Domestic and International Turmoil

By Jason Sibert

Our country is experiencing a period of turmoil with demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd, fighting a pandemic, and coping with the Donald Trump Administration’s managing of both.
Periods of domestic unrest are sometimes combined with unrest in the system of nation-states. Joseph Nye Jr, a Harvard University professor, recently stated that periods of economic distress and political pressures put a damper on international cooperation. He cited the Trump Administration’s recent decision to abandon the WHO and its blaming of China for the COVID-19 pandemic. Nye also said the administration’s policies combined with the nuclear arms race create a more dangerous world.
The toxic national and international mess created in part by President Trump also ignores recent history. Former Senator Sam Nunn (D -Ga.), current co-chairmen of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nuclear non-proliferation group, recently said that our country has forgotten the lessons of the Cold War He stated: “The more tensions you have in international relations, and the greater the level of crisis, the more likely it is that a mistake or miscalculation on either side will lead to a catastrophic error.” Nunn also addressed the dangers of the US, Russia, and China modernizing their nuclear arsenals, developing hypersonic missiles, or missiles that travel faster than the speed of sound and make missile defense systems obsolete, and also the Trump Administration’s exiting the Open Skies Treaty and the INF Treaty.
Trump has stated support for an arms control pact between the US, Russia, and China to limit all these countries arsenals, but China has no interest. We’re running out the clock on the last arms control treaty between our country and Russia – New Start. The only way to secure a better future is to remove this anti-arms control administration from office in November.

Jason Sibert is the executive director of the Peace Economy Project