Diplomacy & Crisis News

The new U.S. president wants to help, but he may not be prepared to pay the price.

Cease-fire negotiations have proved fruitless as Israeli ground forces join the fighting.

Violence between Israelis and Palestinians is dragging the United States back into a conflict it hoped to avoid as it refocuses attention away from the Middle East.

Cette recension a été publiée dans le numéro de printemps 2021 de Politique étrangère (n° 1/2021). Clément Therme propose une analyse de l’ouvrage d’Ariane M. Tabatai, No Conquest, no Defeat: Iran’s National Security Strategy (Hurst, 2020, 400 pages).

Le titre de l’ouvrage est tiré de l’expérience iranienne de la première guerre du Golfe (1980-1988) dont le bilan pourrait ainsi se résumer par « ni conquête, ni défaite ». Au-delà de l’attention particulière accordée à ce conflit, l’ouvrage a pour ambition de présenter une synthèse historique retraçant la problématique de la sécurité nationale de l’État iranien sur la longue durée. Cette approche privilégiant le temps long permet à l’auteur de ne pas se limiter à la dimension polémique de l’étude de la sécurité nationale iranienne à l’époque de la République islamique (depuis 1979).

Son argumentation sur la permanence des intérêts nationaux du pays avant et après la Révolution islamique de 1979 n’est néanmoins pas nouveau : Olivier Roy avait déjà évoqué ces éléments de continuité dans un article au titre évocateur « Sous le turban, la couronne : la politique extérieure » (publié dans Thermidor en Iran, 1993). Si l’argument n’est en soi pas nouveau, le principal mérite de cette recherche est d’offrir au grand public une vision nuancée de la construction de la notion de sécurité nationale en Iran de l’avènement de la dynastie Qadjar (1796) à nos jours.

La démonstration est convaincante quand il s’agit de montrer que la quête d’autosuffisance (khod kafai) transcende les changements dynastiques et/ou de régimes politiques. De même, l’auteur montre avec justesse la centralité de cette notion d’autosuffisance dans la construction d’une industrie de défense indépendante au lendemain de la première guerre du Golfe. Ariane Tabatabai souligne comment cette guerre a contribué à définir l’identité du régime et, dans le même temps, à montrer les contradictions entre les objectifs de la Révolution islamique et les intérêts nationaux du pays.

Le régime a aussi instrumentalisé cette guerre pour consolider son pouvoir sur la scène politique interne, en réussissant à rallier l’ensemble des Iraniens (des monarchistes aux islamistes à l’exception notable des moudjahidines du peuple) contre l’ennemi extérieur d’alors : l’Irak de Saddam Hussein. Cette guerre diffuse une image de l’Iran se résumant à un régime de mollahs irrationnels travaillant à la fin des temps. Elle renforce également la méfiance de la République islamique vis-à-vis du système international, mais aussi de puissances régionales comme l’Arabie Saoudite – qui soutient financièrement l’Irak. Enfin, force est de constater qu’existe alors une inadéquation des moyens militaires de l’Iran avec l’objectif politique affiché de la guerre jusqu’à la victoire.

Au lendemain de cette expérience historique fondatrice de la vision khomeiniste de la sécurité nationale se met en place un appareil de sécurité fragmenté, tant sur le plan institutionnel que factionnel. Le pragmatisme de la République islamique est donc très lié à cette expérience, qui montre que l’idéologie khomeiniste était certes suffisante pour gagner le combat révolutionnaire, mais ne l’était pas pour garantir la survie de l’État révolutionnaire. Si l’analyse des éléments de continuité est stimulante, on regrettera que l’importance de la dimension idéologique dans la définition de la sécurité nationale après 1979 soit sous-estimée.

Clément Therme

>> S’abonner à Politique étrangère <<

In the last few years, as politicians, judges, and other campaigners were stymied, the political will to fight graft has eroded.

Washington hopes to reduce spiraling Taliban violence, but it is losing its most potent leverage: troop presence.

The U.S. president outlined big promises on human rights reforms. Critics say he’s already breaking them in Africa.

