Nowhere on earth is global warming proceeding more rapidly than inside the Arctic Circle. Over the past two decades, the Arctic has grown five degrees Celsius warmer. And the trend is accelerating, with the Arctic warming nearly four times as rapidly as the rest of the planet. Climate scientists expect that Arctic median temperatures will […]
Browsing Category: Block 2
Block 2 / Covid-19 Pandemic / IMF / News / The Conversation / Trump Tariffs / World / World Economic Outlook
IMF: Economic uncertainty is now higher than it was during Covid
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just published its World Economic Outlook, and it does not take an expert to deduce that, even among some of the world’s top economic minds, confident predictions are currently hard to come by. Every spring the IMF and World Bank hold their spring meetings in Washington, DC: a week […]
Block 2 / Brian Ballard / Coca-Cola / News / PET bottles / ProPublica / Reyes Brothers / Trump Tariffs / United States
Politically connected firms benefit from Trump tariff exemptions
This article was originally published by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. After President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs earlier this month, the White House released a list of more than a thousand products that would be exempted. One item that made the list is polyethylene terephthalate, more commonly known as PET resin, the […]
Block 2 / Books / Cable wars / Eurasia / News / Russian shadow fleet / Subsea internet cables / US-China / World
Cable wars: what to do about deepening conflict beneath the seas
On the day before Christmas in 2024, a Russian shadow-fleet oil tanker dragged its anchor a hundred miles across the Baltic seabed, damaging internet cables and the Finland-to-Estonia Estlink-2 power line. The month before, the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 did virtually the same thing, rupturing Baltic Sea internet cables. In January 2025, this […]
Block 2 / Donald Trump / MAGA / News / The Conversation / United States / US Immigration Crackdown / US Tourism / US-Canada Trade War / US-Mexico Trade War
Detained on arrival: Why US is no longer safe for tourists
The United States is one of the top three most visited countries in the world. The big draw cards – cities such as San Francisco, New York and Chicago and national parks such as Yosemite – have attracted international tourists for decades. This combined with its role as a global business powerhouse meant it had […]
Block 2 / News / Recep Tayyip Erdogan / Syria War / The Conversation / Turkey / Turkey-Russia Relations / Ukraine war / World
Turkey holds the key to solving multiple global crises
While Turkey’s government is struggling to deal with mass protests at home (after Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was imprisoned), in foreign affairs, it is in an increasingly strong position as a key power broker in deals with Europe, the US and Russia. At the crossroads between Asia and Europe, Turkey is strategically important to just […]
American Decline / Block 2 / IShowSpeed / Kodak / Leehom Wang / News / Radio Free Asia / Rochester / United States / US vs China / Wegmans
Sifting through the ashes of Rochester’s dumpster fire
You’re just too good to be true Can’t take my eyes off of you You’d be like heaven to touch I wanna hold you so much — Frankie Valli You know you’re old when you have no idea who IShowSpeed is and why he is a big deal. For the old farts out there, IShowSpeed […]
Block 2 / Donald Trump / Fox News / News / Sanctions on Russia / Sino-Russia Split / Taiwan war / The Conversation / Ukraine war / US-EU Split / Vladimir Putin / World
Trump’s Sino-Russia split bid likely to backfire
Is the US angling for a repeat of the Sino-Russian split? In an October 31, 2024, interview with right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson, President Donald Trump argued that the United States under Joe Biden had, in his mind erroneously, pushed China and Russia together. Separating the two powers, he said, would be a priority of his […]
Appia Institute / Block 2 / Donald Trump / News / Ukraine war / US-China relations / US-Europe Relations / US-Russia relations / Vladimir Putin / World / Xi Jinping
Losing the war of wedges
While US President Donald Trump is talking to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, he’s also engaging with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The American strategy is to drive a wedge between the two leaders and turn them against each other. The goal could be to have Russia turn against China and thus force Beijing to […]
Block 2 / Donald Trump / General Charles Q Brown / George Washington / News / The Conversation / United States / US military / Vietnam War
Trump’s firings a shot to the heart of US armed forces
President Donald Trump gave no specific reason for firing General Charles Q Brown Jr as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff less than halfway through Brown’s four-year term in office. Nor did he give an explanation for similarly ousting other senior military leaders, including the only women ever to lead the Navy and […]