Portside

Every day, the news brings more stories of U.S.-China tensions. What led to the U.S.-China trade conflict? And what would a U.S. pro-worker policy toward China look like?

Will the United States and other nations survive these escalating preparations for nuclear war? In fact, the U.S. government and others are increasing the role that nuclear weapons play in their "national security" policies.

Last week, Vladimir Putin issued a warning. “If the United States deploys new intermediate-range missiles in Europe after withdrawing from a nuclear treaty prohibiting these weapons, European nations will be at risk of ‘a possible counterstrike.’”

Trump says that he is abandoning the INF treaty, basically confirms a renewed arms race, and absolves himself from any responsibility to lead efforts to reduce nuclear tensions around the globe.

The Nation launched a rare open letter signed by over 20 leading cultural and political figures who've joined together calling for a pronounced shift in the US’s approach to Russia, to protect US elections and reduce the chances of a nuclear war.

What company gets the most money from the U.S. government? Weapons maker Lockheed Martin. It took in $35.2 billion from the government, or close to what the Trump administration is proposing for the 2019 State Department budget. Boeing, in second place, with a mere $26.5 billion. When it comes to the Department of Defense, perhaps we should retire the term “budget” altogether, given its connotation of restraint. Can't we find another word entirely? Like the Pentagon cornucopia?

Donald Trump announced in Miami the policy his government has decided to implement with regard to Cuba. These were announced in a Theater named after Manuel Artime, civilian leader of the mercenary brigade that invaded our country at Playa Girón or the Bay of Pigs. It was a grotesque Cold War-era spectacle, made before a small audience, composed of old henchmen and thieves of the Batista dictatorship, mercenaries from the Playa Girón brigade and terrorists...

In his perverse fixation on overturning all things Barack Obama, President Donald Trump now turns his attention to Cuba, the island located 90 miles off our shore. Reports are that the president plans to travel to Florida to announce that he will reverse Obama’s opening to Cuba, reinstate restrictions on the right of U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba and curtail business opportunities that Obama had opened up by executive order.

One legacy of the McCarthy era is the cloud of suspicion that still hangs over anything connected with the former Soviet Union. If Trump or his associates were indeed guilty of collaborating with the Russians by interfering in the American election, then they broke the law and should be held accountable. But in a world threatened by nuclear weapons, ISIS, and climate change, it seems to me more important than ever that we talk to our adversaries and work toward détente.

Portside readers have weighed in, as you often do, on the issue of Trump, Putin, Russia, the revival of a new-Cold War, and foreign interference in our electoral process. Here a number of readers, including some Portside moderators, express their individual views, on what they feel should be the position of the left, for democracy, and opposed to militarism, increases in the military budget, and re-vamped calls for a new-nuclear laden Cold War against Russia.