“The problem with fake news is not that people believe it. The problem is that they don’t believe anything anymore.”— Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century In February 2022, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine triggered the largest European conflict since World War II. But this war isn’t just being fought with tanks […]
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Block 1 / News / Opinion polling / Pacific Forum / Trump America First policy / United States / US-Korea / US-Taiwan
New polling: Does ‘America First’ mean abandoning Taiwan and Korea?
This article, originally published by Pacific Forum, is republished with permission. In his first administration, Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine reshaped US foreign policy, emphasizing economic nationalism, skepticism of military alliances and a focus on domestic priorities over international commitments. The Trump administration 2.0 further seeks to reevaluate military commitments abroad, reduce foreign aid, and […]
Block 1 / East Asia / empires / Europe / Francesco Sisci / News / nuclear weapons race / Trump / World
Trump’s step back abroad has triggered an atomic race in East Asia
US allies in Asia fear losing their nuclear umbrella because US President Donald Trump suggested some global disengagement. Without the umbrella, as seen with Ukraine, a country’s independence is in jeopardy. It starts a new proliferation. Washington is tempted to withdraw from some international pledges and is keen to pursue its agenda without much consultation […]
Block 1 / David P. Goldman / economics / Laffer curve / News / Trade wars / Trump Tariffs / United States
Tariffs have a Laffer curve, too
Legend has it that the supply-side revolution – Ronald Reagan’s 1981 cut in the US top income tax rate to 40% from 70%– began in a Washington restaurant, when economist Arthur Laffer drew his eponymous curve on a cocktail napkin for then White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dick Cheney. At a tax rate of […]
America First / Belt and Road Initiative / Block 1 / Donald Trump / News / Panama Canal / Ukraine war / United States / US Economic Coercion / US National Interest / US Unipolar Moment / USAID Closure
Why Trump’s global transformation might just succeed
Since returning to office in January 2025, Donald Trump has aggressively pursued a radical reshaping of US foreign policy. In early March, the State Department terminated foreign assistance programs supporting political opposition and regime change in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, deeming them no longer in the US “national interest.” Trump also reversed the Biden administration’s […]
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Trump trade wars making stagflation great again
The 2.8% contraction in US economic growth that the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is flagging for the first quarter is dreadful news for Asia and the wider global economy. The Atlanta Fed’s prediction collides with hotter-than-expected inflation in the world’s biggest economy. That, at a moment when Donald Trump seems hellbent on imposing ever-bigger […]