The search for legitimacy: what is behind the words of the US Air Force general about the threat from Russia and the PRC

Instead of fanning anti-Russian sentiments, the American authorities should move to productive cooperation in the field of global security.

This was noticed at the Russian Embassy in the United States.

“We offer our American partners not to inflate anti-Russian sentiments in society.

Instead, focus on productive interaction in the interests of strengthening global stability and security, "- said in a release posted on the diplomatic mission's Facebook page.

This is how the Russian embassy reacted to the publication of the words of the head of the US Air Force Global Strikes Command Timothy Ray in the Air Force Times.

The American military leader said that a possible war with Russia or China, which are modernizing their nuclear forces, threatens the existence of the United States.

The Russian embassy indicated that the US Air Force general made such a statement against the background of the active modernization of the nuclear arsenal, which is being carried out by the Pentagon.

“These remarks are made against the backdrop of Washington's long and costly efforts to improve its own nuclear weapons.

At the same time, the United States is lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons - in 2019, it deployed low-yield W76-2 warheads on Trident II ballistic missiles.

Such actions increase the risk of an escalation of a potential conflict, ”the diplomatic mission stressed.

Strategic modernization

On September 13, the profile edition of the Air Force Times published excerpts from an interview with the head of the US Air Force Global Strikes Command, General Timothy Ray.

This US Air Force structure is responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence and global strike operations.

The publication quoted General Ray as saying that, unlike the wars that the United States has been waging against terrorists and extremist groups over the past two decades, the next armed conflict, which may go against China or Russia, will jeopardize the very existence of the United States.

• Minuteman III rocket launch

• Reuters

• © ICBM US Air Force

Timothy Ray noted that Russia and China have already modernized their nuclear weapons and delivery systems, ahead of the United States in this regard.

In this regard, the general is convinced that the United States should develop its bombers, submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

"To achieve readiness for the challenges of the 21st century, we need to maintain the stability and timeliness of efforts to modernize our nuclear potential, as well as investments in the development of capabilities to deliver long-range strikes," the publication quotes the words of a senior military man.

To solve these problems, the United States is developing a new strategic bomber B-21 Raider, said Timothy Ray, but so far the strategic forces have to rely on the existing fleet of B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers.

Ray also recalled that on September 8, the US Air Force signed a contract with Northrop Grumman Corporation to create an intercontinental ballistic missile, which should replace the Minuteman III missiles, which have been in service for about 50 years.

The need to improve the US nuclear arsenal has repeatedly become the subject of statements by senior military officials in the Trump administration.

So, in February 2020, the head of the Pentagon, Mark Esper, announced the need to support the military budget, which includes the program for the modernization of the American nuclear triad.

According to the head of the US defense department, multibillion-dollar spending on improving the nuclear arsenal is necessary in order to keep up with Russia and outstrip China in this area.

Lowering the threshold

Recall that with the coming to power of Donald Trump in the United States, a course was taken to strengthen nuclear forces.

In 2017, the head of state ordered the preparation of a new nuclear doctrine and the launch of a program to modernize and renew the American arsenal of strategic weapons.

The new US nuclear doctrine was adopted in early 2018, and at the same time Trump ordered the renewal of the nuclear arsenal.

Washington is also actively dismantling the post-Cold War international security and non-proliferation system.

This process began in the early 2000s, when the administration of George W. Bush announced its withdrawal from the 1972 ABM Treaty.

Under the terms of the agreement, Washington and Moscow committed themselves to mutual limitation of missile defense systems.

The parties assumed that this could reduce the risk of a nuclear conflict.

Bush considered the treaty obsolete, and in 2002 the document was terminated.

• Pentagon

• AFP

However, under Trump, the US withdrawal from international security agreements has accelerated significantly.

In 2019, Washington withdrew from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty), and in the spring of 2020 from the Open Skies Treaty. 

Also unclear is the fate of the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty (START III), which will expire in February 2021, unless it is extended for another five years.

The American side makes contradictory statements about the possibility of extending the treaty, expressing its intentions to involve China in it. 

Back in March 2019, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that the new US strategy is leading to a decrease in the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in the world.

“The threshold for the use of nuclear weapons is being reduced as a result of the adoption in the United States of a new strategy, which effectively blurs the line between national conflict and conflict with the use of nuclear weapons.

In the fundamental documents of the Russian Federation, the possibility of using nuclear weapons is associated only with the presence or emergence of a threat to the very existence of the state, ”RIA Novosti quoted the diplomat as saying.

According to the expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research, Vladimir Bruter, the actions of the United States to update its arsenal indicate that, if a certain situation arises, Washington is ready to use nuclear weapons of limited power.

“The United States will dramatically increase its spending on the production of new types of weapons and on their improvement, which will reduce the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

Therefore, the rejection of START III poses a serious danger in this regard, "said the interlocutor of RT.

As Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained in a conversation with RT, now Washington is looking for any excuses for its confrontational policy towards Russia.

“Sanctions, foreign policy pressure, information war against Russia are, in fact, legitimate in the eyes of not only the American public, but the entire world community.

It is clear that in the short term there is no need to talk about normalization in Russian-American relations, ”the political scientist noted.

He added that the United States views Russia and China as revisionist powers that are encroaching on America's world leadership: "Now the Americans will do everything possible to maintain this leadership."

According to the expert, Washington has relied on an arms race, in which it wants to draw Russia and China, which, of course, leads to the destabilization of the global security system.

Added to this are irresponsible actions such as trade wars or the imposition of a sanctions blockade without UN approval.

“In many respects, the actions of the United States are illegitimate, so they need to obtain this legitimacy by demonizing their enemies,” Blokhin concluded.