Daily Archives: August 2, 2022

Critical Race Theorys Merchants of Doubt – Yahoo News

Posted: August 2, 2022 at 3:30 pm

CA School District Considers Ban On Critical Race Theory

Students against the CRT ban make their views known while pro-ban speakers talk during the public comment portion of a meeting of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School Board in Placentia on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 to consider banning the academic concept of critical race theory in the district. Some parents worry that language in a proposed CRT resolution could lead to the loss of Advanced Placement classes. Credit - Leonard Ortiz-MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/ Getty Images

Protests over George Floyds 2020 murder were the largest civil rights demonstrations in American history. The brutal footage of officer Derek Chauvins suffocating knee on George Floyds neck led many white Americans to, at least briefly, acknowledge the reality of structural racism in policing. In response, corporations questioned their diversity policies, defund the police became an activist rallying cry, and books on anti-racism became unexpected bestsellers. A narrative arose that America experienced a racial reckoning that challenged white racisms worst excesses.

Conservative media and think tanks, fearing a lost battle in the war of ideas over racism in American life, counter-mobilized. Morality plays need villains, and conservative activists conjured a caricature of critical race theorya forty-year-old academic frameworkas an ominous and pervasive evil. Conservative groups claimed their villain was everywherefrom the federal bureaucracy to elementary schoolsand fomented a moral panic over anti-racist education. Pundits credited Virginia Governor Greg Youngkins win to his scaring white parents into thinking their children might learn about the nations history of white supremacy. Conservative lawmakers have exploited the panic, attempting to remake the educational landscape with banning so-called divisive concepts that might make white kids uncomfortable. Propaganda victories are victories, nonetheless. And killing the messenger can destroy the message (if you cant beat them, ban them). Facts dont care about your feelings has become a conservative rallying cry. But critical race theorys merchants of doubt, by legislating against accurate teaching of Americas racial history, put their feelings over empirical facts.

But victories aside, propaganda exposes its proponents intellectual bankruptcy. Conservative caricatures of critical race theory are unrecognizable to scholars familiar with the idea. According to the Washington Post, Christopher Rufo, the principal architect of the anti-critical race theory of moral panic admitted his crusade distorted the meaning of critical race theory when he tweeted:

We have successfully frozen their brandcritical race theoryinto the public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions. We will eventually turn it toxic, as we put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand category. The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think critical race theory. We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.

Incoherence and confusion are virtues for opponents of anti-racist teaching. And Rufo and his fellow travelers are simply updating the misinformation campaigns targeting accepted scholarship that elements of the right have trafficked in for decades. Heedless of both the actual content of critical race theory and the human cost of their panic, conservatives turned to propaganda because the weight of empirical evidence undermines their ideological preferences.

In their classic book Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming, the historians of science Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway outline a series of propaganda campaigns designed to undermine the scientific consensus on many of our most pressing collective problems. Conservative scientists, politicians, and think tanks sowed confusion over the link between cancer and smoking, acid rains environmental impact, and civilizational threats over global warming. Conspirators exploited the structure of scientific inquirywhich contains inherent uncertaintiesto cast doubt on settled facts. Conspirators also played the media, manipulating the false objectivity of both-sides framing to claim equal time for scientific consensus and quackery. The strategy of sowing confusion works not because anti-empirical claims are correct but because manufactured uncertainty is often enough to bring political action to a halt.

Anti-scientific campaigns, whether focused on acid rain or climate change, often relied upon a close-knit cabal of think tanks, funders, and individual scientists (who sometimes lacked subject area expertise). Corporate profits and individual livelihoods were at risk if facts about the harms of smoking or environmental crisis were acknowledged and regulated. For short-term financial or political gain, anti-science propagandists made progress on long-term collective problems difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. In the meantime, these propagandists profited as the harms from industries they were protecting were passed onto an unsuspecting and credulous public.

Critical race theorys merchants of doubt use strategies similar to those of previous anti-intellectual propaganda campaigns. And like these prior movements, the moral panic over critical race theory rests on a weak intellectual foundation.

No serious analyst doubts that American society is rife with racial inequality. Yes, there is debate among social scientists about the cause of racial inequality. But the consensus among honest scholars is that racial inequality is a long-standing, complex, intractable, and pressing social problem. The empirical evidence on structural racism and the inequality it produces is massive, overwhelming, and hard to contest. From unemployment to life expectancy, it is difficult to find a domain of American life where Black people arent worse off. Critical race theorists developed a flexible set of tenets that showed how often seemingly neutral social processes reproduce racial inequality. And these tenets were so useful theyve been adopted by scholars of education, public policy, and sociology. Critical race theorys main principlesthat race is a social construction and racial progress is fragile and easily overturnedhave substantial empirical support.

