Is US withdrawal from the INF a reckless move?

The past one year has been one of the worst in terms of relations between Russia and the United States on many fronts, threatening some of the gains made during the post cold war era.

Though the two leaders of the most powerful countries met in July 2018 in Helsinki nothing seems to suggest that anything good was about happen between the old foes.

There have been tensions between Russia and the US on an array of other issues and on top of it all was the March 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the UK's intelligence services, and his daughter Yulia Skripal.

Though there was no full proof of Russia’s involvement, the US responded with sanctions against Russia in October an action that has escalated tensions between the two powers.

This was followed by what many think is a step towards the arms race once again after President Donald Trump’s announced intention of withdrawing the US from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The INF Treaty was a landmark agreement of the final days of the Cold War arms race in 1987 between the Soviet Union and the US to eliminate nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.

In the past, Russia claimed US violated the treaty, but not to the point of threatening any pull out.

Moscow has on many occasions pointed out that the US decision to establish bases, capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles, in Poland and Romania as a violation of the treaty.

In fact, there are analysts who believe that the withdrawal is because INF treaty limits US ability to build such missiles since countries like China, North Korea and Iran are producing them. Indeed, the concern is aimed at China.

After tearing into the INF, the president appeared to leave the door open for a replacement treaty with Russia and China.

The latest move by Washington according to observers is undoing decades of hard-won arms controls agreements.

Prior to this the US had unilaterally scrapped the Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABM) Treaty back in 2002 under then-President GW Bush.

That breach of a decades-old treaty has led to the installation of American missile systems in Europe ever-closer to Russian territory, as the US-led NATO military alliance relentlessly expanded eastwards.

US withdrawal from the INF, leaves only one remaining pillar in the arms control architecture, the START Treaty limiting the deployment of all types of nuclear weapons.

 START is due to expire in 2021 and the writing is on the wall as several US politicians are already urging for no replacement.

This is very disturbing for many people, including NATO allies in Europe with some comparing it to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The question that arises is, why would the US embark on such a reckless pursuit of what already seems a dangerous mission which once put the world on the verge of extinction?

An arms race is not only a lucrative boon for the Pentagon and American weapons manufacturers – who are the biggest lobby group in Washington – but there is an added strategic objective.

By dragging Russia and China into an arms race, it serves as a way for US imperial planners to weaken these rivals.

Out of necessity to counter US military aggression, Moscow and Beijing will be compelled to devote ever-more of their economic resources to weapons procurement.

 Such a pursuit of militarism, it is calculated, will end up breaking the economies of Russia and China.

Arguably, the Soviet Union’s downfall in the late 1980s was largely brought about by decades of inordinate spending on military instead of resources strengthening the civilian economy and society.

There is evidence that the US administration wants to re-run the Cold War for the purpose of hobbling Russia and China.

The various arms control treaties that the US seems bent on unraveling have up to now afforded a certain security from nuclear war.

 The treaties worked because there was a level of multilateral mutualism between Washington and Moscow.

By scrapping the INF, the ABM and possibly START in two years time, the United States is returning the world to the drawing board.