Germany just opened its first permanent military base abroad since World War II amidst the competition for leadership of post-conflict Europe between itself, France and Poland. Located in southeastern Lithuania near the Belarusian border and in proximity to Russia’s Kaliningrad Region, it’s strategically positioned to give Germany outsized influence in shaping Europe’s future security architecture. That’s because Germany is now a […]
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 […]
Belt and Road Initiative / Block 4 / Central Asia / China / Donald Trump / Great Game On / New Great Game / News / Russia / United States / US foreign policy / World
Great Game On: Shining light on the contest for Central Asia
The Founding Fathers advised Americans to steer clear of entangling alliances if they wished to preserve their newly acquired Republic. This may be news to some of our politicos but not to President Donald Trump. No US president has been leerier of the interventionist foreign policy bequeathed to us by Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Block 3 / China / Donald Trump / Elon Musk / Great Depression / News / Singapore / Technocracy / Technology / The Conversation / United States / Walter Henry Smyth
1930s tech bros wanted to merge the US, Canada and Greenland
A movement that wanted to merge North America into one nation and extend its borders as far as the Panama Canal might sound incredibly familiar. But this group, called the “technocracy movement,” was a group of 1930s nonconformists with big ideas about how to rearrange US society. They proposed a vision that would get rid […]
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 […]