March 30, 2024 (EIRNS)—The Council on Foreign Relations’ James M. Lindsay had a discussion yesterday with New York Times national security correspondent W.J. Hennigan yesterday. Hennigan is the author of two pieces in the Times’ “On the Brink” series on the risk of nuclear war in an era of growing geopolitical competition. Here are the highlights of the discussion, as reported by the CFR summary:
• The world has entered a new nuclear age. Hennigan argued, “after more than a quarter-century of relative peace in the nuclear domain, we’ve encountered a number of different troubling developments.” Among them are the modernization of nuclear arsenals by all of the major nuclear powers.
• A mutual lack of willingness to discuss limits on nuclear arms may be the most worrisome development. Neither China nor Russia has expressed interest in arms control talks. Russia’s unwillingness to take up renewal of New Start is highlighted (but how can Russia have confidence in any negotiations when the objective of U.S. policy is the “strategic defeat” of Russia?—ed.).
