Odd Arne Westad: How the Past Shadows China’s Future | Foreign Affairs Interview
Odd Arne Westad: How the Past Shadows China’s Future | Foreign Affairs Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubdp8te6rd4
Tag: international relations
What is Israel’s endgame in recognising Somaliland?
Israel recognized Somalia’s breakaway region, Somaliland, as an independent country. No other UN country has done so. Somaliland declared independence in 1991.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsmbBnHeVDk
Yemen is Dead. Here’s What Will Replace It.
The STC in Yemen has quickly conquered most of South Yemen after being in a stalemate for years. They are acting relatively competently and humanely, so the international community may eventually accept them as the rulers of South Yemen. The Houthis still control North Yemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAOgc3IKBU4
French and German adults lean toward dialing back Ukraine support, new POLITICO poll shows
The French and Germans have turned into little bitches.
“In France and Germany, the EU’s two biggest democracies, new polling shows that more respondents want their governments to scale back financial aid to Kyiv than to increase it or keep it the same. In the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, meanwhile, respondents tilt the other way and favor maintaining material support
…
The most frequently cited argument against additional assistance was concerns about the cost and the pressure on the national economy.
…
Support for Ukraine was driven primarily by those who backed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election in the U.S.
…
“In Germany and France, opposition to assistance was especially pronounced among supporters of far-right parties — such as the Alternative for Germany and France’s National Rally — while centrists were less skeptical.
…
The softer support for Ukraine in France and Germany does not appear to reflect warmer feelings toward Moscow, however. Voters in all five countries backed sanctions against Russia, suggesting that even where publics want to pare back aid they remain broadly aligned around punishing the aggressor and limiting Russia’s ability to finance the war.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/french-and-germans-lean-toward-dialing-back-ukraine-support-new-international-politico-poll-shows/
Trump declares fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction
Huge difference between a terrorist killing people with a nuclear bomb and a person voluntarily taking a drug that he knows is risky and then dying from it.
“President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, giving the U.S. government additional legal firepower in its efforts to combat illegal trafficking of the synthetic drug.
The executive order cites the lethality of the drug, which kills tens of thousands of Americans every year, and the fact that transnational criminal groups the Trump administration has designated as foreign terrorist organizations use the sale of fentanyl to fund activities that undermine U.S. national security.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/15/trump-fentanyl-weapon-mass-destruction-00691742?media_author_id=63054589126&media_id=3788579575710098494_63054589126&ranking_info_token=GCA0Y2IzY2U2NTEyYmQ0NGNhYjM4Zjc3ZTA1YjVhOWJiNiX2tbwFFZADFurohpQNGBMzNzg4NTc5NTc1NzEwMDk4NDk0KANydmEA
Frontline states want EU cash as Russian threat intensifies
“In recent months Russia has flown fighter jets into Estonian airspace and sent dozens of drones deep into Polish and Romanian territory. Its ally Belarus has repeatedly brought Lithuanian air traffic to a standstill by allowing giant balloons to cross its borders. And last week, Moscow’s top envoy Sergey Lavrov issued a veiled threat to Finland to exit NATO.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/frontline-states-eu-cash-russia-threat-defense/
The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: Power, plutocracy and political economy
A study found that due to Brexit, UK GDP per capita is 6-8% lower than it would be if the UK never left the EU.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSQ7LY0ca0o
Trump Orders Blockade Over Stolen Land and Oil
The reasons for current military action against Venezuela given by Trump and his allies are various. And the list of reasons to justify war sound a lot like Putin before and after invading Ukraine and W Bush before and after invading Iraq. Reasons for action in Venezuela include: drugs, terrorism, the influence of Russia and Iran, stolen land, stolen oil, opening up Venezuelan oil to American companies, and Maduro being the illegitimate ruler of Venezuela.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73ocuj4Adtw
How Kazakhstan is Hedging Against a Russian Invasion
Russia has threatened to invade Kazakhstan. Russia is producing more weapons than it has in a long time. If it didn’t need them in Ukraine, it could use them to invade Kazakhstan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANW_qQFXAyk
Why America’s massive defense budget just isn’t enough
The US military is weakening compared to its peers and is too heavily relying on aging legacy systems. US military spending is incredibly low compared to the Cold War. If the US doesn’t remain the strongest country, then the US, for all its flaws, will look like an angel compared to the authoritarian countries who will replace the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0TTtD8l9lI