'America's adversaries don't share the dream of a nuclear-free world'

'The US needs more nukes. Biden finally gets that.'

Hal Brands at Bloomberg

While the Biden administration "once pledged to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. policy, now it acknowledges that those weapons will loom larger in years to come," says Hal Brands. The White House finally "admits that [America's] existing arsenal may not be enough." By the 2030s, the U.S.' nuclear arsenal "will have to be capable of destroying two very diverse, sizable great-power target sets" that will be "vital to the credibility of America's global defense posture."

Read more

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'In calling out Trump, Harris finds her mission'

Jennifer Rubin at The Washington Post 

When it comes to taking down Trump, the "most pointed, and arguably effective, denunciations have come from Vice President [Kamala] Harris," says Jennifer Rubin. "Perhaps we should have anticipated" that Harris "would lead the onslaught. But the ease with which she twists the knife is still eye-opening." The vice president is "making the persuasive case that voters should not consider [Trump] to be a legitimate candidate," and the White House "needs Harris to challenge Trump and MAGA followers' attacks."

Read more

'Crypto could stave off a US debt crisis' 

Paul D. Ryan at The Wall Street Journal 

To stem the U.S. national debt, we "might start by taking stablecoins seriously," says Paul D. Ryan. If this type of crypto "continues to grow, stablecoins could become one of the largest purchasers of U.S. government debt and a reliable source of new demand," and "their emergence as a mechanism for promoting the dollar couldn't be timelier." The U.S. "may need to find new ways to make the dollar more attractive. Dollar-backed stablecoins are one answer."

Read more

'How AI may become the new offshoring'

John Thornhill at the Financial Times

The "speed of take-up" for artificial intelligence "is stunning," but the "reasons for this acceleration are not hard to fathom," says John Thornhill. Instead of being a "discrete, relatively expensive, physical object," AI is "(mostly) free software that augments existing services." But it will take "five to 10 years to make the most of existing AI models," and "for that reason, we might see the emergence of alternative business models that can accelerate the process."

Read more