s partly because he believes Russia is checked by NATO’s overwhelming power. “Putin continues to hold some things in reserve because of his misplaced fear that NATO might attack Russia,” explained the official familiar with Blinken’s thinking. This Russian reserve force includes strategic bombers, certain precision-guided weapons and, of course, tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.
Are they really this delusional?!
101st Airborne Still Deployed in Romania Simulating War With Russia
About 4,000 members of the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division are still deployed in Romania as part of a military buildup in Eastern Europe that President Biden ordered last year, as the Pentagon is still deciding whether to maintain current troop levels.
101st Airborne Still Deployed in Romania Simulating War With Russia
Related:
Pentagon gives Ukraine the green light to attack targets inside Russia + Putin suggests adding preventive nuclear strike to Russian military doctrine
Only two ‘news’ outlets are reporting this. It’s very troubling*, if true.
Pentagon gives Ukraine green light for drone strikes inside Russia
Read More »The Perpetually Irrational Ukraine Debate
Because war is uncertain and reliable information is sparse, no one knows how the war in Ukraine will play out. Nor can any of us be completely certain what the optimal course of action is. We all have our own theories, hunches, beliefs, and hopes, but nobody’s crystal ball is 100 percent reliable in the middle of a war.
The Perpetually Irrational Ukraine Debate
[2011] The Tyranny of Defense Inc.
In 1961, Dwight Eisenhower famously identified the military-industrial complex, warning that the growing fusion between corporations and the armed forces posed a threat to democracy. Judged 50 years later, Ike’s frightening prophecy actually understates the scope of our modern system—and the dangers of the perpetual march to war it has put us on.
The Tyranny of Defense Inc.
Biden’s ex-disinfo czar registers as foreign agent
The former disinformation czar for President Joe Biden’s administration has apparently landed on her feet after resigning amid controversy earlier this year. She has registered as a foreign agent representing a UK activist group that advocates for censorship of speech it finds objectionable.
Biden’s ex-disinfo czar registers as foreign agent
H/T: Unorthodox Truth
Related:
Intelligence operative confirms British gov’t is targeting The Grayzone
Inside the Trilateral Commission: Power elites grapple with China’s rise
Inside the Trilateral Commission: Power elites grapple with China’s rise (original)
Each new candidate for Commission membership is carefully scrutinized before being allowed entry. As a rule, members who take up positions in their national governments — which is uncannily common — give up their Trilateral Commission membership while in public service. Those include U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
This revolving door between the commission and senior government ranks has always been fodder for conspiracy theorists. Its first director in 1973, Zbigniew Brzezinski, later became U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser. The very existence of the commission, meanwhile, seems predicated on the question of whether governing should be left to the people. It is a question the commission itself has tackled head-on since 1975: Is democracy functioning? Or does someone need to guide it?
That year, three scholars — Michel Crozier, Samuel Huntington and Joji Watanuki — wrote a report for The Trilateral Commission titled “The Crisis of Democracy.” In it, Huntington wrote that some of the problems of governance in the U.S. stem from an “excess of democracy.”
Related:
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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