North Korea and the State of the Union

"North Korea and the State of the Union"

In an article posted by, "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists," John Mecklin discusses the newest President's first State of the Union address. Right away it is clear in the article that the author is not impressed with Trump's speech. The speech was filled with praise of heroes specifically placed in the audience to allow for shorten timed on policy talk, especially in regards to international relations. While not much actual talk about the outlook of our country went on last night, Trump did mention a little bit about our global nuclear tensions and of course our "main geopolitical rivals," Russia and China. Trump stated, "As part of our defense, we must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal. Hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and so powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression by any other nation or anyone else. Perhaps someday in the future, there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, we are not there yet, sadly." Overall, I think this message isn't really all that reassuring for the American people or the type of intellectual response you would wish to here from your President. The response seems very vague and the audience cannot really gauge a clear understanding of what will happen to our nuclear forces.

Besides the nuclear tensions we have been facing lately, Trump also briefly brought up Russia and China, but in a quite frank manner. He more so focused his attention towards North Korea, but only on its "depraved character" of their regime and how the United States is a much stronger figure. Some people are out to believe that Trump was attempting to rally public support for a military strike against North Korea, whether or not this is true it will take time to see what his true hidden plans. 

In conclusion, I think that when Trump gives certain speeches, a common theme for him is to be very vague and inconclusive and this State of the Union address was no exception to that. I believe if he keeps going down this path more and more people will realize this and be aware of the state he is leading our country to and the path it is going to go down. The way he sees and treats other countries is a representation of the type of person he is and Americans need to question if that is what they really want. 

Link to article: https://thebulletin.org/north-korea-and-state-union11475

Intel Chip Flaws With China

"Intel Warned Chinese Companies of Chip Flaws Before U.S. Government"

In an article posted by The Wall Street Journal, Robert McMillan and Liza Lin from San Francisco and Shanghai collaborated to discuss the topic of security and integrity of Intel Corporation. After the company decided to notify only a small group of customers, including the Chinese technology companies, but left out the US government it left for some concerns to rise. The reason this became a controversial issue between the US and China is because the US government are the ones who are most familiar with the matter and the company involved. The US is concerned that the information about the chip flaws could have fallen into the wrong hands of the Chinese government and could have been publicly divulged. These flaws can be used to sneak out private data and information and be given to any intelligence gathering agency. The reason this has become a problem specifically with China is because in the past, the country had "state linked hackers who have exploited software vulnerabilities to get leverage on their targets or expand surveillance." Concluding, the Chinese have proven they can't be trusted with certain information because they go and take it for their own step up. 

Slowly, over time more and more countries were becoming aware of the situation at hand before others were. Intel was trying to keep the information covered for as long as they could before they wanted to come out themselves and discuss what was going on, but of course the news was made public earlier than anticipated. Workers apart of the Department of Homeland Security were not even notified of the issue until they heard about it from other news reports. Along with the Department of Homeland Security, the NSA was similar in the dark and hidden away from this information. 

The reason it is so important for as many companies to know as soon as possible is because the sooner they know about the problem the sooner they can protect their online companies. By knowing of this breach sooner it also allows for the companies to put out any release statements after the news to ensure their customers and their privacy were protected. I think after reading over this article it has really made me more aware of how significant our technology is to us and how quickly it can also backfire on us. With all the power we can get from our updated technology, we can lose it just as quickly if we are not careful with protecting it. The reason our technology is so important is because it can give use a competitive advantage over other countries, but in this case when countries like China can get a hold of our technology they are able to see how we interact and take that from us. While I think it is important to have security in our technology, some advantages of sharing it with other countries can allow for us to create new bonds and learn even more through other countries and create more allies. 

Link to article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/intel-warned-chinese-companies-of-chip-flaws-before-u-s-government-1517157430

Trump's Twitter Tirades

"Trump’s Twitter tirades aren’t boding well for international relations in 2018"

In a recent article posted by Think Progress on January 3rd, 2018, by E.A. Cruden, talks about the downside of Trump's online Twitter access. In the beginning of it all Trump initially singles out Iran for the protests that they have going on. Trump states, "The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their “pockets.” The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!" This isn't the only negative feedback Trump has given recently to Iran, he also repeatedly criticizes their government and their nuclear deal that was first made up under the Obama administration. Experts are concerned that the more Trump continues to abuse his power and the relationship they have with Iran it could really backfire and cause for claims to go around stating that the US is behind the Iranian protests.

While Trump has been creating tensions between the US and Iran, it is not the only country he has been causing controversy with. One other big conflict Trump has been causing relates to North Korea. Trump basically mocks the North Korean authoritarian leader, Kim Jong-un, by asserting, "North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” Threatening another countries nuclear efforts does not cause for a pleasant time. The country of North and South Korea have even moved towards each other to reopen a border hotline to help the country's relations become closer together and further away from US influence and Trump's tweets. 

Trump's madness doesn't even end there. He continued to call out Pakistan too for lamenting the US aid given to the nuclear armed country. He says it was foolish to give them 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years because they have been nothing but liars and think of our leaders as fools. Of course, Pakistan didn't respond happily to the President's tweet. The reason this was a foolish move to make is due to the fact that Pakistan is an important ally, sharing borders with Iran, India, and Afghanistan, where the US is preparing to send soldiers. 

In conclusion, I believe the actions that President Trump are not in the best interest not only for our country, but other countries all over the world. He is severing ties that could be of use to us and acting like we are the only powerful country in the world. I believe we can learn from the lands around us and not just assume them to be less superior. 

Link to article: https://thinkprogress.org/2018-us-world-relations-2ab27815bef8/