The Economist: Washington fears three nuclear conflicts
The US government is desperate for the possibility of stopping Russia, North Korea and China at the same time, writes The Economist, citing unnamed US officials.
The Pentagon is modeling possible scenarios of Russia attacking a NATO country, drawing America to the defense of Europe, then China using Washington's distraction to invade Taiwan, while North Korea attacks South Korea. In this regard, the US President Joe Biden's administration has begun preparations to increase the nuclear forces, which are ready after "decades of deep cuts".
Expansion could begin in 2026 due to the expiration of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (which expires in February).
"If the president ... decides that we need to increase the number of forces on alert, we want to implement that decision relatively quickly," a senior US military official said. But how far U.S. officials go on the issue depends on who wins the November presidential election — Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump. It is expected that Harris, unlike Trump, will try to preserve restrictions on nuclear weapons.
Related to the topic
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Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that his country is ready for a nuclear war from a military and technical point of view, and that the strategic nuclear forces are always ready for combat. When asked about the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine, he answered: "There is no need for it."
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According to a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), global nuclear weapons costs will increase by €10 billion in 2023 compared to 2022. In particular, nine nuclear powers spent a total of 85.4 billion euros on their arsenals in 2023. 51.5 billion dollars of this amount corresponds to the contribution of the United States. The second place is occupied by China ($11.8 billion), and the third place by Russia ($8.3 billion).