Intellectual weakness on race matters doesnt make the anti-critical race theory campaign any less dangerous. Desperation and ruthlessness born of knowing facts arent on their side may make the campaigns more treacherous. Accuracy isnt necessary to terrify teachers into changing lesson plans and avoiding basic truths about the American past (and present) or mangling lectures to make understanding difficult. Teachers are worried that clear explanations of slavery and Native American genocide may run afoul of the law and have received physical threats for vowing to teach the truth about American history.

Im hardly the first analyst to connect attacks on critical race theory and prior ignorance promoting campaigns. Several historians have shown the similarities between the Scopes Money Trialperhaps the paradigmatic case of anti-intellectual campaigns in U.S. historyand the moral panic surrounding critical race theory. Adam R. Shapiro notes that Darwinism had been around for about half a century, when it became the object of conservative ire. Shapiro claims that it wasnt Darwins theory, per se, that led to opposition. The scientific consensus around Darwinism was representative of larger cultural trends that worried conservatives. Evolution stood in for a broad swath of economic, cultural, and political changes. The backlash to critical race theory is driven by a similar set of fears of lost white prerogative amidst cultural and demographic change.

Historical connections between the Scopes Monkey Trial and the current moral panic arent simply analogies. Christopher Rufo, who has been credited with taking the moral panic mainstream, is a former employee of the anti-evolution Discovery Institute. Perhaps better described as an anti-think tank, the Discovery Institute promotes misinformation around evolutionary theory, arguing that in place of the scientific consensus, schools should teach the controversy. Of course, there is little controversy among biologists aside from what the Discovery Institute itself foments. Claiming there is a scientific controversy where none exists muddies the waters, allowing unscrupulous actors to push their political agenda. Conspiracy theories travel in packs, and the Discovery Institute also promotes climate change denial and raises questions about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

Ideas from critical race theory can help explain moral panic. Moral panics are immoral exercises, designed to create group cohesion, target ideological or political enemies, and shape norms. Critical race theorists draw attention to structural racism to find solutions to racial inequality. Critical Race Theorists maintain that structural racism is a profitable political system for the systems beneficiaries. Finding solutions to climate change and tobacco addition threaten those who benefit from emissions and smoking. And finding solutions to racial inequality threatens those who benefit from structural racism. 2020s protests put these beneficiaries on notice, so its no surprise they responded to defend their interests. Banning teaching about racism is a justification of existing racial inequality and a prelude to producing more. Barring teaching about diversity distorts basic facts about American life and creates the idea that difference is strange or dangerous.

Legislators claim they want to stop divisive teaching and are worried about lessons that demonize white people. But what is more divisive than outlawing basic descriptive facts about American history? Critical race theory doesnt demonize white people. But by blocking teaching about Americas segregationists, eugenicists, and white citizen councilors, legislators may end up demonizing themselves. Dr. King warned about the dangers of this racial ignorance when he said, Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn.

Academic knowledge production depends upon good faith and verifiable fact. And when facts about structural racism make their way into the schools, they ban books and threaten teachers. It makes collective problems harder to solve.

See the rest here:

Critical Race Theorys Merchants of Doubt - Yahoo News

Posted in Darwinism | Comments Off on Critical Race Theorys Merchants of Doubt – Yahoo News

More People Need to Watch The Absolute Best Sci-Fi Show on Prime Video – CNET

Posted: at 3:29 pm

Brace yourselves, folks. I'm about to gush about The Expanse. But before I do, here are some things that arenot that greatabout The Expanse.

Whenever I go full hog trying to convince someone to watch The Expanse, I like to get this list out of the way. I want people to know from the outset: This TV show is not perfect. In fact, depending on what you value in your television, you could even call The Expanse "bad."

I do not think The Expanse is bad.

On the contrary, I think The Expanse is very good. Often it's good in spite of its flaws. Sometimes it's enhanced by those flaws.

Set hundreds of years in the future when humans are spread out across the solar system, The Expanse is based on a series of hard sci-fi novels written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the pen name James S.A. Corey. It is dense with peerless universe building. It's a show about the very real perils of space travel and colonization, but also a surprisingly nuanced show that deals in interplanetary politics and class warfare.

