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Geoffrey Miller: Geopolitical Analyst discusses Trump's nuclear testing comment · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump is playing the nuke card. The US president
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  Speaker 1: has ordered his Department of Defense slash Water immediately begin
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  Speaker 1: nuclear weapons testing, something that the US hasn't done since
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  Speaker 1: the nineties. Foreign policy analyst Jeffrey Millet is with me now.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Jeffrey, Good morning, Francesca.
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  Speaker 1: He said, this is a warning shot to his enemies.
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  Speaker 1: Who are we talking about here, China, Russia.
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  Speaker 2: Or both of them? I think, Francesca, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: you can say, well, this is the typical saber rattling
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  Speaker 2: of the Trump presidency, and this is the world that
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  Speaker 2: we live in. But I think we need to be aware, heir,
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  Speaker 2: of the power of a nuclear conflict. I think we've
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  Speaker 2: largely forgotten or underappreciated the nuclear dimension in these constant
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  Speaker 2: geopolitical tensions. But you've got to remember that the US
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  Speaker 2: and Russia both still have over five thousand nuclear warheads outs,
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  Speaker 2: well down from the peaks of the Cold War. But
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  Speaker 2: if we suddenly see them back nuclear testing, that would
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  Speaker 2: be the first time since the mid nineteen nineties that
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  Speaker 2: we've seen China, Russia in the United States testing nuclear weapons,
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  Speaker 2: and that could be well on the cards. So I
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  Speaker 2: think we really need to dive back the tensions here,
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  Speaker 2: because this is more than just a typical Trump outburst
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  Speaker 2: on social media, and nuclear weapons can have real consequences
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  Speaker 2: and we certainly have seen that in history.
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  Speaker 1: So you think that there is a possibility he will
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  Speaker 1: actually begin nuclear tests again.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, So the escalation is in play, isn't it. And
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  Speaker 2: we've seen this in so many dimensions now over the
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  Speaker 2: past few years. I mean, the world is a much
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  Speaker 2: scarier place now than it was. And we've seen the
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  Speaker 2: nuclear dimension come into play in the war in Ukraine,
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  Speaker 2: for example, that the superregion nuclear partner has come under
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  Speaker 2: attack numerous times in the war between Russia, Russia and Ukraine.
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  Speaker 2: We saw that war between India and Pakistan earlier in
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  Speaker 2: the year. Two nuclear powers. They conducted a nuclear test
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  Speaker 2: back in nineteen ninety eight, but since then it's only
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  Speaker 2: been North Korea that has tested nuclear weapons. We've got
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  Speaker 2: a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty that was agreed in
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  Speaker 2: the mid nineties, but China, Russia in the United States
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  Speaker 2: have not ratified that. Well, Russia did ratify it and
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  Speaker 2: then pulled out a couple of years ago. The United
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  Speaker 2: States and China have never ratified that treaty. So we
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  Speaker 2: need to, I think, step back from the brink here.
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  Speaker 2: And that's the game that Donald Trump is playing constantly,
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  Speaker 2: This game of brinksmanship, when you go right to the
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  Speaker 2: brink of war, then you pull back in declear victory.
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  Speaker 2: It is, I think, a scary way to do politics,
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  Speaker 2: a scary way to do geopolitics. It is Trump's game.
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  Speaker 2: We've seen that very successful meeting over between Donald Trump
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  Speaker 2: and Gjingping that has come out with a deal. I
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  Speaker 2: mean that's a good news story. But you wonder what
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  Speaker 2: will come next week or next month with Donald Trump.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, nothing is really ever set in stone, and
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  Speaker 2: you never know how long it's going to be before
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  Speaker 2: he changes his mind.
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  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Miller, thank you so much. Always appreciate your thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 2:57
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• 3:00
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