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Fox News
5 days ago
- Science
- Fox News
MORNING GLORY: Why the angst about AI?
Should we be alarmed by the acceleration of "artificial intelligence" ("AI") and the "large language models" (LLMs) AI's developers employ? Thanks to AI I can provide a short explanation of the LLM term: "Imagine AI as a large umbrella, with generative AI being a smaller umbrella underneath. LLMs are like a specific type of tool within the generative AI umbrella, designed for working with text." Clear? Of course not. The intricacies of AI and the tools it uses are the stuff of start-ups, engineers, computer scientists and the consumers feeding them data knowingly or unknowingly. In the first Senate version of the "One Big Beautiful Bill," Senator Ted Cruz sponsored and the drafting committees accepted a 10-year ban on state legislatures laying down rules of the road for AI. Senator Cruz advocated for a federal moratorium on states enforcing their unique AI laws. Senator Cruz argued that states' regulations could create a confusing patchwork of rules that could hinder AI development and adoption. After much discussion and debate, the proposal was stricken from the Senate bill, which then went on to pass the Senate and House and was signed into law on July 4, creating in six months an enormous set of legislative accomplishments for President Trump as every one of the priorities he campaigned on was delivered via the OBBB. What about the concerns about AI? Very, very few essays or columns or even books leave lasting marks. One that did so for me was penned by Dr. Charles Krauthammer in 2011 and included in the magnificent collection of his very best work, "Things That Matter." In that collection is the brief column titled "Are We Alone In The Universe?" Krauthammer quickly recounts the reasons why we ought not to be alone as an intelligent species in the universe, as well as the explanation of why we haven't "heard from" any other civilizations in even our own galaxy. The answer, Krauthammer states, "is to be found, tragically, in…the high probability that advanced civilizations destroy themselves." Krauthammer credits Carl Sagan and others with this gloomy proposition, but it is Krauthammer who sums it up nicely; "[T]his silent universe is conveying not a flattering lesson about our uniqueness but a tragic story about our destiny," Krauthammer continued. "It is telling us that intelligence may be the most cursed faculty in the entire universe —an endowment not just ultimately fatal but, on the scale of cosmic time, nearly instantly so." But no gloom and doom for Krauthammer, only clarity: "Intelligence is a capacity so godlike, so protean, that it must be contained and disciplined." "This is the work of politics," Krauthammer concludes, "understood as the ordering of society and the regulation of power to permit human flourishing while simultaneously restraining the most Hobbesian human instincts." Krauthammer is right and Senator Cruz was correct to tee up the debate which isn't over, only begun. That's the "politics" part which is never-ending until the civilization ends. AI is indeed "godlike" in the promises its boosters make but profoundly disruptive of all of human history that went before it. Does it mean we are stepping off the edge of a cliff that destroyed all the other civilizations that went before us on distant planets from whom we will never hear a peep because they have run out their own string? Impossible to say, but kudos to Senator Cruz for kicking off the debate. The conversation deserves much more attention than it has thus far received. It's too easy to simply go full "disaster is inevitable" mode, but some speed bumps —Cruz 2.0 in the next reconciliation?— would be welcome. Hugh Hewitt is host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show," heard weekday mornings 6am to 9am ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel's news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University's Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcast, and this column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.
Japan Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
If China triumphs, America has itself to blame
In 2009, the late political columnist Charles Krauthammer penned an essay of prophetic clarity titled 'Decline is a Choice.' With characteristic incisiveness, he argued that the United States' global preeminence was not succumbing to some inexorable historical entropy but was being eroded by deliberate policy decisions — chiefly those of former President Barack Obama. Decline, Krauthammer insisted, was not fate; it was a choice. Today, that path has been reaffirmed with a fervor and recklessness that the political pundit could scarcely have envisaged. President Donald Trump's second term hasn't merely perpetuated America's retreat from global leadership, it has hastened its atrophy with chaotic zeal, cloaked in a rhetoric that mistakes bombast for strength. Promising to halt China's rise and restore American greatness, Trump has instead handed Beijing a golden opportunity to extend its influence — which the latter is doing with a sophistication and speed that should alarm any discerning observer. The evidence is stark, the irony profound: In his endeavor to make America great again, Trump has accelerated its decline. Stay updated on the trade wars. Quality journalism is more crucial than ever. Help us get the story right. For a limited time, we're offering a discounted subscription plan. Unlimited access US$30 US$18 /mo FOREVER subscribe NOW Consider the trade war, the cornerstone of Trump's economic strategy. Since January, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods have soared to an astonishing 145%, a policy designed to cripple Beijing's economic ascent and reassert American dominance in areas like manufacturing. Yet this audacious gambit risks misfiring spectacularly — echoing the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which deepened the Great Depression rather than safeguarding U.S. industry. The fallout is unmistakable. Between last March and April, U.S. imports from China plummeted by 64% according to data tracking container ship loads, with the impending prospect of shortages emptying shelves and driving prices skyward. All the while, America's economy contracted — for the first time in three years — in the first quarter of this year. American consumers and businesses — already strained — will bear the brunt, while China deftly redirects its exports to Europe and emerging markets, reducing its reliance on the U.S. Nations like Vietnam and Mexico, caught in the crossfire, haven't fully rallied around Washington's cause but have inched toward Beijing, drawn by the stability it offers in contrast to Trump's tariff roller-coaster. Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Hanoi last month in the wake of the U.S. president's most sweeping tariff announcements, signing a suite of agreements on trade facilitation and supply chain integration with Vietnam. South of the U.S. border, the picture is no less paradoxical. Mexico, long tethered to the American economy, already found itself with Chinese firms setting up shop on its soil aiming to use Mexico as a backdoor into the U.S. market — a fact that Washington's tariff policy is meant to address. Yet, while negotiating a reprieve with the U.S., Mexico's government is also investing in expanding its largest seaport in part to attract more trade with China. Far from containing Beijing, Trump has hastened its further integration into the global economy. Beyond economics, Washington's renewed isolationism has frayed the transatlantic bond that once defined the postwar order. For decades, the European Union has tethered its security and prosperity to the U.S., a partnership forged in the crucible of the 20th century. But Trump's erratic policies and diplomacy veering between belligerence and indifference have left the alliance in tatters. Faced with an unreliable partner, the EU is increasingly looking east, where Beijing presents a compelling alternative — but also a risky one. China's vast market offers some potential respite from Europe's struggle against stagnation: Belt and Road initiative (BRI) projects like the Budapest-Belgrade railway deliver infrastructure and jobs and on climate, the EU and China align on carbon reduction targets, in stark contrast to America reneging on its commitments. Even in technology, Brussels finds Beijing's state-driven approach to artificial intelligence more akin to its own than Washington's laissez-faire stance. The risks of cozying up to an authoritarian regime are evident — moral credibility and autonomy hang in the balance — but in European capitals, pragmatism may prevail over principle when Washington offers only unpredictability. Trump's retreat from global leadership is nowhere more evident than in the renewed withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization in January, framed as a reprimand for its COVID-19 response. The consequence? A void in global health governance that China has eagerly filled. By providing medical aid and through its vaccine diplomacy — note the stark irony here — Beijing has positioned itself as a cornerstone of international health, winning sway over poorer nations once dependent on American largesse. A shift with implications far beyond 'just' pandemics. Meanwhile, BRI marches forward with relentless ambition. Between 2013 and 2021, China invested $679 billion in infrastructure in 150 countries and this year it pledged a dramatic increase to meet its five-year targets. Chinese-backed railways, nuclear plants and ports are sprouting up across continents, with South America emerging as a key theater. Projects like Peru's Chancay megaport and Ecuador's Coca Codo Sinclair dam address development needs while fostering dependence. Trade agreements, notably for Brazil's soybeans and Chile's minerals, have made China a dominant partner, increasingly overshadowing the U.S. Cultural initiatives such as those carried out by Confucius Institutes and scholarships build goodwill, while military ties with Bolivia and Venezuela signal broader intent. Debt diplomacy, with loans that strain repayments, tightens Beijing's hold. South America, once firmly in the West's sphere, is realigning under China's aegis. Trump's disdain for international cooperation has eroded one of America's greatest assets, its soft power. Once the linchpin of Washington's global influence, it now falters — especially in Western Europe, where esteem for the U.S. has faded with the president's return to power, as emerges from a recent a YouGov poll. But Trump's policies have not only ceded global ground; they have weakened America at home. The trade war's economic fallout risks eroding living standards and the president's polarizing rhetoric deepens divisions, sapping the unity needed to tackle domestic issues and project strength abroad. Some might contend that Trump's tough stance on China is a necessary corrective and that Beijing's rise was inevitable. True, China has been ascendant for some time, but the pace and manner were not predetermined. Trump's chaotic unilateralism hasn't curbed Beijing; it has emboldened it. Others may cite America's military might and alliances as enduring strengths. Yet, military power alone is insufficient — economic and diplomatic clout matter equally, and here China is seeing rapid gains. Meanwhile, Trump's petulance has left alliances frayed, not fortified. American diplomacy under this administration has been a master class in strategic self-sabotage. Trump's willingness to let Russia keep Ukrainian territory — effectively rewarding aggression — in exchange for a ceasefire sends a message of American acquiescence that reverberates far beyond Eastern Europe. It is a signal to Beijing that the U.S. under Trump lacks the resolve to defend its allies or uphold the international order. The parallels to the 1930s are unsettling: A retreating great power, an emboldened dictator and the looming threat to a small democracy. China, ever the student of history, has taken note — Taiwan may now face an accelerated timeline for confrontation. The harm that Trump is causing to the United States' global standing isn't a transient squall but a tectonic shift. With its strategic patience and economic reach, Beijing is poised to define the 21st century. The allies see it, the data confirms it and history will record it not as a victory of foreign foes but a failure of American will. If decline is a choice, then Trump's America has made it twice — and this time, with conviction. Thomas O. Falk is a London-based political commentator and journalist.