In one corner we have Earth and all its citizens. In the other, Mars. The humans who have colonized Mars are a military-focused, tough group of people prone to resolving conflict with force. Those still on Earth are the preening, politically savvy elite.

The wild cards are the Belters, residents of outer planets and asteroid belts who have developed their own Creole-esque language and, alongside that, a culture completely separate from the humans on Earth and Mars. Sick of being trampled upon by the "Earthers," the Belters are threatening revolution, but lack the power or resources to truly strike back at their oppressors.

Everything that occurs in The Expanse stems from the tensions between these three discrete groups.

The tight knit crew of the Rocinante.

The magic of The Expanse is how effortlessly the show flits between genres. It's hard sci-fi at all times, but in its first couple of seasons, The Expanse plays out like a murder mystery. Later, it's a show about alien technology and the arms race associated with that. Then it becomes a show about exploring strange new planets. Ultimately, The Expanse is a show about all these things, but places its uniquely crafted universe at its core, giving it a through line lesser sci-fi shows don't have.

The show's aesthetic plays a similar trick. Not everyone enjoys its metallic, video-game-esque color scheme, but I like video games, so I'm a fan. The Expanse feels like how I think a Mass Effect show could feel, if that ever comes to fruition and is somehow decent. The Expanse is cool, clinical and smart -- and sometimes the wooden performances amplify that in ways that should be bad, but often feels good? In a universe that lacks warmth, dialed back, minimalist performances make sense.

Yeah, I'm confused too. But it works.

It's a very not good hat.

Ultimately, The Expanse is a show that will never disappoint you. Much like Dark -- for my money the best show on Netflix-- The Expanse is now fully complete and, unlike most sci-fi shows, defied the odds and finished well. Some of its six seasons are better than others, but The Expanse is incredibly consistent. You'll be shocked by how much ground it covers and how seamlessly it moves from one civilization-altering crisis to the next.

It's funny, but almost everyone I know who watches The Expanse, including myself, loves to complain about it. They'll complain about the clunky dialogue and the strange performances, but there's nothing else like it. It's a show that's stubbornly carried by its strengths, to levels of quality it has no right attaining. You owe it to yourself to watch, if only to create your own list of things in The Expanse that annoy you.

Just make sure that list includes Thomas Jane's hat. Unforgivable.

Read the rest here:

More People Need to Watch The Absolute Best Sci-Fi Show on Prime Video - CNET

Posted in Mars Colony | Comments Off on More People Need to Watch The Absolute Best Sci-Fi Show on Prime Video – CNET

Should We Create a Permanent Base On The Moon? Explorersweb – ExplorersWeb

Posted: at 3:29 pm

With renewed interest in space exploration, there is talk of establishing a human presence beyond Earth. Mars, Titan, and Europa dominate the conversation. But what about our closest neighbor?

Despite its role in the space race of the 1960s, and NASAs plan to return to the Moon by 2025, many doubt that a permanent human presence there is worthwhile.

This decade, NASAs Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway will succeed the International Space Station. It will orbit the Moon and serve as a laboratory and communications hub from which to stage deep space travel.

It will also simplify travel to the Moons surface. This is the first step in NASAs Artemis program, which ultimately aims to establish a base on the surface. But is this even possible?

The ideal location for a lunar base or colony is the Moons polar regions, especially the South Pole. The South Pole houses cold traps permanently shadowed craters containing confirmed deposits of ice. Astronomers theorize that most of this water came from asteroids, icy comets, and meteors that pounded the lunar surface in eons past.

Settlers could process these ice deposits into oxygen, hydrogen fuel, and most importantly, drinking water.

Artists illustration of Artemis base camp. Photo: NASA

The South Pole also contains consistently sunlit highlands, optimal for harnessing solar power. Experts propose building solar panel farms along the crater rims. These panels would rotate 360 to follow the suns movements.

Lunar skyscrapers could also harness this solar power. We can put these skyscrapers together with relative ease since the Moon experiences only one-sixth of Earths gravity. Low gravity also means that skyscrapers can reach several kilometres high.

For all these reasons, NASA chose the South Poles Shackleton Crater for the Artemis mission base camp.

The Artemis camp will include a small cabin for four astronauts. It will also feature lunar terrain vehicles, rovers, and even a mobile home. This small habitat would only cater to short stays. NASA has not confirmed the precise design or the materials involved.

Architectural firm Fosters and Partners is experimenting with 3D printed designs for the habitat. They are proposing lunar regolith (lunar soil) as the building material. Regolith is a powdery gray soil, composed mainly of iron and silica. It is the result of millions of years of scorching from meteoroid impacts and constant solar radiation.

