War Hawks Are Eager For A New Iron Curtain Era

Here are some sensible ways the United States can prevent World War III.

The head of the U.S. Strategic Command told Congress last week that a powerful set of countries is ganging up against the United States and World War III is on the horizon.

General Anthony Cotton’s testimony didn’t receive much attention from the U.S. press, other than some breathless coverage from conservative outlets eager to emphasize the weakness of the Biden administration and the necessity of boosting the U.S. military budget.

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Though under-reported, the general’s comments are a useful window onto the Pentagon’s worldview. They reveal the increasingly Cold War thinking that is developing in Washington, which mirrors the hardening of attitudes in Moscow.

Such talk of “us versus them” is but the latest sign that the world has been thrown back to 1946. It was 78 years ago this week that former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his infamous “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri. At that time, an international community that had recently been conjured into existence with the formation of the United Nations was threatening to cleave into two spheres, Communist and non-Communist. Churchill, among others, pushed hard to reinforce this division.