Explaining why it has moved its Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds before midnight, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has turned itself into a total joke.
The Bulletin crew say we’re now closer to the apocalypse than at any point since the clock was first created in 1947. They should all resign their positions and fold the Bulletin. After all, the risk of annihilation was far greater during the Cold War than it is in 2020. There are two specific problems with the Bulletin’s explanation for its latest clock shift.
First off, its assertion that humanity is now closer than ever to extinction due to “cyber-enabled information warfare.” Forgive me, but I’m not aware of any serious argument as to how fake news is going to end the world. We should lament the spread of disinformation and efforts to deceive people. Still, Adam Schiff’s monologues, Donald Trump’s tweets, and Vladimir Putin’s bots aren’t going to end our existence.
Second, the Bulletin is evidently defined by anti-American idiocy.
Take its claim that “the assault on arms control is exacerbated by the decay of great power relations. Despite declaring its intent to bring China into an arms control agreement, the United States has adopted a bullying and derisive tone toward its Chinese and Russian competitors.”
I’m sorry, what?
Yes, the global arms control architecture is in trouble. But how on Earth can anyone seriously say that U.S. “bullying” and a “derisive tone” towards Beijing and Moscow are to blame? The reality is the exact opposite. China and Russia are the ones responsible for a degraded arms control environment and for turning space into a war zone. The Russians destroyed the INF treaty. The Russians are building hypersonic missiles and doomsday torpedoes. The Chinese are churning out conventionally armed ballistic missiles. And, going back to the first point, both these nations master the weaponization of deception.
Regardless, while global threats abound, the world is still safer than it was during the Cold War. So let me know when we have a Terminator-style Skynet or a new Cuban missile crisis. Until then, ignore the Bulletin. It has become laughable.
