Another war, more spending for war, conventional… and nuclear. The US is top of the world in war spending and the US president now wants 50% more for the War Department. Truth is, we have a need to know the deeper costs of war ….
Another War
Category: American Military & National Security
Trump says he needs another $500 (or $600) billion
On the Donald J Trump ‘Truth Social’ site, this past week the US President announced he would be calling for a vastly expanded military budget. He explained that he wants to build a ‘Dream Military’ … Here at Strategic Demands we say ‘no’ to billions and billions more for new conflicts, wasteful spending, and misdirected […]
The Movement and the Madman
Nuclear Disaster Averted The PBS ‘American Experience’ documentary film in 2023 brings into light how the 1969 Vietnam Moratorium peace movement acted to prevent President Richard Nixon’s order to use nuclear weapons.
Official End to the AUMF?
Is an official end to Authorization for Use of Military Force in sight? It is over 20 years since the beginning of AUMF-enabled war in Afghanistan… which begat the Iraq war, which begat two decades of US war in MidEast / CentralAsia / North Africa and beyond. Today, Congress may begin a new direction
The International Space Station Minus Russia
In a move that can be seen as symbolic, as well as adversarial, the Russian Federation announces Roscosmos, its space agency, will be ending its participation in the ISS cooperative space venture. Sometime after 2024, the new Russian space agency director says, will be — ‘the end’
The End of Boots On the Ground Occupation
Twenty years at war….. This is how it ends…. a tweet from CENTCOM: The last American Soldier leaves Afghanistan Major General Chris Donahue, commander of U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan
Afghanistan, the US announces its withdrawal
Fifteen years ago, we said the US Afghanistan war was a profound disaster, a choice to invade that would end in failure as so many invasions in the past have ended. Today, some twenty years from the war’s inception, the US president declared the withdrawal of US troops
Nuclear ‘Sole Authority’ of U.S. President
For years Strategic Demands has pushed for rational controls of nuclear weapons, in particular the critical need for new ‘first use’ controls over the ‘sole authority‘ of the U.S. president to order nuclear war… Now comes a harsh realization this is no academic issue
At the Request of Quincy Institute
For over a decade, since Strategic Demands’ initial launch and position paper, Strategic Demands for the 21st Century, a New Vision for a New World, we have been part of a larger effort to redefine security. We welcome Quincy Institute as it also charts a ‘New Vision’ path forward
Accelerating Risks, Physics of Reality
“Global temperatures rose 1.1C since 1850… and up 0.2C between 2011 & 2015”… “Sea-level rise since 1993 is 3.2mm per year… from 2014 to 2019 the rise increased to 5mm per year”. As the US president denies climate science, the threats of climate disruption, and dispatches troops to Saudi Arabia, the reality of physics brews […]
Surviving Victory, an Update
A decade ago, founding members of Strategic Demands organized a “Surviving Victory” conference in Washington DC to address the 2006 security briefing: Strategic Demands of the 21st Century. Our intent was to bring new perspective to failing, counterproductive security policy. This week we look back — and look forward. The #CostsofWar are top of mind
Shifting National Security Terrain
Steve Bannon out as US presidential adviser. The Bannon agenda returns to Breitbart news with a Bannon message that he intends to ‘go to war‘. The ‘McMaster era’ begins as the national security adviser formerly at odds with Bannon reports to an unpredictable president. Will more ‘globalist’ extension, troops and conflicts across hemispheres result
The Ayes Don’t Have It
The US National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018 encounters the blind-eye in Congress as Rep. Perry [R-PA] attempts to block a study of climate change impacts on national security. StratDem again takes this moment to stress that definitions of national security must change to meet the urgency of a changing horizon of threats
Interregnum
What better time for reflection than an interregnum? Until we return, StratDem suggests visiting TomDispatch Especially Andrew Bacevich @TomDispatch … Time to consider again the global reach of American force
