Kailath, originally from Kerala but settled in the U.S., is one of the foremost names in the world in communications, control and signal processing. I remembered his words while reading the recent startling headlines that China has become the world leader in 37 of 44 critical technologies evaluated by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

War rarely stays within the boundaries set or desired for it. That makes returning to arms control crucial for the survival of humanity.

In this episode of Mapping Faultlines, NewsClick’s Prabir Purkayastha explains the details of the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines as revealed by journalist Seymour Hersh. He also talks about how benefited from this sabotage.

THE newsfeeds from the US seem to be completely insane. First, an F22 Raptor, the most expensive U.S. military aircraft, is used to shoot down a Chinese balloon over the Atlantic ocean.

The dramatic changes in the technology of mass communications should be brought in line with the larger goals of humanity and a more humane society.

Neither clean energy nor lower temperatures, the latest scientific breakthrough is about testing the condition of the nuclear stockpiles of the United States.

THE crux of the issue is that non-fossil, or even a low fossil fuel path, will need grid-level storage costs to drop by a factor of 10 times what they are today!

If the U.S. wants to be a world leader, it has to match China in investing in knowledge generation for future technology. Why then is the U.S. taking the sanctions route? Sanctions are simpler to implement; building a society that values knowledge is much more difficult. This is the crisis of late capitalism.

A Marxist, activist and scientist, Lewontin fought a lifelong battle against racism, imperialism and capitalist oppression. He is among the most influential scientists in the field of biology and evolution.

Two major cyberhacks—of ‘SolarWinds’ and ‘Microsoft Exchange Server’—have affected a whole range of computer systems worldwide. Both are supply chain hacks, meaning that they appeared to be routine software upgrades for particular components in these systems instead of inserted malicious codes.

‘…all countries have offensive and defensive capabilities and ‘stealing” data and knowledge from other countries are time-honoured tasks of spook agencies. It becomes an act of war only if it leads to physical damage to critical equipment or infrastructure.’

The U.S. has bought up almost all of the stock of remdesivir from Gilead, making it nearly impossible for this COVID-19 drug to be available anywhere else in the world.

Donald Trump launched a new vaccine war in May, but not against the virus. It was against the world.

For capital, profits come from disease, not peoples’ health. COVID-19 shows the consequence of disease capitalism in a globalized world, the rich—countries or individuals—will not be spared either.

The decade ends with two major threats to humanity: global warming leading to a climate catastrophe and the threat of a nuclear war extinguishing our civilization.

There are signs of a new tanker war in the Persian Gulf, with Britain joining a coalition that wants a war with Iran.

At the heart of the struggle is capital’s need–Monsanto and Pepsico’s–to continuously enclose spheres and generate surpluses from creating a monopoly over something that it does not actually own.

The key issue is the U.S.’s desire to return to the 90’s status of the world’s sole hegemon.

This reneging on international agreements by the U.S. is not an isolated case. This is the pattern that the U.S. has been following now for the last 25 years.

A rational solution is possible for Syria, if the US wants to be rational. But with Kushner in the White House Palestine faces a grim future.