For Israelis and Palestinians, ethnic violence isn't a temporary problem. It’s a lasting identity.

Biden wants to solidify the pivot to Asia. Congress might have other ideas.

In mixed towns across the country, Arab and Jewish citizens turn on one another.

In a time of crisis, the diaspora shows its strength.

Peter Suciu

British Army, Europe

The British Army has never been the largest in the world, but its numbers are vastly smaller than those of its European partners.

Here's What You Need to Know: Britain's Army continues to scale back.

(This article first appeared in November 2020.)

During the First World War, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhem II was famously dismissive of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the opening stages of the conflict, and he allegedly issued orders to attack and destroy that “contemptible little army.” While it is debatable whether he ever issued such an order, those British troops of the regular army took his threat as a source of pride and dubbed themselves “The Old Contemptibles.”

Now some one hundred and six years later the British Army may not be so contemptible, but it could certainly be smaller if not entirely “little.” Cuts proposed by the Ministry of the Treasury could effectively reduce the number of soldiers by 10,000—making it smaller than Germany’s current standing army, which has some 62,000 soldiers in its ranks

Such cutbacks could actually help address recruiting shortfalls. At the current time, the British Army has about 74,000 troops—8,000 below its target of 82,000. That number is likely to fall to the low 60,000s, should recruitment efforts be halted as about 10,000 or so soldiers retire annually.

The British Army has never been the largest in the world, but its numbers are vastly smaller than those of its European partners. By comparison Spain currently fields some 70,000 soldiers while France has more than 115,000 in its ranks, the Express newspaper reported.

This move to downsize the British Army has been questioned by some in the nation’s government, including Tobias Ellwood, chairman of Parliament’s influential Defence Committee.

“If the MoD is being told simply to reduce troop numbers—before we’ve even confirmed what they are supposed to do—then the Review is back to front,” Ellwood told the Express. “It’s clear our Armed Forces are already over-stretched meeting current commitments. With threats over the next decade expected to increase and diversify now is not the time to let our guard down.”

A Smaller Fighting Force

As the British Treasury is on quite cost cutting crusade, to help save on spending, the British Ministry of Defense has not just announced plans to freeze recruitment, but also to close military bases and mostly notably even cut back on orders of fighter aircraft for the Royal Air Force.

While the UK had agreed to buy forty-eight of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters—the short take-off and vertical landing variant of the jet, which is designed for use on aircraft carriers—it may only buy half its initial target of 138 of the stealth aircraft. The 138 figure was confirmed as an ambition in the UK defense review in 2015; however the British military was not contractually obliged to buy more than forty-eight of the aircraft. Instead, Britain could buy only half of its initial target goal of F-35B fighters and acquire around seventy of the stealth aircraft, which would enable it to have sixty in service and keep an additional ten as back-ups in case of damage or malfunction.

Moreover, it isn’t just fewer aircraft that the UK may have in its arsenal.

Earlier this fall it was reported that the British military could scale back the number of tanks it operates—to around 148 tanks, which would reduce the British Army to just two tank regiments including the Royal Lancers and Royal Tank Regiment.

However, the British military has considered ways technology could be used to address the shortage of recruits while also remaining a viable fighting force. This could include the use of robots to fill the ranks and work alongside humans in and around the frontline of a modern battlefield. Mechanical soldiers marching to the front would no doubt be something the Kaiser would have considered quite contemptible.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

This article first appeared in November 2020.

Image: Reuters

Peter Suciu

BMPT, Eurasia

First introduced more than twenty years ago the platform has never been fully embraced by the Russian Military, but it has gone through a number of upgrades.

Here's What You Need to Know: The vehicle proved its effectiveness during recent Russian combat operations in Syria.

(This article first appeared in December 2020.)

The Russian Federation’s BMPT (Tank Support Fighting Vehicle), known as the “Terminator,” has traveled back in time to ensure the future for the machines—but the vehicle has come back from “financial neglect.” First introduced more than twenty years ago the platform has never been fully embraced by the Russian Military, but it has gone through a number of upgrades.

