Towards a U.S. Nuclear Renaissance?

(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) On 30 September 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published the latest edition of the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear. Its aim is to contribute to accelerate advanced nuclear reactors’ commercial deployment in support of U.S. objectives in terms of nuclear energy, necessary notably to achieve its …

AI at War (2) – Preparing for the US-China War?

(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) Darkening clouds (of drones) On 28 August 2023, on the Island of Guam, Kathleen Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense, gave a speech at a military and media crowd about the need for the U.S. to mass produce drones in order to outsize the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Deputy Secretary …

Revisiting Uranium Supply Security (1)

(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) In December 2023, twenty two governments and the nuclear industry decided to treble nuclear energy by 2050. If we are to meet this objective, then the corresponding uranium supply must be adequate. Globally, there is enough uranium to see the aims met (see Uranium and the Renewal of Nuclear …

The Future of Uranium Demand – China’s Surge

(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) The world is poised to make the effort to treble its nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Even though uranium reserves are meant to be abundant and widespread worldwide, the necessity of producing uranium from mines, with long timelines from exploration to extraction and milling, added to the fate of …

Uranium and the Renewal of Nuclear Energy

(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) A new era starts for nuclear energy. The December 2023 “Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy by 2050”, signed by 22 states, officially cemented the beginning of the renewal of nuclear energy (see Helene Lavoix, “The Return of Nuclear Energy“, The Red Team Analysis Society, 26 March 2024). Then, on …

From the War in Gaza to the Great U.S.-China War (2)?

(Art direction: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli – design with DALL-E 2) Given the speed and political density of the historic sequence opened by the war in Gaza, the second article in this new RTAS series only covers the period from 27 October to 20 November 2023. In the first part of this series, we saw how the …

China, Serbia, AI, and the Pincer Movement on Europe

(Art design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) On 10 April 2022, six Chinese military heavy duty transport aircraft landed at Belgrade airport in Serbia. They were delivering the Chinese FK 3 export version of the HQ-22 surface-to-air weapons systems. This delivery deepens military ties between China and Serbia, following the delivery of 14 CH-92 combat drones in 2020 …

China, Saudi Arabia and the Arab AI Rise

(Art direction: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) On 7 December 2022, China’s president Xi Jinping received a royal welcome at his arrival in Saudi Arabia for a three days state visit. State visits between China and Saudi Arabia heads of state have taken place since 2016. In 2022, President Xi received a royal and considerably warmer welcome than …

An Excluded Russia? Not for Asia – Anthropocene Wars (6)

(Art direction: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) From 1 September to 16 September 22, Vladimir Putin, President of the Federation of Russia, presided the Russian military exercises Vostok 2022. Besides the Russian military, the exercise gathered troops from 14 countries, including India and China (Arang Shidore, “Vostok military exercises indicate that Russia is far from isolated”, Responsible Statecraft, …

War in Ukraine in the Warming Arctic – Anthropocene Wars (5)

The war in Ukraine is morphing from a war between Russia and Ukraine into a war that involves NATO members supporting the war effort in Ukraine (Darlene Superville and Zeke Miller, “US Boosting Military Presence in Europe amid Russia Threat”, APNews, 29 June 2022). This situation generates strategic tensions between NATO and Russia that spill …

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