South Pole Aitken Basin rim. Photo: Apollo 8/NASA

One potential design consists of an inflatable dome and interconnecting cylindrical modules covered in regolith, or protective lunar soil, as a shield from meteoroids, radiation, cosmic rays, and solar winds.

Another possible habitat location is the Moons lava tubes caves and long underground tunnels created by volcanism. The tubes in the Marius Hills run 40m deep and 500m in diameter. They too would protect from radiation and solar winds and add insulation.

Solar energy will power the settlement and the all-important mining activities. According to NASA, the Moon has water, helium-3, and rare earth materials. Rare earths such as scandium and yttrium power our electronics. The Moons silicon, calcium, titanium, iron, and manganese can serve as building materials. Countering environmental objections, NASA estimates that it would take about two centuries to impact merely 1% of its surface.

The cost of transporting people, equipment, and supplies to the Moon is roughly $10,000 per kilogram. The Artemis program will cost around $93 billion ($4.1 billion per launch). This is why some scientists believe it would be more economical for people to live on the Moon.

But this would require great self-sufficiency from settlers. They would need to grow food in lunar soil, recycle water, compost waste, and much more.

Lunar South Pole. Photo: NASA

The lack of atmosphere and exposure to space creates major hurdles. Intense radiation, extreme temperatures in the sunlit regions, and meteor impacts jeopardize both humans and the materials theyd rely on. Approximately 33,000 golf ball-sized meteoroids traveling at 96,000kph strike the Moon every year. No region is secure. Luckily, larger impacts are rare.

Lastly, the settlement and its occupants must be careful to keep airlock and pressurizing systems functioning smoothly. The same for space suits. Constant hyper-vigilance is exhausting and can become a strain on mental health.

Living on the Moon could have many benefits. We can learn more about the Earth and Moons history and geology. We can mine valuable resources. Astronauts could observe deep space without interference from Earths radio signals. And last but not least, a lunar base could become a gateway to Mars

Original post:

Should We Create a Permanent Base On The Moon? Explorersweb - ExplorersWeb

Posted in Mars Colony | Comments Off on Should We Create a Permanent Base On The Moon? Explorersweb – ExplorersWeb

Heres Why NFTs Are Poised To Witness Hypergrowth, Per John G – News Ghana

Posted: at 3:29 pm

Non-fungible tokens, aka NFTs, are gradually becoming mainstream in the ever-expanding metaverse. As per BBC, the use of the acronym grew by 11,000% in 2021, while CNBC reported that trading in NFTs amplified by 21,000% in the same year. It seems theres no looking back to this trend as brands across various industries are ready to hop on the bandwagon.

As per NFTs expert John G, the digital artwork is attracting brands to expand beyond traditional marketing mix. Whether its Coachella offering digital blooms to paid participants or Super Bowl turning tickets into collectible NFTs, 2022 so far has witnessed some of the most exciting ways brands have utilized NFTs to engage with audiences. From Dolce & Gabbana to Coachella and Adidas, numerous brands are leveraging NFTs in their marketing campaigns.

John G shares that this trend will only grow from here. NFTs have struck a chord with the fashion industry, among many others. Renowned brands are selling their clothing as non-fungible tokens besides participating in virtual fashion weeks, he adds.

Companies like Adidas have expanded their brand strategy into the metaverse. Their collaborations with Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Punks Comic are the baby steps towards their mega plan to influence the metaverse, says John G.

Besides attracting brands, NFTs have become a dependable medium for artists worldwide. Today digital artwork is selling in millions on NFT platforms, and artists receive royalties every time their art exchanges hands. John G believes that the NFT world has rewarded artists like never before. Artists consider NFTs as the future of their craft.

Talking about virtual real estate, John G reveals that the NFT ecosystem is also witnessing massive sales of lands on platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox. Creators on these platforms offer immersive experiences to audiences that span from mazes to colonies on planet Mars.

Lastly, NFTs and crypto tokens across the globe thrive on the foundation of a young active community. NFTs are proving to be more than just hype. The real users behind these digital assets are leaving no stone unturned to make their projects a super success. With the #WAGMI spirit felt unanimous in its communities, the future of NFTs looks bright and surreal, elucidates John G.

In a nutshell, NFTs continue to innovate the metaverse and touch our lives in several ways. The hypergrowth of NFTs is poised to prosper in the coming years. Its a tsunami that will take over the metaverse and build it block by block.