Memri
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Setting A Trap For Trump's MAGA Vision
Introduction The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 created what the late American political analyst Charles Krauthammer called "a unipolar moment." America became the sole hegemonic power, as Russia was no longer a match for the U.S. and China was still too weak to challenge it. This unipolar moment lasted only 10 years. Two countries rose to challenge it: Iran and Qatar. They joined forces to establish a unified Islamist pole. While Iran did this through open confrontation, Qatar did this in its trademark way – through secrecy and deception. The first attack on American hegemony was the 9/11 attack, masterminded by Khaled Sheikh Mohammed – a former Qatari government employee and a veteran of the jihad war against the U.S. As if that blow to the U.S. weren't enough, America became bogged down in two endless wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, further exacerbating America's deteriorating global status. Over the years, both countries, Iran and Qatar, continued to damage America's power, each in its own way. During two American presidencies, this did not matter much. Both the Obama and Biden administrations sought peace through weakness. Eventually, this was no longer acceptable to the American public. In his first term, President Trump was not able to completely implement his vision to "Make America Great Again" – to revive America's status as a unipolar hegemony. But he is more determined this time, and more capable of making it happen. The first challenge Trump faces is the Gaza crisis and its ripple effect across entire Middle East dynamic. By proposing his unprecedented plan for post-war Gaza, he is now able to clearly distinguish allies from foes. Arab heads of state are set to convene on February 27 in Cairo, to come up with a unified stance vis-à-vis Trump's Gaza plan. Most have already expressed their opposition to it. The Europeans too have come forward to oppose Trump, as have Russia, China, Turkey (a so-called NATO ally), and Iran. The only country that has yet to express any official position on Trump's plan is Qatar, despite the central role it plays in the crisis – as Hamas' patron and a major sponsor of Islamist terrorism and Wahhabism worldwide. Qatar fears openly opposing oppose Trump, lest its true agenda be exposed. But it is subverting his plan by working to return the displaced Gazans to where their homes had been before the war began. The 1948 Moment Of Trump's Plan: Rehabilitation Instead Of Return Trump's plan for post-war Gaza brings the Palestinians and the entire Middle East back to 1948. At that time, post-WWII Europe was flooded with refugees and displaced persons of all nations. International organizations, led by the UN, offered displaced refugees resettlement and rehabilitation plans within their new geographic parameters. It was only for the Palestinians that a different arrangement was made: A dedicated UN agency was created in 1949 for them – the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, aka UNRWA – with the goal of returning these refugees to what had become the State of Israel following a war of survival. No group of refugees, before or since, has ever had a UN agency established for it with the declared aim of returning them to the places they had lived before the war. Under this banner of return, the Palestinians kept alive the war against Israel, with the ultimate goal of wiping it out and sending the Jews back whence they came – at best. Time and again, these wars ended with more territory lost on the Arab and Palestinian side, and with still more Palestinian refugees. Two countries, Egypt and Jordan, broke the cycle of war, signing peace accords that, "cold" peace or not, have held for 45 and 30 years, respectively. The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the war that followed involved Hamas, Qatar, Hizbullah, and Iran, as well as other Iranian proxies such as Ansar Allah (Houthis) in Yemen. This marked another attempt to reestablish Palestine from the river to the sea. Israel was caught unprepared, and suffered a devastating blow. Moreover, Israel was allied with its own enemy, Qatar, the global terrorist sponsor that had poured billions of dollars into Hamas's military empire, building it into a force of 30,000-40,00 fighters, with over 500 kilometers of tunnels, firing thousands of missiles into Israeli population centers. Israel stood fast under this blow from the south, north, and Yemen, and prevailed, even though it is now forced to surrender to Hamas in order to rescue the hostages – whom Hamas uses as a strategic weapon. Enter President Trump, with his 1948 solution – and just when it seemed that things could get no worse for the Palestinians, here comes Qatar to incite them again with the dream of return, in order to thwart Trump's proposal. In doing so, however, Qatar is pushing the Palestinians into oblivion. But Qatar could not care less. It will fight to the last Palestinian – just as Iran will fight to the last Syrian, Iraqi, or Yemenite Houthi. In Summary All this might not matter so much in the global arena had Qatar not undermined Trump's plan with impunity – again, due to its phenomenal capability for deception. The Trump administration is hopelessly incapable of identifying Qatar for what it truly is – a foe. If Trump's plan does not materialize, the Gazans will be returned to Gaza by Qatar – and there will be another cycle of war with Israel. The long-term damage will be done, and it will mark, for Trump's MAGA vision, America's incapability of dealing with the Middle East from a hegemonic position. Tiny Qatar will singlehandedly sweep away the vision of MAGA, impacting all U.S. allies as well as U.S. adversaries. * Yigal Carmon is Founder and President of MEMRI.
