8/7/20 Kingston Reif on the Growing Nuclear Tensions Between the US, Russia and China

by | Aug 10, 2020 | Interviews

Kingston Reif talks about the imminent lapse of the New START treaty, one of the last remaining nuclear safeguard agreements between the U.S. and Russia. Russia has made some moves to renegotiate the treaty, but the Trump administration has refused to do so, ostensibly in the name of making it much more restrictive, and of including China in the negotiations. These efforts would be admirable, Reif notes, except that there is little reason to believe they are legitimate. Reif suspects that the U.S. and Russia are actually both interested in being able to use the threat of medium range missiles to rein in China, and that Trump’s overtures are mostly an excuse to let the current treaty lapse. When it comes to nuclear issues, Reif and Scott agree that Trump has delivered on his worst promises to increase funding to the arms industry, while failing to follow through on his pledge to get along better with Putin.

Discussed on the show:

Kingston Reif is the Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Association, where his work focuses on nuclear disarmament, deterrence, and arms control, preventing nuclear terrorism, missile defense, and the defense budget. Find him on Twitter @KingstonAReif.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty ClassroomExpandDesigns.com/ScottListen and Think AudioTheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through PatreonPayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Play

Listen to The Scott Horton Show