Originally posted here:

Heres Why NFTs Are Poised To Witness Hypergrowth, Per John G - News Ghana

Posted in Mars Colony | Comments Off on Heres Why NFTs Are Poised To Witness Hypergrowth, Per John G – News Ghana

A Menu Sample of Dishes to Try When in the Seychelles – Africa.com

Posted: at 3:28 pm

A staple in tropical countries, breadfruit has a similar taste to potatoes but with an amazing aroma of baked bread. In Seychelles, it is mostly made into mash or chips or roasted over an open fire. The salad palmis, also known as the Heart of Palms Salad or Millionaires salad due to the labour that comes with getting the palm hearts, is a local delicacy consisting of coconut, red peppers, green tomatoes, avocados, green mangoes, coriander, and mint. Being an island destination, seafood is a dominant feature on any menu in Seychelles, and one of the most common and most loved dishes is grilled fish. Seychelles has created its own version of shark chutney. Made with ground shark meat, bilimbi, lime, and turmeric, shark chutney is served with many of the creole main dishes. Sosis Sale (salted sausage) and sosis kreol (creole Sausage) are two types of sausages found in Seychelles, and they make up this popular household dish of sausage rougay. Two types of cassava are found on the island of Seychelles, a sour one and a sweet one called mayok dou, which is the one used as an ingredient in making cassava pudding cake vanilla infused baked treat topped with coconut for some crunch.

SOURCE:IOL

Go here to see the original:

A Menu Sample of Dishes to Try When in the Seychelles - Africa.com

Posted in Seychelles | Comments Off on A Menu Sample of Dishes to Try When in the Seychelles – Africa.com

China and NATO’s Strategic Concept The Diplomat – The Diplomat

Posted: at 3:26 pm

Advertisement

The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy.This conversation with Dr. Mathieu Duchtel director of the Asia Program at Institut Montaigne in Paris and formerly the representative in Beijing of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is the 329th in The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.

Identify major differences between NATOs Strategic Concept 2022 and past versions.

The Euro-Atlantic area is not at peace, and NATO cannot discount the possibility of an attack against Allies sovereignty and territorial integrity. From this bleak but obvious assessment, in stark contrast with the language of the previous Strategic Concept released in 2010 (an Euro-Atlantic area at peace and a low threat of attack against NATO territory), follows the great emphasis of the 2022 Concept on NATOs nuclear deterrence, with resolve as the key word to demonstrate credibility. No one should doubt our strength and resolve to defend every inch of Allied territory; The Alliance has the capabilities and resolve to impose costs on an adversary that would be unacceptable and far outweigh the benefits that any adversary could hope to achieve.

Challenges from authoritarian actors to our interests, values and democratic way of life have outranked and downgraded the proliferation of ballistic missiles and terrorist risks to a secondary priority on NATOs threat assessment. Strategic competition with authoritarian actors impacts threat assessment across all security sectors but is particularly obvious in cyberspace. There is a world between 2010s Cyber-attacks are becoming more frequent, more organized and more costly to 2022s Malign actors seek to degrade our critical infrastructure, interfere with our government services, extract intelligence, steal intellectual property and impede our military activities.

Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific.

In sum, the intensity of current threats and challenges to Euro-Atlantic security suggests a strong sense of common purpose to an alliance that only a few years ago French President Macron was characterizing, or rather mischaracterizing, as brain dead.

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

Analyze key shifts in NATOs approach to China as reflected in Strategic Concept 2022.

China poses systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security but is not considered an adversary or a threat. What best characterizes the inclusion of China on NATOs agenda Secretary-General Jens Stoltenbergs 2020 remark that this is not about moving NATO into the South China Sea, but it is about taking into account that China is coming closer to us.

Two years later, the 2022 Strategic Concept prioritizes enhancing the resilience of NATO member states against Chinese actions that undermine the coherence and the strength of our societies, economies, and democratic institutions. In short, NATO remains focused on Euro-Atlantic security in a broad sense, not military competition in the Indo-Pacific.

Regarding China, NATO has a key role to play to achieve strategic unity and coherence among its member states. This role is particularly salient given that China systematically seeks to sow division in transatlantic relations and to exploit intra-EU differences to its advantage. A shared assessment of Chinese military policy can provide a strong basis for strategic unity. During the Cold War, NATO already provided a platform for intelligence exchange between member states on the state of PLA programs. There was no question at the time already that the focus of the alliance was overwhelmingly the Soviet threat.

