North Korea, Russia and China: The Developing Trilateral Imperialist Partnership
There are no easy ways for the United States and its allies to counter the developing Russia-China-North Korea partnership. But there are options to consider and steps to take. There are also fissures in their relationships to exploit. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - September 13, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Bruce W. Bennett Source Type: blogs
Bumper Sticker installment for Labor Day
I ' m going to skip ahead on bumper sticker to match the occasion: " Capitalism lifts people up from poverty. "As usual, I ' m not sure exactly what the implication of this is supposed to be. In grand historical terms, it is true that human material well being has increased enormously since the advent of industrial capitalism in the 19th Century. That is the economic system that converted fossil fuel into the astonishing technological development and material infrastructure that distinguishes the modern world from all of previous history. But it doesn ' t seem to be much of a political point. Nobody on the left ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - September 4, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
A Trilateral Summit to Deal with Trilateral Threats
The leaders of Japan, South Korea, and the United States held a trilateral summit in August, focused on countering military threats in East Asia. Not surprisingly, China and North Korea were upset by the summit, designed as it was to respond to their military build-ups. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - August 29, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Bruce W. Bennett Source Type: blogs
The Next Pandemic May Be an AI one
By KIM BELLARD
Since the early days of the pandemic, conspiracy theorists have charged that COVID was a manufactured bioweapon, either deliberately leaked or the result of an inadvertent lab leak. There’s been no evidence to support these speculations, but, alas, that is not to say that such bioweapons aren’t truly an existential threat. And artificial intelligence (AI) may make the threat even worse.
Last week the Department of Defense issued its first ever Biodefense Posture Review. It “recognizes that expanding biological threats, enabled by advances in life sciences and biotechnology, are among the ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 23, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy AI Bioterrorism ChatGPT COVID Department of Defense Kim Bellard Source Type: blogs
Let Them Stay
Paul MatzkoDr. Muhil Ravichandran has a PharmD from Rutgers University and works in cancer research. She has lived legally in America for almost her entire life and is a model immigrant. Yet because of America’s broken immigration system, she’s going to beforced to leave her home and take her much ‐needed talents elsewhere.Ravichandran legally moved to the USA with her family when she was two years old, but when she became an adult she was no longer covered by her family ’s legal status. While in college she qualified for a student visa, but upon graduation she was forced to fall back on the vagaries of the ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 2, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Paul Matzko Source Type: blogs
Violence in Sudan, Alcohol Use, North Korea: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the violence in Sudan, preventing alcohol-related deaths, the North Korean nuclear threat, and more. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - April 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: RAND Corporation Source Type: blogs
TikTok Panic Threatens Speech
Will DuffieldTikTok is a social media app that hosts short ‐form videos and serves them to users via algorithm. Because TikTok is owned by the Chinese tech firm ByteDance, its surging popularity with teenagers and young adults in America has prompted concerns that it could be used for illicit data gathering and influence operations. These concerns, and a broader crisis of confidence in American culture, have launched host of proposals to ban TikTok. A ban would frustrate the many millions of Americans who use TikTok to express themselves, and efforts to crush the app risk giving the government new power...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 21, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Will Duffield Source Type: blogs
North Korea Is Forcing U.S. Military Counters
If the U.S. military shoots down a North Korean ICBM fired in the direction of the United States and its territories, North Korea will regard it as an act of war. Even in the realm of North Korean rhetoric, this is extreme. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - March 14, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Bruce W. Bennett Source Type: blogs
Russia ’s New START Suspension and the Bleak Future for Arms Control
Eric GomezNuclear arms control has had a very rough few years. The latest piece of bad news comes from Russia. Earlier this week,Vladimir Putin announced that Russia is “suspending its membership” in New START, a treaty that limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads and launchers for Russia and the United States. While New START is not completely dead yet, Putin ’s announcement is the latest in a series of unfortunate events for the arms control regime.What is New START?Arms control negotiations and treaties have helped restrain nuclear competition between the United States and Russia, the world ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 22, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Eric Gomez Source Type: blogs
Socialism in Theory and Practice
David BoazSixty-five percent of Democrats have a favorable view of socialism,according to Gallup. Gallup says 39 percent of Americans overall view socialism favorably, and 45 percent wouldvote for a socialist for president. Of course, they may have varying views of what " socialism " means. Some presumably mean government ownership of the means of production, the standard definition. Others may have in mind what Europeans call " social democracy, " as when Sen. Bernie Sanders defended his self-proclaimed socialism by saying he wanted the United States to be more like Denmark. The prime minister of Denmark promptly responde...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 16, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Why Is North Korea Showing Off Its ICBMs?
On February 8, North Korea held a military parade in Pyongyang to call attention to the strengths of the North ' s military weapons, including what appeared to be 11 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Can the United States and its allies afford to wait until North Korea has dozens of ICBMs and hundreds of nuclear weapons? Because that is the direction in which Kim says he is moving. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - February 15, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Bruce W. Bennett; Young-jun Kim Source Type: blogs
Don't know much about history
I believe I ' ve mentioned now and again that I ' ve been reading a lot of history lately. It ' s just something I ' ve gotten into now that I ' m taking a semi-sabbatical. I wouldn ' t say I ' ve encountered major surprises -- I was conversant with the broad outlines of American and European history. I have certainly learned a lot of specifics and gotten a deeper understanding of the larger stories and patterns over the past few months.Sadly, most Americans know very little history. Even asserting some basic, indisputable facts can provoke howls of outrage -- for instance, the United States was founded as a white supremac...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 20, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Japanese'Counterstrike' May Be Good for ROK Security
Fully coordinated, the South Korean Kill Chain and Japanese counterstrike capability could be more effective in stopping North Korea from causing damage. And they could be more likely to deter Kim Jong-un, as Pyongyang recognizes that its efforts to militarily dominate the ROK are unlikely to succeed. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - December 28, 2022 Category: Health Management Authors: Bruce W. Bennett Source Type: blogs
Testing Nuclear Weapons in the Lab Instead of the Ground
Eric GomezEarlier this week, the Department of Energy announced the major scientific accomplishment ofachieving a fusion ignition in a lab setting.The experiment fired nearly two hundred high-power lasers at a small fuel pellet to briefly create the intense heat and pressure necessary for a fusion reaction to take place and, for the first time, the reaction produced more energy than it consumed.A successful fusion ignition experiment is an important scientific achievement, but there are reasonable questions about the practical, near-term utility of the experiment.The words “nuclear fusion”likely conjure images of space...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 15, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Eric Gomez Source Type: blogs
North Korea's Version of'Take Your Daughter to Work Day' Went Out with a Bang — Literally
With the spotlight having long been fixed on the nuclear issue, the public debut of Kim Jong-un ' s“most beloved” child seems as though it could be an impeccably timed distraction to keep the international community from focusing on seeking an enduring solution to Pyongyang ' s rapidly advancing weapons systems. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - December 12, 2022 Category: Health Management Authors: Soo Kim Source Type: blogs