The tracked armored fighting vehicle (AFVs) was developed and manufactured by the Russian-based defense contractor Uralvagonzavod; its primary role is to support tanks and other AFVs in urban areas. It was designed based on combat lessons gained during the Soviet-Afghan War and later the First Chechen War.

The Terminator moniker is unofficial, but it fits given its guardian/hunter role in urban environments, where it can provide fire support for the armor in an offensive, including the task of fighting enemy personnel armed with man-portable anti-tank weapon systems.

Heavily armed and armored for combat in close tight streets the original platform was built on the chassis of a T-72 main battle tank (MBT), and it was armed with four 9M120 Ataka missile launchers, two 30 mm 2A42 autocannons, two AG-17D grenade launchers and a single coaxial 7.62 mm PKTM machine gun. The anti-tank missile system can reach targets of up to six kilometers, while the Terminator is speedy for its size, and can reach speeds of up to 60 kpm. It is operated by a crew of five.

Despite its potential, in 2010 the Defense Ministry abandoned plans to financially support the platform’s development.

Terminator – Return of the Russian AFVs

This month, DefenseNews reported that the Russian military has received the latest batch of the support vehicles for testing after the Terminator had been previously neglected. It reportedly proved its effectiveness during recent Russian combat operations in Syria and the Russian Defense Ministry gave the platform another look.

Russian state television showed the latest version of the vehicles, which are reportedly based on the T-90 chassis, in service with the 90th Tank Division while deployed in the Chelyabinsk region of the Urals.

“The uniqueness of this car is its ability to follow three targets at once with all of its weaponry systems,” Col. Andrey Sigarev, the deputy commander of the tank division, told Channel One television.

Military experts were reported to suggest that a single Terminator could replace a motorized rifle platoon of forty soldiers and six armored vehicles. Whether that is pure bolster isn’t clear, but Russia’s military has only received eight of the updated vehicles, and those will be tested during military exercises.

It has already been described as a “universal soldier” and the Terminator AFV can fight independently against insurgent forces armed with weapons ranging from small arms to grenade launchers and anti-tank missiles, and hold its own against tank platoons equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Austrian accent not included.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

This article first appeared in December 2020.

Image: Reuters

Ethen Kim Lieser

Stimulus Check,

One particular situation that the IRS has taken time to point out is if a deceased person received a payment. In fact, the agency has sent out a notice that spouses or relatives will need to return the stimulus checks to one of its offices.

Amid another hectic tax season, the Internal Revenue Service has been working around the clock to disburse tens of millions of coronavirus stimulus checks to struggling Americans.

But in the effort to fast-track these $1,400 payments under the American Rescue Plan, some of the checks ended up heading into the bank accounts or mailboxes of certain individuals who didn’t necessarily deserve them.

One particular situation that the IRS has taken time to point out is if a deceased person received a payment. In fact, the agency has sent out a notice that spouses or relatives will need to return the stimulus checks to one of its offices.

However, the IRS added that this notice only affects taxpayers who passed away before January 1, 2021. Moreover, the extra $1,400 per dependent is also not to be spent for a parent who died before that date.

If the deceased spouse, though, was part of a joint return, then the surviving individual may keep the cash. Keep in mind that the same holds true if the deceased was a married member of the U.S. military. And if a stimulus payment has both of the husband and wife’s names on it, the surviving spouse may keep the funds but must include a letter requesting a new check be reissued with only his or her name on it.

If one chooses to return the stimulus funds, it is relatively straightforward. Just write “void” in the endorsement section on the back of the check and then mail it via USPS to a local IRS location. Don’t forget that they should also write a brief explanation stating the reason for returning the payment.

If the money was already direct deposited into a bank account, then one can mail off a personal check or money order to an IRS location. Just make it payable to “U.S. Treasury” and write “Third EIP” and a personal taxpayer identification number on the check.

Also, take note that for the expanded child tax credits heading out in July, an overpayment of these funds may force taxpayers to pay up come tax season next year. Understand that these credits are advanced payments that are largely based off the IRS’ estimates on available data, such as overall income, marital status, and number and age of qualifying dependent children.

