The Looming Threat of Nuclear War by Lebanese-Canadian Marxist economist Janna al-Kadri

Since capital exteriorizes its costs, including costs of wars that cheapen resources and unredeemed effects of pollution, to make higher profits, the exponential growth or profits must corrode the social and natural bases that support life. Capitalism is not here until the end of history; it is here to end history. The clash of civilizations is not a clash of cultural beliefs It is a clash between people being consumed by the capital system, mainly residing in the South, and people consuming the South. In such a two-tier system of cannibalizing and cannibalized people, the structure of capital in the North, manifested in the achievements of Western civilization which is no more than trail of death and destruction, imposes such civilization upon masses that struggle to survive.

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Regarding the nuclear race, a different atmosphere prevails in this day and age – an atmosphere of silence. This eerie silence is the absence of dialogue on prohibition of nuclear weapons and an insinuation that the scare tactic of nuclear war lurks in the background. One only needs to observe the insane frequency with which the word “nuke” has been mentioned in recent news reports to realize that Armageddon may not be just a mythical story.

Loose talk of military conflicts between nuclear nations, like the US intervening in Russia or fighting alongside Taiwan, is thrown without regard to the fact that by the logic of the prisoner’s dilemma, no conventional war between nuclear powers remains conventional. Fearing that the other might use nuclear arms to strike first, both powers will resort to an early strike to hedge against the losses attendant upon first strike capabilities.

at this juncture, the losses of NATO in Ukraine and the genocide against Arabs in Gaza, which had further exposed the true nature of Western civilization, fuel geopolitical tensions for a US empire that cannot relinquish the mandate of commodities over history. It cannot renounce destroying society and nature to make ever-rising profits, especially when the dominant roadmap of its social mind, the dominant ideas, amounts to all ideas that ethically justify making profits at any cost. To add to the pot of tensions, the recent BRICS expansion, de-dollarization and the inexorable rise of China, all corner the US-led Western hemisphere into drastic measures to arrest the decline.

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The US primarily relies on militarism to expand and maintain its dominance. Its foreign policy is inherently aggressive because financial domination is intricately tied to military power. In terms of ethical considerations, it is crucial to bear in mind that capital’s interests are benchmarks for moral actions. This implies that anything conflicting with processes of accumulation is deemed devious. US-led capital, in particular, has an extensive history of leading military interventions aimed at thwarting anti-systemic formations, not only cheapening labor and resources but also robbing masses of the capacity to develop. Essentially, capitalism is geared towards the destruction of value, and paradoxically, the more it destroys, the stronger it becomes.

Does this imply that the US would immediately turn to nuclear warfare? Certainly not. There is a strategic progression to be followed, eliminating options that prove ineffective, beginning with diplomacy, then issuing warnings, moving on to military confrontations, until reaching the final recourse: the consideration of a first strike – and the option will continue to be entertained as long as the weapons exist. On this note, it is worth pointing out that the US is progressively running out of options as it faces an increasing sense of isolation on the global stage. The refusal of longstanding allies to join Operation Prosperity Guardian has particularly become a source of embarrassment for the US.