Today in Europe, the EU lacks the capacity in Europe to produce shared awareness of development trends inside the PLA: decisions regarding equipment, force structure, overseas deployments, posture in East Asia, the change of format of Chinese nuclear forces A common understanding of Chinese military affairs is crucial as a basis to prevent transfers of dual-use technology that benefit PLA programs, and to guide European military cooperation to other partners in the Indo-Pacific region. The fact that military analysts focused on Russian deployments around Ukraine were much more successful in predicting the Russian attack than historians, diplomats, or political scientists is a tragic recent reminder of the peculiar reliability of military analysis to understand a countrys strategic orientation and predict its behavior.

Examine Beijings response to the Strategic Concept.

There is clearly irritation in Beijing. The spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, has warned NATO that it is completely futile to play up and hype the so-called China threat and repeated known lines regarding Chinese normal defense spending, and NATOs quest of absolute military security.

But Chinas order of priorities is clear, and is encapsulated in the formula 2, 3, 4, 5: the U.S. bilateral alliances in East Asia, AUKUS, the Quad, and the Five Eyes. An Euro-Atlantic alliance focused on resilience in the Euro-Atlantic area poses no threat to China.

Could NATO play a role in the Indo-Pacific military balance? It is extremely unlikely in peace time. But there is an ambiguity regarding whether NATOs collective defense (Article 5, that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all) could be activated in case of a Chinese attack against U.S. bases in the Pacific, if China launched a Taiwan annexation war. In its detailed response to the Strategic Concept, the Chinese mission to the EU expressed skepticism regarding NATOs claim that its defense zone will not extend beyond the Northern Atlantic region. Chinese analysts tend to see a trend of NATO involvement in Indo-Pacific security in the making especially in the context of leaders from Australia, Japan, and South Korea attending the 2022 NATO summit.

How does the Strategic Concept raise the stakes in NATOs management of China-Russia relations vis--vis the China challenge and Russia as a significant and direct threat to the Euro-Atlantic area?

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

The 2022 Strategic Concept does not represent China and Russia as the two faces of the same single threat. Despite the Concepts emphasis on authoritarian states, a clear distinction is made between the imminent Russia threat and the challenges to Euro-Atlantic interests posed by China. It could have been otherwise. Some countries would have accepted tougher language on the state of the Sino-Russian partnership. France reportedly played a key role in advocating a nuanced language merely noting that Chinese and Russian actions are mutually reinforcing. This suggests a growing awareness that Western policies towards China and Russia have largely contributed to cement their partnership.

From Abe Shinzos to Emmanuel Macrons, all attempts to drive a wedge between China and Russia proceeded on the assumption Russia will not accept a status of Chinas junior partner. All failed to capture the order of priorities in Moscow, and Putins drive to revise the international order. As Western sanctions against Russia are in the process of causing gigantic damage to its economy and access to technology, deepened Russian dependence on China is unavoidable. The risk of opportunistic Russian actions against NATO in a scenario of U.S.-China confrontation over Taiwan may be higher than the risk of opportunistic Chinese military offensive in East Asia in the context of the Ukraine war, even though a prolonged war lasting years could provide China a window.

There is no silver bullet to prevent this worst-case scenario from happening NATO military superiority and the credibility of our deterrence posture remains the best security guarantee for NATO member states. At the same time, not designating China a security threat and focusing NATOs action on Euro-Atlantic resilience, security, deterrence of Russia, and simply military power is the safer road. This does not prevent European states like France and the United Kingdom from continuing to play a limited role in Indo-Pacific security, nor does this forego the possibility for the U.S. of mobilizing key NATO allies as part of a coalition if China starts a war in East Asia.

Assess NATOs plans to operationalize the Strategic Concept and implications for the geopolitical risk environment in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.

The 2022 Strategic Concept reaffirms in unambiguous terms NATO as the cornerstone of Europe-Atlantic security. NATO provides credible deterrence against attacks against its member states. A Russian gamble that striking missile defense facilities in Poland or convoys of military equipment to Ukraine before they reach the border would uncover the void of Article 5 would be extremely self-destructive. The new Strategic Concept is all about strength, credibility, and resolve but the focus is NATO territory. Russias use of its nuclear umbrella to conduct a war of conquest and destruction in Ukraine shows the limits of NATOs capacity to defend the status quo and preserve peace in Europe.

