WORLD ROUNDUPDid Pakistan Just Overhaul Its Nuclear Doctrine? | The Rise of the Persian Gulf Is Reshaping the World | Lockdowns Are Useless, and more
· China Does Not Want to Displace the US, Xi Jinping Tells Antony Blinken
US secretary of state says he is ‘clear eyed’ on disagreements after meeting with Chinese president in Beijing
· Did Pakistan Just Overhaul Its Nuclear Doctrine?
A comment from a senior figure about “zero-range” weapons could signal a dramatic—and dangerous—shift in Islamabad’s nuclear strategy
· Who Will Win the War in Ukraine? The 4 Counteroffensive Scenarios
The US and its allies know Kyiv’s counteroffensive is unlikely to crush Russia, but hope enough pain can be inflicted to rattle the Kremlin
· Lockdowns Are Useless. But You Won’t Hear That from the Inquiry
The staggering collateral costs of the lockdowns are not merely financial
· What Can Joe Biden Do About Benjamin Netanyahu?
The President is clearly displeased by the Prime Minister’s anti-democratic turn but seems wary of testing his influence
· The Rise of the Persian Gulf Is Reshaping the World
The gulf will see one of the largest inflows of wealth in history
· ‘Drought Is on the Verge of Becoming the Next Pandemic’
The world isn’t running out of water – people are
· End of the Road for AI Advisers ‘Blindsided’ by Latest Tech
Downing Street is overhauling its advisers on AI amid criticism that they were caught out by the advances in large language models such as ChatGPT
China Does Not Want to Displace the US, Xi Jinping Tells Antony Blinken (Sophia Yan, The Times)
China does not seek to displace the US, Xi Jinping has told the US secretary of state during a meeting in Beijing aimed at cooling tensions.
The Chinese leader suggested “progress” was made after he met Antony Blinken on Monday afternoon, the final engagement on a long-awaited trip.
“Generally speaking, the two sides had candid and in-depth discussions,” Xi said in remarks broadcast on state television. “The two sides have made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues, and this is very good.”
China respects the interests of the US and does not seek to displace it, Xi said, adding that the US needs to respect China.
Did Pakistan Just Overhaul Its Nuclear Doctrine? (Sitara Noor, Foreign Policy)
As Pakistan celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first nuclear tests last month, it also appeared to share more details than usual about its current nuclear posture.
Speaking at a seminar hosted by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad on May 24, retired Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai provided new details of Pakistan’s otherwise ambiguous nuclear doctrine.
During his address, he reiterated some of the long-standing positions of Pakistan’s nuclear policy, but also expanded the scope of this doctrine by explaining what he called vertical and horizontal dimensions. Most striking was his statement that “vertically the spectrum encapsulates adequate range coverage from 0 meters to 2,750 kilometers [about 1,700 miles] as well as nuclear weapons destructive yields at three tiers—strategic, operational, and tactical.”
Reducing the minimum range to 0 meters is unprecedented and, if implemented, points to a major shift in Islamabad’s nuclear policy thinking.
Talk of zero-range weapons suggests that Pakistan is either going to develop artillery shells as the United States, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom did during the Cold War, or it could be a hint that Pakistan could possibly lay nuclear land mines across the India-Pakistan border to deter Indian advances.