But if any outdated or inaccurate data are used, they could potentially generate an overpayment of credit—meaning that the impacted individual will be responsible for any difference in the final amount.

The IRS has announced that a portal will eventually be launched for the child tax credit payments so that taxpayers’ information can be added or updated more conveniently.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Trevor Filseth

Stimulus Payments,

Biden’s future strategy can be broadly broken down into two plans.

Here's What You Need to Remember: Another interesting opportunity for Biden would be a minimum wage increase, which he supported as a candidate. The difficulty is that not all Democrats support this; notably, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) have opposed similar proposals before. To win Congress over, Biden must first win them over.

President Joe Biden’s stimulus packages have not yet passed Congress – and, in their current forms, they are expected to meet significant Republican opposition. However, if most of the language in the bills survives intact, it would indicate a sweeping stimulus program, including significant payments to most working- and middle-class Americans and a large expansion of the welfare state.

Biden’s future strategy can be broadly broken down into two plans. The first, the “American Families Plan”, is a conventional expansion of the welfare state; it offers significant advances in childcare, including free pre-K, increased ability to write off childcare-related expenses on one’s taxes, and, perhaps most significantly, an expansion of the Child Tax Credit to around $3000 per child per year – effectively amounting to another stimulus check for middle-class parents.

Taken together, these two plans will cost approximately $3 trillion. Of that, at least $1 trillion will go directly to families, in the form of tax credits and other incentives designed to make their lives easier. The other $2 trillion, contained within the American Jobs Plan, is focused on COVID-19 economic recovery, enabling businesses to resume work faster amid the fallout from the pandemic.

It should be noted that neither of these two plans has been formally introduced to Congress yet. Given Congress’ tendency towards negotiations, and Senate Republicans’ broad opposition to Biden’s agenda, it remains unclear how much of it Biden will be able to pass by the end of the year. Still, the agenda appears to be popular with Americans, suggesting that political pressure could help to get some of it through the Senate.

If it can be supposed that Biden’s plans – whether mostly intact or in some slightly different form – are approved by Congress and signed into law, what would he do next?

One significant area of opportunity is in canceling student debt. Canceling debt, long a cause celebre on the American left, would do much to gain Biden goodwill with progressives and shore up his support within his own party. It is also an idea that Biden has proposed before; his suggestion has been to cancel $10,000 from all student loan debts.

However, it is unclear if the President has the legal authority to unilaterally cancel debt. If he put it to a vote through Congress, it seems likely that another partisan debacle would unfold.

Another interesting opportunity for Biden would be a minimum wage increase, which he supported as a candidate. The difficulty is that not all Democrats support this; notably, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) have opposed similar proposals before. To win Congress over, Biden must first win them over.

Finally, there remains the possibility that Biden will send a fourth stimulus check – although, as noted elsewhere, the political hackles surrounding such a proposal would be extremely difficult to overcome.

Trevor Filseth is a news reporter and writer for the National Interest. This article first appeared earlier this year.

Image: Reuters.

Michael Peck

Chinese Military, Asia

The People's Liberation Army is embracing all those capabilities that make an army more deadly than mere numbers suggest.

Here's What You Need to Remember: Chinese military power is changing shape and expanding beyond its Western Pacific backyard.

Western media seized on a new Pentagon report that Chinese bombers are training to strike deep into the Western Pacific, including Guam, the Philippines and Japan.

But China's military is improving in numerous other ways, according to "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2018," a report that the Pentagon is required to deliver to Congress each year.

For example:

China's army is becoming more flexible: 

Forget the Cold War stereotype of Chinese human waves. The world's largest army is moving from a clumsy big-unit doctrine of corps-sized operations to a more Western (and now Russian) model of maneuver by brigades and battalions waging combined arms warfare. "Each group army now consists of multiple combined arms brigades, an artillery brigade, an air defense brigade, a SOF [special operations forces] brigade, an army aviation brigade, an engineer and chemical defense brigade, and a service support brigade," the report notes. "The subordinate service support brigades provide group armies an integrated ability to set up a command network and organize battlefield transportation and equipment repair for their tactical units."