In the coming years, facing a weakened and aggressive Russia, the priority to operationalize the Strategic Concept is to cultivate NATOs strategic superiority over Russian armed forces. The membership of Sweden and Finland and Germanys plans to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense will strengthen NATO. The EUs financial support for military innovation in Europe is also an important strategic asset. NATO needs to regain an aura of military power and resolve, which internal disputes regarding strategic orientations, Europe largely free-riding on U.S. military power, and the Afghanistan campaign had contributed to erode.

The rest is here:
China and NATO's Strategic Concept The Diplomat - The Diplomat

Posted in NATO | Comments Off on China and NATO’s Strategic Concept The Diplomat – The Diplomat

Italy’s lower house backs NATO membership for Finland and Sweden – Reuters

Posted: at 3:26 pm

Brothers of Italy party leader Giorgia Meloni arrives for a meeting at the Quirinale Palace in Rome, Italy January 29, 2021. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo

Register

ROME, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Italy's Chamber of Deputies approved a bill on Tuesday to ratify the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO in a vote welcomed by Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party is seen as the front runner in the coming election.

The lower house voted by 398 votes to 20 in favour of the bill which now needs a second, final green light from the Senate.

"In the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine, strengthening the European front of the Alliance is an important step that can act as a deterrent to new Russian threats," Meloni said in a statement.

Register

The accession needs to be ratified by the parliaments of all 30 North Atlantic Treaty Organization members before Finland and Sweden can be protected by the NATO defence clause that states that an attack on one member is an attack against all. read more

Meloni, whose party is the most popular in the conservative coalition ahead of the Sept. 25 election, had endorsed Prime Minister Mario Draghi's decision to ship weapons to Ukraine, even though it was in opposition to his government. read more

However, her two main allies, the League and Forza Italia, have been much more ambivalent, reflecting their historically close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Register

Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Mike Harrison

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Continued here:
Italy's lower house backs NATO membership for Finland and Sweden - Reuters

Posted in NATO | Comments Off on Italy’s lower house backs NATO membership for Finland and Sweden – Reuters

Could there ever be a Middle East Nato? – The Business Standard

Posted: at 3:26 pm

In the run-up to US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia this month, Jordan's King Abdullah II said he "would be one of the first people that would endorse a Middle East Nato." The idea of a Middle East Nato a Nato-like military alliance among various configurations of states in the region was floated as recently as the Trump administration but has thus far failed to materialise.

Given that the kings and autocrats of the region deeply mistrust each other, especially on matters of security and intelligence-sharing, it remains a far-fetched notion. Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel and assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and now a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said such an alliance might require an "Article 5-like commitment from the US" referring to the principle that all Nato members must treat an attack against one as an attack on all and that "Congress would never agree to such a treaty."

But while creating a Middle East Nato remains out of the question, Abdullah's statement reflected an optimism for Biden's trip. Perhaps it would at least yield a regional air defence integration plan among Gulf countries and Israel. Even that smaller goal, though which seemed achievable in light of recent US-backed defence cooperation in the region did not come to fruition. In large part, this is because Arab leaders are wary of joining hands publicly with Israel to create what would effectively be a military front against Iran.

Iran's expansion in the region through militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen has rattled some Arab nations so greatly that they have begun to see Israel, a historic enemy with superior military capabilities, as a potential defence ally. The Biden administration's strategy has thus been to encourage defence cooperation among US allies including Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia while also attempting to revive the Iran nuclear deal.

Although similar ideas have been discussed in the past under several US presidents, the prospect of an air defence group has gained momentum in recent years as Saudi and Emirati cities and oil facilities, as well as US bases and troops in the region, have come under more frequent drone strikes by Iran's proxies. These drones are small and hard to intercept, so it is only natural that defence cooperation is increasingly being considered.

In fact, defence cooperation to combat the Iranian drone threat is already taking place, the New York Times reported this month. In March 2021, Israel foiled an Iranian drone attack with help from an Arab nation probably Jordan, the Times reported when Israeli jets were allowed to use Arab air space to shoot down the drones.

Wider defence cooperation is on the rise as well. A year after Israel normalised relations with the UAE and Bahrain with the Abraham Accords in 2020, all three countries and the United States held their first joint naval drill. This February, Israel participated in US-led naval drills with Saudi Arabia and Oman for the first time. Soon after, a senior Israel Defence Forces official was posted to Bahrain the first time an Israeli officer has been stationed in an Arab country. Then, in March, military officials from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel came together in Egypt in secret to discuss a potential air defence alliance, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Then just days before Biden's visit, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said Israel had joined other countries which he did not name in what he called the Middle East Air Defence alliance, a US-led regional air defence group. According to Gantz, member countries would be sharing intelligence about incoming Iranian missiles and drones in order to warn each other about attacks. Expectations were high that an announcement on defence cooperation was imminent during Biden's visit.

