The US is sending Starlink terminals to Iranian protestors.
The US is sending Starlink terminals to Iranian protestors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zttIL0lZSco
Tag: United States
The US slips to its lowest-ever rank in a global corruption index
“The United States has fallen to its worst-ever position in a leading global index that measures perception of corruption in the public sector among independent experts and businesspeople.
The world’s most powerful democracy last year slipped one notch to 29th place, out of 182, in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). That’s the lowest rank since 2012, when the index, established in 1995, was relaunched using new methodology.
In its new position, the United States tied with the Bahamas and was beaten by Lithuania (28), Barbados (24) and Uruguay (17).
The US ranking has been on a downward trend for the past decade. It took another hit last year, when the Trump administration gutted the federal government’s ability to fight public corruption by pausing investigations into corporate foreign bribery and curtailing enforcement of a foreign agent registration law, among other measures.
Since returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump has also actively weakened institutions and deployed the tools of government against his perceived foes.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-slips-lowest-ever-rank-140535315.html
Trump’s Tariff War Is Crushing American Alcohol Makers
“new data has emerged from Canada showing the near-catastrophic consequences to American alcohol manufacturers from President Donald Trump’s tariff wars. Yet despite clear signs that his tariff policies are backfiring, the president keeps doubling down.”
https://reason.com/2026/01/31/trumps-tariff-war-is-crushing-american-alcohol-makers/
The Greenland Crisis – The Arctic, Alliances & A U.S. Strategic Folly
What the US needs in Greenland is access. The US already had that and any additional access could have been negotiated for without threatening war.
Countries like Denmark and the US have already agreed to not solve differences between them with force. The US breaking that by threatening war to take territory from Denmark is a huge violation that damages American soft power.
Trump claimed that Denmark has a weak claim to Greenland because all they did is send some boats there and the US did this too. This is false or misleading because the Danes colonized Greenland before the US existed. It also further violates norms and damages relations with many countries because the US is breaking agreements it has made in the past where it acknowledged Danish control over Greenland.
Other countries know that if the US uses force, or the threat of force, to steal territory from Denmark, the US may do it to them.
The US has claimed that because Greenland can’t defend itself, the US has the right to take it. Under that logic, any stronger country can conquer many weaker countries because a lot of weak countries cannot defend themselves against stronger countries, and having that territory would give the stronger country a more forward defense against other strong countries.
For a long time, the US has dealt with this problem by having weaker countries band together in some sort of treaty organization so that they can help each other defend against a strong country and not need to invade each other for the sake of defending themselves against the bigger country.
Russia and China are not a short term threat to Greenland. Getting to Greenland with a large force would be very hard and require supply chains by US, and European territory. The US didn’t seem to see Greenland as a short term concern because the US voluntarily pulled out most of its troops and equipment and kept most of them gone.
The US also already had commercial access to Greenland, and could negotiate for mining without threatening war.
Using hard power is expensive, unreliable, and often only working while you are still willing and able to use it. Soft power can create more long run influence.
The Trump administration and Republican Congressmen have been dismissive of American allies to the point of being offensively insulting and lying about these countries and their people.
Trump is just as aggressive toward good allies as bad allies. Targeting good allies who have been good and loyal, makes those countries less likely to support you in the future.
The European allies are democracies, and the European peoples do not like Trump threatening to use military force to steal territory from a European country. This will not help get pro-American leaders elected in European countries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx0W0FuKg18
Trump’s Greenland Gambit Has Broken Brains Across Washington
“Washington already has tremendous access to Greenland under past agreements with Denmark; U.S. troops already operate in Greenland and Washington can send more. Trump’s demand that Denmark grant the territory to the U.S. is a body blow to U.S. relations with its European allies. It also hurts NATO, a military alliance that includes the U.S. and Denmark — and which would defend Greenland should an adversarial power threaten it.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/21/mag-toosi-greenland-00740006
The new world order, explained
Is Trump pushing the world toward a realist Westphalian order with less emphasis on permanent alliances and international organizations, or is he really moving us to a royalist system where global actions are less based on countries and more based on personal, familial, and buddy enrichment and aggrandizement.
Greenland is less about the defense of the US and minerals, which the US could do in Greenland without threats of war because Greenland, through Denmark, is a US ally, and instead about Trump making himself look great by adding territory to the US and making his friends with business interests rich. Ronald Lauder, a billionaire with business interests in Greenland, suggested Trump take Greenland back in 2018. Similarly, refineries that benefit from the Venezuela attack include Trump megadonors. Trump raised tariffs on India after Modi said Trump didn’t play an important role in creating peace between India and Pakistan. So this action was more about Trump’s status and aggrandizement than realist and economic strategy for the benefit of the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g37E9ztzxkE
Vietnam ‘is secretly preparing for a second invasion by US’
“The classified assessment, compiled by Vietnam’s Ministry of Defence in August 2024 and titled ‘The 2nd US Invasion plan,’ was made public on Tuesday by Project88.
It reveals that Hanoi’s defence establishment was privately preparing for a possible ‘war of aggression’ even as the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2023.
The partnership, announced during former US President Joe Biden’s visit to Hanoi in September that year, marked the highest level of diplomatic ties since relations were normalised in 1995.
But the leaked document suggests Vietnamese military planners were treating the United States as a hostile ‘belligerent’ power and remained deeply suspicious of Washington’s intentions.
Far from considering the US to be a strategic partner on par with China, Hanoi considers it a rogue state that is preoccupied with regime change and which might invade Vietnam if the country refuses to join its anti-China coalition.
According to Project88, the assessment warns that the US could seek to undermine Communist Party rule through support for a so-called ‘colour revolution’ – similar to pro-democracy uprisings in post-Soviet states – and could exploit Vietnam’s long coastline and maritime geography in future conflict.
Project88 quoted the document as stating: ‘While there is currently little risk of a war against Vietnam, due to the US’s belligerent nature, we need to be vigilant to prevent the US and its allies from ‘creating a pretext’ to launch a war of aggression against our country.
…
‘Hanoi sees Washington as an existential threat and has no intention of joining its anti-China alliance,’ Swanton wrote.
‘In this respect the plan upends over a decade of US policy, which has sought to court Vietnam into such an alliance, while turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in service of this goal.'”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/vietnam-is-secretly-preparing-for-a-second-invasion-by-us/ar-AA1VzxWe?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NMTS&cvid=69821ebb1c2345ed855b809b25059d82&ei=6
The Army’s New Machine Gun is a Nightmare for China
Seems pretty awesome, but it’s not clear where it fits in a squad and what weapon it replaces, if any.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-y5B-g4G78
Shocking New Report Shows US Company Ubiquiti Aids Russian Military
Shocking New Report Shows US Company Ubiquiti Aids Russian Military
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KyMY9i__Ks
The Truth About American Hegemony | The Ezra Klein Show
The centrality of the United States in the world financial system allows it to use that power to cut countries and people off from basic financial services. The United States has long used this power to cut off rogue states, but Trump is abusing this power and the power of the US domestic market, which could lead to a rebellion and weaken America’s power to use these tools when it more needs it.
Trump ran on China being a major threat, but his aggressive actions toward non-China countries, has strengthened China’s relationships with these countries and made China stronger compared to the US.
Trump throws around power to try to get short term gains, not realizing that long term no one trusts him or the US and this ultimately weakens US power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a5Jzn8YAQY