nuclear weapons

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s energy secretary, Rick Perry, has secretly approved the sale of nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia, Reuters revealed this week. Saudi Arabia is reportedly attempting to construct at least two nuclear power plants as part of its effort to diversify its energy sector and its economy as a whole. As part of this plan it has accepted bids from Russia, South Korea and the U.S.

I published a couple of pieces here last year, talking about how worrying and dangerous it was that the language – and indeed the policies – surrounding nuclear weapons appeared to be changing: and how this had ominous implications. Why that subject particularly came into focus was because of the revised ‘US Nuclear Posture Review‘, […]

President Trump ended his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un two hours early as North Korea wanted all sanctions lifted entirely while refusing to fully remove all nukes from the country, as Kim views its nuclear arsenal as a guarantor of its security and the way it will be able to preserve its hermit kingdom.

Writer, comedian, and University of Bath teaching fellow, Matthew Alford joined me to discuss his latest book Union Union Jackboot: What Your Media and Professors Don’t Tell You About British Foreign Policy, which we co-authored with TJ Coles. We started off the conversation by discussing the unique structure of the book. Matt and I talked about the perception of British foreign policy we see today in the media. We touch on the brutal legacy the British Empire has had around the world, and take shots at some of the UK’s sacred cows like Winston Churchill.

An era-shaping threshold is being crossed at a weapons plant in the high plains country of the Texas Panhandle, writes James Carroll. By James Carroll TomDispatch.com Last month, the National Nuclear Security Administration (formerly the Atomic Energy Commission) announced that the first…Read more →

As Iranians this week mark the 40th anniversary of their country’s 1979 revolution, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton declared in a message to Iranian leaders on Monday that he doesn’t think they will “have many more anniversaries to enjoy”—a comment that was immediately perceived as a direct threat of war.

Last month, the National Nuclear Security Administration (formerly the Atomic Energy Commission) announced that the first of a new generation of strategic nuclear weapons had rolled off the assembly line at its Pantex nuclear weapons plant in the panhandle of Texas. That warhead, the W76-2, is designed to be fitted to a submarine-launched Trident missile, a weapon with a range of more than 7,500 miles.

A conversation with youngsters – who are by nature bubbling with energy , fired with idealism and suffused with innumerable questions – is a thing which everyone with grey hair looks forward to. For someone like me it is an added gift this morning that after exactly a gap of forty years this writer is … Continue reading And Somewhere There are Engineers … →

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the Trump administration is pulling the plug on the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, claiming that Moscow "shamelessly" violated the 1987 agreement. Russia says the US invented that fiction so it could have an excuse to clear the way to develop new missiles.

I've never been a fan of Hillary Clinton's-- never. At least her husband's neo-liberal agenda was couched in a pleasant personality. Each time I've met her was-- literally-- disgusting. I was stuck with a monster. Once her whole retinue-- one by one-- abandoned her backstage before a speech and I was the only left to deal with her and it was excruciating. Once at a White House state banquet she was like the big downer in the otherwise festive event, bad vibing everyone.