China's army is using high-tech force multipliers:

The People's Liberation Army is embracing all those capabilities that make an army more deadly than mere numbers suggest. 2017 "saw increases and improvements in air defense, artillery, sustainment support, engineers, and chemical defense systems at all echelon levels. This selective modernization enables the shift to the brigade and battalion as the main operational echelons by giving their commanders critical organic force protection, firepower strike, reconnaissance, and sustainment capabilities."

China's military is becoming a joint force:

While the U.S. military is accustomed to joint land-air-sea operations, China's military has traditionally been centered on the army, with the air force and navy as supporting players. But China is revamping its armed force into a joint force capable of combined operations. Joint exercises have become more common, and new communications networks facilitate inter-service cooperation.

China is worried about U.S. missile defense:

China is developing multiple countermeasures to enable its ballistic missiles to penetrate the missile defense of the U.S. and its allies. These include maneuverable reentry vehicle (MARV) warheads, multiple nuclear warheads (MIRV), "decoys, chaff, jamming, thermal shielding, and hypersonic glide vehicles," according to the Pentagon report. China's government also wants to make sure that it has control over its nuclear weapons: "the PLA will likely continue deploying more sophisticated C2 systems and refining C2 processes as growing numbers of mobile ICBMs and future SSBN [ballistic missile submarines] deterrence patrols require the PLA to safeguard the integrity of nuclear release authority for a larger, more dispersed force."

China is developing a deadly drone force:

"In 2017, Chinese defense industry representatives claimed to be developing long-range stealthy and near-space UAVs, and the PLA may soon begin receiving the long-range, high-altitude Xianglong UAV," the Pentagon said.

Taiwan is in trouble: 

"Taiwan’s military spending remains at approximately 2 percent of its GDP," the report noted. "Taiwan’s President Tsai recently pledged to increase the island’s defense budget at a pace at least equal to overall economic growth, not including an additional special fund reserved for major defense procurements. Meanwhile, China’s official defense budget has grown to roughly 15 times that of Taiwan, with much of it focused on developing the capability to unify Taiwan with the mainland by force."

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Recommended: Would China Really Invade Taiwan?

China's military is going global: 

Chinese military power is expanding beyond its Western Pacific backyard. "In August 2017, China officially opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti, deploying a company of marines and equipment to the base," said the Pentagon report. "China likely will seek to establish additional military logistics facilities in countries with which it has longstanding, friendly relationships."

Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook. This article first appeared in 2018.

Image: Reuters.

Peter Suciu

Politics,

Those people who were on unemployment benefits in 2020 could see a tax refund instead of owing money.

If a person has ever received unemployment benefits in the past after being laid off from a job, then they likely know that the money was typically just a percentage of their take-home pay and not always enough to make ends meet. Also, they may have gotten an unpleasant surprise when you discovered that not enough taxes were withheld.

The coronavirus changed unemployment and some would argue for the better while some would say for the worse. Unemployment benefits were meant to be a lifeline to help individuals receive a steady but small influx of cash while actively looking for work.

An estimated forty million Americans collected a combined $580 billion in unemployment insurance benefits last year, according to an April report from The Century Foundation. That included people who were laid off as well as so-called “gig workers,” contractors and self-employed individuals who don’t normally qualify for unemployment insurance.

Those people who were on unemployment benefits in 2020 could see a tax refund instead of owing money.

It was reported just this week that 7.3 million who received unemployment checks during the coronavirus pandemic could get refunds due to the $10,200 tax break that came about as part of the American Rescue Plan Act from March. Essentially it means that unemployment paid out last year does not count as earned income for the year, and individuals couldn’t be taxed on it, while married couples filing jointing were eligible for up to a $20,400 exclusion.

For those people who haven’t yet filed their taxes yet, that essentially means they don’t have to pay taxes on unemployment benefits up to that amount.

“If your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is less than $150,000, the American Rescue Plan enacted on March 11, 2021, excludes from income up to $10,200 of unemployment compensation paid in 2020, which means you don’t have to pay tax on unemployment compensation of up to $10,200. If you are married, each spouse receiving unemployment compensation doesn’t have to pay tax on unemployment compensation of up to $10,200. Amounts over $10,200 for each individual are still taxable,” the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) explained on its website.

