On the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively), we honour those who lost their lives and demand that nuclear war, as well as genocide, never be committed. There should never be a human life that is lost to senseless violence and hatred. We gather our forces for peace to unify for this cause.

US President Donald John Trump’s approach to diplomacy has shocked the world. In recent times, he has levied new, grave threats against Russia, Brazil and now India, among others, in an apparently flailing attempt to squeeze a modicum of success out of his recent policy initiatives. While some will undoubtedly buckle to this kind of imperious pressure, as with the embarrassing case last week of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the EU, an increasing majority in the world are resisting, including nuclear powers, such as Russia and China. Threats and bullying of this sort can never win the peace, and at best, will only postpone conflicts into the future; but Trump’s most recent remarks with regard to Russia are unhinged enough to bring the world back to the brink of nuclear war.

Speaking on George Galloway’s MOATS show on August 3, 2025, former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter noted that when Trump mentioned he would be deploying two Ohio-class nuclear submarines “in the appropriate regions” in response to a tweet from Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, it can’t be ruled out that he is preparing for a pre-emptive decapitation strike on Russia. Whether or not Trump intends this, Russia will absolutely have to take it into consideration as a real possibility. Even more so following the US’ surprise attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, launched despite the fact that the US was actively conducting peace talks with the Iranian Government, and that President Trump has now been whittling down the days to a supposed deadline for Russia to “make a deal” on Ukraine.

Ritter also claimed that it was an identical circumstance in the 1980s – with the deployment of medium-range Pershing II missiles in Germany and US nuclear submarines stationed close enough of Russia to launch a lower-trajectory strike – that was the impetus for Russia to develop its dead-hand system in the case of an attempted decapitation attack. Trump is now recreating this situation yet again.

However, it must be stated that despite Trump’s erratic and naïve behaviour, he is not the architect of this policy, but merely the fool implementing it. One must look to the likes of the UK’s Malcolm Chalmers, the former Deputy Director of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and now Strategic Adviser to the Defence Secretary, who argued earlier this year that the UK should launch a tactical nuclear warhead on a Russian military base as a “demonstration strike” from a forward-deployed nuclear submarine. These types of British imperial actors are keen on creating the kind of environment that would pull President Trump into their desired war with Russia, China and the BRICS, more generally, despite his earlier good intentions. If we are to steer this administration off its present course toward confrontation with a large part of the world, we must set our sights on the real enemy behind the proverbial curtain.

From this vantage point, the latest declassification by Senator Chuck Grassley of one of the annexes of the report from Special Counsel John Durham is extremely significant. The new document reveals yet further details of the determination by those principal actors behind the fabrication of Russiagate to start a confrontation with Russia, even despite the “lack of direct evidence“. Shedding the personal passions and prejudices surrounding President Trump and identifying the actual intention on the part of those trying to control his administration, is the only way we can pull the world back from the brink of war and pave the way to a new security and development architecture that establishes a new basis for peaceful relations among the world’s community of nations.

International Peace Coalition published this article on August 5, 2025.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das