World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is in Washington to meet with US President Trump.  The main topic of discussion will be Iran since the US must make a decision by 12 May whether to recertify the Iran nuclear agreement.  In an interview with CBS News, Salman stated that it Iran were to develop nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would no choice but to develop them as well.  Logic would suggest that the US should not break the Iran nuclear agreement to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to yet another state.  But it appears as if the opposite path is going to be followed, particularly now with Mike Pompeo, a noted opponent of the agreement, as DirectorUS o of the CIA and the rumor that John Bolton, another fierce opponent of the agreement, will succeed McMaster as the National Security Advisor.  But there are members of Congress who wish to condemn US cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the war against Yemen, and that opposition may complicate the US-Saudi discussions.

Mohammed bin Salman

There are reports that n the national security clauses of US law and could therefore be implemented unilaterally by the President, the Chinese tariffs need to undergo a period of public review before they can go into effect.  It is highly likely that many US companies will lobby hard against the tariffs, relieving the Chinese of an immediate response to the tariffs.  Nonetheless, China’s response was highly negative  and the prospect of a trade war with China is not remote.

Israeli historian, Yuval Noah Harari, conducted a rather depressing interview with the New York Times about the future of humanity given current technological trends.  One paragraph of the story goes as follows:

“Just as the Industrial Revolution created the working class, automation could create a “global useless class,” Mr. Harari said, and the political and social history of the coming decades will revolve around the hopes and fears of this new class.  Disruptive technologies, which have helped bring enormous progress, could be disastrous if they get out of hand.”

There are good reasons to suspect that the future will not be so grim, but Harari’s prediction is not fanciful.  But unless societies decide to prevent such a future, it may well be inevitable.