“This new clarification from the IRS is good news for the millions of taxpayers impacted, but may still be confusing,” Mark Steber, chief tax officer for Jackson Hewitt told Cnet.com. “Some taxpayers may have questions as to the timing of any payment and whether it will come in a check or other form.”

As many Americans have already filed their taxes prior to the American Rescue Plan being signed into law by President Joe Biden, the IRS announced that it would refund the overpaid taxes. If the IRS determines the taxpayer is owed a refund, then it will send a check automatically.

The refunds have begun to be sent out and will continue through the summer.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military small arms, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

Image: Reuters

Stephen Silver

Tesla, Americas

Believe it or not, this is not the first time this has happened with a Tesla.

Nobody likes a backseat driver. New technology, however, has actually made it possible to literally drive from the back seat. But that doesn’t mean that doing so is safe, advisable, or legal. 

A twenty-five-year-old California man was arrested for reckless driving on May 10 because he had been driving his Tesla from the back seat, likely using Tesla’s autopilot feature, according to the Associated Press, which cited a Facebook post by the California Highway Patrol.

“On May 10 at approximately 6:34 p.m., the CHP’s Golden Gate Division Communications Center received multiple 9-1-1 calls regarding an individual seated in the backseat of a Tesla Model 3 without anyone seated in the driver’s seat,” the Facebook post said. “The vehicle was reported to be traveling eastbound on I-80 across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toward the city of Oakland.” 

A CHP officer followed the car and saw the driver move from the back seat to the front. The man was arrested on two counts of reckless driving and disobeying a Peace Officer.

Tesla has only offered a “limited number of owners” to test out the self-driving feature and it’s not clear if the man arrested was one of them, according to the Associated Press.

Believe it or not, this is not the first time this has happened with a Tesla. In 2015, per Business Insider, a video surfaced on YouTube of a driver “[sitting] in the backseat while filming the Autopilot feature doing all of the work.” The video, which was filmed on a highway in The Netherlands, surfaced just weeks after the Autopilot feature was first introduced; the video is no longer available on YouTube. 

“There’s been some fairly crazy videos on YouTube . . . this is not good,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the time, per the report. “And we will be putting some additional constraints on when Autopilot can be activated to minimize the possibility of people doing crazy things with it.”

But five years later, in September of 2020, a Tesla owner in Canada was arrested for driving ninety miles per hour, while asleep.

The man’s 2019 Tesla Model S “appeared to be self-driving,” per the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, “traveling over 140 km/h, with both front seats completely reclined and both occupants appearing to be asleep.” The car even accelerated while police were chasing it, according to The Verge.

“Although manufacturers of new vehicles have built-in safeguards to prevent drivers from taking advantage of the new safety systems in vehicles, those systems are just that—supplemental safety systems,” Superintendent Gary Graham of Alberta RCMP Traffic Services said in a statement. “They are not self-driving systems, they still come with the responsibility of driving.”

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for the National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters

Stephen Silver

Colonial Pipeline,

"I think you're going to hear some good news in the next 24 hours,” Biden said Wednesday afternoon, of the pipeline issue. “I think we’ll be getting back on under control.”

Last Friday, the Colonial Pipeline, one of the most important in the country, suffered a ransomware cyberattack, which caused the pipeline itself to shut down. This has caused shortages, higher prices, and even closed gas stations in some parts of the Southeastern United States. The Russian ransomware group known as Darkside has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the FBI agrees that they are responsible.

What is the Biden Administration doing to deal with the crisis?

"I think you're going to hear some good news in the next 24 hours,” Biden said Wednesday afternoon, of the pipeline issue. “I think we’ll be getting back on under control.” He added that he has been in close contact with the owners of the Colonial Pipeline, and that “I think we have to make a greater investment in education as it relates to being able to train and graduate more people proficient in cybersecurity.”

The president had earlier in the day announced a new lifting of restrictions on the transportation of fuel.

