After one of the most inflammatory speeches ever given by a US Defense Secretary, involving current incumbent, James Mattis, outlining the Trump's administration's defense strategy in which he described Russia and China as "revisionist powers", pledging to configure Washington's gargantuan defense strategy to meet the supposed threat they pose to US hegemony, it is time to confront the real danger to the world — US-led Western imperialism.
Mattis's speech was followed in quick succession by his UK counterpart, Gavin Williamson, giving similarly inflammatory speech in London, again ramping up the supposed threat to the British people that Russia poses. Both speeches, taken together, are tantamount to the declaration of a new Cold War.
Is this really the best we can do in 2018? After spending the latter half of the 20th century facing the prospect of World War III, are we now seriously suggesting that we should spend the first half of the 21st century doing the same?
George Szamuely is an author, journalist, academic and expert on geopolitics, and he joins Hard Facts to pick through the contents of Mattis's speech and analyze its implications.
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