But all the talk amounted to little during the visit. The joint statement following Biden's summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in Riyadh said GCC members and Washington would enhance "joint deterrence capabilities" but made no mention of a regional air defence mechanism including Israel.

As Lazar Berman aptly noted in the Times of Israel, "The much-discussed regional security alliance against Iran looks to be far less advanced than Israel would have hoped. Mentions of the framework during the visit were exceedingly vague, a far cry from a Middle Eastern Nato."

Several analysts told Foreign Policy that the United States and Israel overestimated Arab nations' willingness to publicly enter a defense alliance with Israel before a resolution to the Palestinian conflict. "Gulf countries don't trust each other and that is why such defence alliances have not materialised in the past despite US attempts," said Yasmine Farouk, a nonresident scholar in the Middle East programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

But now, Farouk said, "matters have been complicated further because the US has added Israel to the mix. Most GCC countries are not comfortable with publicly being a part of an alliance with Israel. Several Saudi officials have told me that they are not okay with it."

Anchal Vohra is a Brussels-based columnist for Foreign Policy who writes about Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.

Disclaimer: This article first appeared on Foreign Policy, and is published by special syndication arrangement.

Originally posted here:
Could there ever be a Middle East Nato? - The Business Standard

Posted in NATO | Comments Off on Could there ever be a Middle East Nato? – The Business Standard

NATO: What’s in the kit of a French CBRN defence specialist? – EU Today

Posted: at 3:26 pm

Whats in the kit of a French CBRN defence specialist? Brigadier Herton from the 2nd Dragoon Regiment, French Army, shows us what he carries in the kit bag to detect chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear contamination in the field.

The 2nd Dragoon Regiment is the French Army unit dedicated to combatting chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons.

The unit was filmed in Norway while training with other NATO Allies in Exercise Cold Response 2022

Connect with NATO online:

Visit the Official NATO Homepage: http://bit.ly/NATOhomepage

Receive NATO updates via email: http://bit.ly/NATOemails

Find NATO on FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/NATOfacebook

Follow @NATO on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/NATOtwitter

Follow NATO on Instagram: http://bit.ly/NATOinstagram

Find NATO on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/NATOlinkedin Find NATO on Flickr: http://bit.ly/NATOflickr

Follow EU Today on Social media:

The NATO press office is based in Brussels.

Read more from the original source:
NATO: What's in the kit of a French CBRN defence specialist? - EU Today

Posted in NATO | Comments Off on NATO: What’s in the kit of a French CBRN defence specialist? – EU Today

New NATO CCDCOE director takes office in Tallinn – ERR News

Posted: at 3:26 pm

Dr Noorma took up his post following a formal, change-of-command ceremony held at Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) headquarters in Tallinn, where outgoing director, Brig. Gen. Jaak Tarien, handed over.

Noorma's term is for three years, and Ministry of Defense Undersecretary for Defense Planning Tiina Uudeberg psaid of his appointment that: The past two years have been very challenging for the CCDCOE as well. Despite Covid restrictions and other challenges along the way, you have succeeded in organizing your flagship cyber exercises and conferences both online and in-person," noting that this year's annual CyCon conference was a sell-out and brought the highest-ranking generals and experts from all around the world, from a total of 50 countries, to Tallinn.

Uudeberg also praised Jaak Tarien's stint as director, which he commenced in September 2018.

Christian-Marc Liflnder, Head of Cyber and Hybrid Policy at NATO said: "Looking at what this Centre, and this team in particular, has achieved I can confidently say that you have set the standard for excellence on cyber."

Noorma's resume includes active engagement in innovation and novel technology development at NATO, EU and international level, while he has been a board member of the European External Action Service(EEAS) Space Advisory Board and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Autonomous Weapon Systems Expert Advisory Committee.

Monday's ceremony also saw the traditional planting of an oak tree (see cover image), jointly by incoming and outgoing directors.

The CCDCOE is a NATO-accredited knowledge hub offering a unique interdisciplinary approach to the most relevant issues in cyber defense, spearheaded by international experts from 35 countries and from the military, government, academia and industrial spheres. Around 80 people work at the headquarters.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!

Original post:
New NATO CCDCOE director takes office in Tallinn - ERR News

Posted in NATO | Comments Off on New NATO CCDCOE director takes office in Tallinn – ERR News