Biden had addressed the issue in a briefing earlier this week, which was ostensibly about discussing economic policy.

“I’d like to start by saying a few words about the ransomware cyberattack currently impacting Colonial Pipeline.  This is something that my administration — our administration have been tracking extremely carefully.  And I have been perfectly — personally briefed every day,” the president said, per a White House transcript.

“The Department of Energy is working directly with Colonial to get the pipelines back online and operating at full capacity as quickly and safely as possible. The FBI also is engaged to assess the — and address this attack.  The agencies across the government have attacked [quickly] — quickly to mitigate any impact on our fuel supply.”

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Tuesday alleged on his show that the Biden Administration “approves of” the pipeline shutdown, because of the administration’s policies that support a transition to clean energy. However, it’s very clear that the pipeline attack is a major political headache for the administration, which hopes to resolve the crisis as soon as possible.

The Biden Administration has come out in support of transitioning long-term into greener energy, but it has not advocated for immediately shutting down gas stations or fuel pipelines.

The pipeline disaster has helped lead the average price of gasoline over $3 for the first time in seven years. However, GasBuddy predicted that gas prices are unlikely to hit record levels this summer, and are probably mostly a result of rising demand for gasoline as the coronavirus pandemic recedes. One reason why gas prices are so much higher than they were this time last year is because gas prices were at historical lows in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Rachel Bucchino

Gas Crisis,

Panic-buying has emptied gas stations and has triggered intense fuel shortages across the Southeast, as the shutdown of the major gasoline and jet fuel pipeline entered its sixth day and prompted several governors to declare states of emergency.

Panic-buying has emptied gas stations and has triggered intense fuel shortages across the Southeast, as the shutdown of the major gasoline and jet fuel pipeline entered its sixth day and prompted several governors to declare states of emergency.

A ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline disabled computer systems that were responsible for fuel production from Texas to the Northeast, and now a number of states are running out of gas supply. In some cases, some drivers can’t even access a gas-pump that has fuel readily available.

About 65 percent of North Carolina’s gas stations have emptied as of Wednesday, and 43 percent of the stations in South Carolina were dry, according to GasBuddy. Georgia and Virginia stations are also experiencing shortages, at 43 percent and 44 percent, respectively. Other states as far as West Virginia and Kentucky are also seeing instances of panic-buying.

Major metropolitan areas have also seen vast gas shortages, including Charlotte, Raleigh and Greenville, as well as in Norfolk and Atlanta, according to Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head oil analyst.

The overall panic has also prompted the price of gas to jump.

“We've already seen higher gas prices,” Tiffany Wright, a spokeswoman for AAA in the Carolinas, said on Tuesday.

“They have gone up as high from anywhere from 3 to 10 cents overnight,” she added.

The governors in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia have declared states of emergency as of Wednesday, and have moved to ease gas transportation guidance. For example, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) temporarily cut the gas tax in his state, while also suspending any weight restrictions on trucks that would be moving fuel. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued an executive order that indicates that he would call on the National Guard if needed.

But with another crisis brewing—labor shortage—gas stations have bumped into logistical hurdles in getting fuel, as there is a massive scarcity of truck drivers.

The White House said that federal agencies are working to swiftly respond to the fuel disaster, urging drivers to only get gas if they need it. Some consumers, however, are panic-buying and hoarding gas in the event that fuel grows completely depleted.

But the Biden administration confirmed that the pipeline will be operating normally soon.

“Our top priority right now is getting the fuel [to] the communities that need it, and we will continue doing everything that we can to meet that goal in the coming days,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters.

“We're working around the clock with our federal, state, local and industry partners to respond to the Colonial Pipeline cybersecurity incident,” Deputy Energy Secretary Dave Turk said in a video statement on Tuesday.

The Department of Energy said that officials will transport fuel by train or ship if necessary.

Experts noted that pipeline production and operations should return to full capacity by the end of the week. Gas prices, however, may continue to surge as consumers turn to driving during the summer months.

Rachel Bucchino is a reporter at the National Interest. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and The Hill.