Interpreting Newsweek's Recent Article Fantasizing About Nuclear Armageddon
The text interprets a recent Newsweek article that exemplifies the US establishment’s blatant and continuous attempts to sow fear by justifying aggression towards China and Russia.
The recent surge in US belligerence against Russia and China in the media like Newsweek’s article is a dangerous messaging that cannot be taken lightly, come after comments from Rear Admiral Thomas Buchanan in November, serve to reinforce the myth of US total spectrum dominance, a narrative designed to mask the reality of America's declining economic and military supremacy. The text interprets a recent Newsweek article that exemplifies the US establishment’s blatant and continuous attempts to sow fear by justifying aggression towards China and Russia.
The Newsweek article in question fantasizes on the potential catastrophic impact of a U.S. nuclear strike using the B-83 bomb on the capitals of North Korea, Russia, and China, would kill and injure millions. The analysis, based on maps by historian Alex Wellerstein, details the extensive blast and thermal radiation effects, emphasizing the severe humanitarian consequences of nuclear warfare amid rising global tensions. Nonetheless, Newsweek’s article is just one among various other media, think tanks and the likes the US is utilizing to message its self-perceived supremacy and nuclear capacities to all states that are daring to prosper beyond the neocolonial architecture of the Rules Based Order.
Rattling The Nuclear Saber
Rear Admiral Buchanan's pronouncements in mid-November 2024 about the US being prepared to "win" a nuclear war with Russia while retaining enough weapons to threaten the entire world are not only reckless but also demonstrably false. The omission of potential US and European casualties in such a scenario is a deliberate attempt to downplay the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war. The idea that the US can "continue to lead the world" after a nuclear exchange is a dangerous fantasy as a nuclear war would devastate the US and the world, leaving no winners.
Rear Admiral Thomas Buchanan goes on to assert that the United States is prepared to engage in a nuclear conflict with China or Russia (or both?) and believes it could emerge victorious while still maintaining a significant nuclear arsenal to deter other nations. Buchanan's comments can be interpreted as a readiness to consider nuclear options as part of US military strategy to prevent the development multipolar global trade, and also as a way of doubling down on the propagandistic narratives that have led us here, which is exactly why the Russian Federation understands the proxy war against NATO in Ukraine as a defensive war because they expect an attack to presumably come if the US neutralizes Russia’s nuclear second-strike capabilities as its currently seeking to do.
The US attempts to portray the Eurasian and Asian giants as evil enough to be a threat but dismisses the realities of nuclear war are disingenuous. Both China and Russia, possess a sophisticated, recently upgraded modern nuclear arsenal, a fact that the propaganda conveniently ignores. By attempting to neutralize Russia's secondary strike capabilities and threatening military action, and conspiring to contain China, the US reveals its desperation to maintain control over a world that is increasingly resistant to its neo-colonial ambitions. China's rapid economic growth and advancements in trade practices have positioned it as a formidable competitor, leading to fears within the US establishment about losing its global dominance.
China, a nation that has not engaged in military conquest abroad, has instead relied on its industrious workforce and robust production capabilities to achieve remarkable economic growth. This peaceful rise, however, has been met with increasing hostility from the United States, which chooses to perceive China's success as a threat to its global dominance. The US, unable to compete on an economic or financial level, has resorted to threatening nuclear war as a means to stifle China's rise and maintain its own hegemonic position. The QE-addicted US economy struggles to compete with China's robust production, high tech know-how and trade capabilities, resorting to fearmongering and warmongering. Hence, Newsweek's articles are full of veiled threats of war in a desperate attempt to project strength and maintain some global influence.
The current geopolitical tensions are characterized by a profound fear within the US establishment of China's and Russia's potential to craft a sanction free economic hegemony. This fear is not rooted in any direct military threat to US territory or its allies; rather, it stems from a deep-seated anxiety about the rise of global south neo-mercantilism and the implications it holds for the existing US Rules-Based Order. The United States, unable to compete effectively with China's and Russia's leadership on economic or financial matters, resorts to a New Cold War characterized by aggressive posturing, Hybrid Wars, Proxy Wars, Terrorism, including threats of nuclear conflict, as a means of maintaining its dominance.
Rules-Based Order As A Neocolonial Architecture
The US strategy towards China and Russia can be understood as an attempt to contain a competitor that does not conform to the established rules of a neocolonial framework. This framework, often described as a "rules-based order," privileges certain states —primarily those aligned with US interests— while marginalizing others. The US allows its vassal states to prosper up to a certain point without sanctions, knowing that it can exert control over them at will. For instance, Japan's economic policies after the Plaza Accord have often been shaped by US interests, leading to decisions that undermined the island nations’ own economic stability. Similarly, Germany's dependence on US support has resulted in a form of Stockholm syndrome, where it tolerates US terrorist actions that effectively eliminated the European country's energy infrastructure and broader economic output leading to deindustrialization thus sustaining the interests of the US oligarchy.
In contrast, nations like Russia, which do not submit to this neo-colonial architecture, pose a significant challenge to US ambitions of dominance. The US establishment perceives these nations as threats, not only to its geopolitical interests but also to its geoeconomic model, which relies on the subjugation of other states to maintain its own prosperity. This attempt by the US led west at neutralizing global politics and geoeconomic dynamics synthesize its fear of a multipolar world and drives it to adopt increasingly aggressive tactics, including military threats and economic sanctions.
The US fear of China and Russia is intricately linked to its anxiety over neo-mercantilism and the challenge it poses to the existing global order. It is urgent to drop the Rules-Based Order protocols and engage in authentic diplomatic efforts to address tensions and prevent catastrophic outcomes. The political realm cannot be neutralized which is why China and Russia stand as real political actors, while the US's vassals have become mere extensions of the Pentagons’ political will.