In April 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics becomes one of the world's worst man-made catastr...

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The echoes of history are clear at every juncture of the unfolding conflict of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

China insists that its growing military and diplomatic clout pose no threat. The rest of the world, and particularly America, is not so sure, says Edward Carr archived 27 Jan 2021 20:40:44 UTC

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In early March, defense officials avoided even confirming the first Stinger missiles were being sent to Ukraine amid concerns of escalating the conflict as Russian troops marched toward Kyiv, and defense analysts counted the days until Russian President Vladimir Putin would likely control the government of his next-door neighbor.  But over the last two months, as Ukraine has made a stand and fought back against the invasion, the aid has ballooned to billions of dollars' worth of helicopters, armored vehicles, newly developed drones and artillery.

So, there’s a risk now emerging that in the face of military defeat at the conventional level, Russia will use nuclear weapons and plunge the world into a new and uncertain future. It’s a future in which low-yield nuclear weapons become usable in conflicts, certainly in terms of implicit and explicit coercive threats against military intervention—as China might do in a Taiwan crisis. In the worst case, a different perception of the operational utility of low-yield tactical nuclear weapons emerges in comparison to strategic nuclear forces. The nuclear genie is out of the bottle, and the question is whether it can ever be put back in.

The official warns that from Putin's vantage point, though, deep dissatisfaction with the situation in Ukraine and fear of the west turning the tide might actually provoke a nuclear display of some sort—one intended to shock the west and bring a halt to the war. The supply of western arms is also now a serious game changer, resupplying Ukraine while Russia is increasingly constrained. "Escalation is now a true danger," says the senior official.

The Russian president has threatened retaliation if NATO crosses "red lines" in Ukraine. Some experts say those lines have already been crossed.

US political scientist Graham Allison on Vladimir Putin and his friendship with Xi Jinping I think if you tried to put it in a single sentence, it is that if Putin is forced to choose between losing on the one hand in Ukraine and escalating the level of destruction, there’s every reason to believe he’ll escalate the level of destruction.

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’Either we lose in Ukraine or the Third World War starts’, says top Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan

Russian TV host and Editor-in-Chief of state broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan, said she believed a nuclear strike to be the most 'probable' outcome in the war against Ukraine. One of the Kremlin's highest-profile mouthpieces, she also said that she believed World War III was 'realistic'.

"The demographic system has tipped already, and so we're never going back to the consumption and production balance that we had in 2019 that got muddled by COVID. We were all worried about other things for two years and in that time we shifted. The Chinese are arguably the biggest beneficiary of the globalized system and it hasn't really sunk in just how terminal this is going to be for them in every way that you measure it: demographically, economically, culturally, nationally. The Chinese aren't even going to exist as a country I would say by the end of the decade, ..."

Nina Khrushcheva said she fears Russian President Vladimir Putin will eventually deploy tactical nuclear weapons to claim victory in Ukraine.

DUBAI (Reuters)—Iran's armed forces will target Israel's heart if it makes "the slightest move" against the Islamic Republic, President Ebrahim Raisi told a military parade on Monday, amid stalled talks between Tehran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact.

It’s good we’re ignoring Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands to stop aiding Ukraine. But we should grasp what that might lead to.

In a nationalistic editorial, Hu Xijin suggests the Chinese government should begin preparing its citizens for conflict with the United States over Taiwan.

The risk of nuclear escalation following Russia's invasion of Ukraine is now as high as it was during the Cuban missile crisis.

As hopes for a diplomatic off-ramp fade, the war in Ukraine is poised to roil the European continent—and further destabilize the international system—with no end in sight.

CIA Director William Burns on Thursday said Chinese President Xi Jinping is “a silent partner” in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “aggression” in Ukraine, warning that China poses the “greatest challenge” and “most profound test” that the agency has ever faced.

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Hoover Institution scholar and Princeton University professor Stephen Kotkin uses his review essay in Foreign Affairs of Richard Overy’s new book on the Second World War, Blood and Ruins: The La

Subscribe here: http://9Soci.al/chmP50wA97J Full Episodes: https://9now.app.link/uNP4qBkmN6 | Extra Minutes: On The Brink (2022) In an exclusive interview with 60 Minutes on the border of Ukraine, former defence planner and intelligence officer with the British Army Philip Ingram says if Putin takes control over Ukraine, NATO has essentially given the ‘bully’ what he wants. WATCH more of 60 Minutes Australia: https://www.60minutes.com.au LIKE 60 Minutes Australia on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/60Minutes9 FOLLOW 60 Minutes Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/60Mins FOLLOW 60 Minutes Australia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/60minutes9 For forty years, 60 Minutes have been telling Australians the world’s greatest stories. Tales that changed history, our nation and our lives. Reporters Liz Hayes, Tom Steinfort, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett and Sarah Abo look past the headlines because there is always a bigger picture. Sundays are for 60 Minutes. #60MinutesAustralia

"This domination is built on gross violations of international law," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, according to RT.

All of this explains why the original Cold War’s end was a mirage. The events of 1989–91 were consequential, just not as consequential as most observers—myself included—took them to be.

Atlas Organization founder and author Jonathan D.T. Ward joins 'Mornings with Maria' to discuss China's relationship with Europe and the country's ultimate g...