China
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The Language of Losers: European Protectionism and the Limits of Western Trade Orthodoxy
When a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman stood at a lectern in Beijing on 11 June 2026 and addressed a Bloomberg News correspondent’s question about European supply-chain legislation, he said little that the Foreign Ministry had not said before. The EU’s proposed directive compelling companies to reduce over-dependency on single suppliers was, the spokesman observed, simply… Continue reading
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The State of Israel Does Not Have A Right To Exist
States Have No Right to Exist: How Great Powers Weaponise Legal Ignorance to Immunise Preferred Governments from Accountability Academic Analysis | 11 June 2026 (A link to a general version of the article is at the bottom) The question of whether Israel has a right to exist is routinely posed in Western political discourse as… Continue reading
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The AI Spending Trap
How the largest capital expenditure programme in corporate history is being financed by debt rather than profit, sustained by narrative rather than demonstrated returns, and protected from scrutiny by a geopolitical strategy that punishes governments which attempt to build economies around public benefit rather than private accumulation This paper examines three interlocking phenomena that together… Continue reading
AI and Digital Control, America, China, economics, Energy, EUROPE, Financial markets, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Global Finance, imperialism, iran, israel, middle east, Mineral Resources, NATO, neocolonialism, politics, reserve currency, warAI infrastructure, Alphabet, Amazon, artificial intelligence, bond markets, Broadcom, capital expenditure, CFE, Claudia Sheinbaum, dot-com cycle, fictitious capital, Geopolitics, Goldman Sachs, hyperscalers, JP Morgan, KOSPI, Meta, Mexico, Microsoft, monroe doctrine, Oracle, PEMEX, private credit, S&P 500 concentration, semiconductor bubble, South Korea, USMCA -
Ukraine Bookends Russia’s ‘Davos’ with Drone Raids on St. Petersburg
More than 140 drones intercepted on the forum’s final day; airport suspended; Zelensky’s open letter to Putin offers talks but promises more strikes if war continues Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Russia’s second city in the early hours of Saturday, striking St. Petersburg as delegates prepared to depart the St. Petersburg… Continue reading
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The War That Remade Iran: Strategic Gains from the 2026 Conflict
How a Battered Islamic Republic Emerged with New Power, New Leadership, and a Changed Middle East The central premise of the February 2026 American and Israeli military campaign against Iran was straightforward: sustained aerial bombardment combined with targeted killings of the Islamic Republic’s senior leadership would either fracture the state or produce conditions amenable to… Continue reading
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The Proxy Doctrine: How Washington Wages War Through Tel Aviv While Feigning Ignorance
Washington’s long-prepared campaign Tehran operates through Israeli military assets, diplomatic theatre, and a calculated energy strategy designed to reshape Asia’s supply dependencies On 8 June 2026, Israeli aircraft struck Iranian military targets hours after Iran launched missiles toward Israel, and American officials promptly announced that United States forces had played no part in the operation.… Continue reading
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Russia’s Shifting Conduct of the War in Ukraine
How Russia moved from holding back to deploying its most advanced missiles against Ukraine, what NATO’s solidarity visit to Kyiv actually delivered, and why neither side is close to stopping For more than four years, Vladimir Putin prosecuted his military campaign in Ukraine with a deliberate restraint that frustrated Russian hawks, confused Western analysts, and… Continue reading
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Washington Blockaded Iran’s Oil. China Is Blockading Washington’s Capital
The CSRC Brokerage Crackdown, the Hong Kong Gold Clearing System, and the Euroclear Bond Integration – How Beijing Is Targeting the Financial Architecture That Makes Dollar Dominance Possible The Iran ceasefire negotiations that have been publicly described since late April 2026 as approaching completion have not, as of the first days of June, produced a… Continue reading
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Lavrov Highlights Strength of Russia-China Partnership at International Conference
Russian foreign minister says Moscow and Beijing’s strategic partnership remains a stabilising force in global affairs as the two countries mark key diplomatic anniversaries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has hailed the enduring partnership between Russia and China in a message to participants of the 11th International Conference, Russia and China: Cooperation in a New… Continue reading
AI and Digital Control, America, China, economics, Energy, EUROPE, Financial markets, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, iran, israel, middle east, Mineral Resources, NATO, politics, reserve currency, Russia, satellites, war#SCO, Beijing, Bilateral Relations, BRICS, China, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, diplomacy, Education Cooperation, Eurasia, Eurasian Security, Foreign Policy, G20, Geopolitics, Global Affairs, global governance, International Conference, international relations, moscow, multipolar world, Russia, Russia-China relations, Russia-China Treaty, Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian International Affairs Council, sergey lavrov, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Strategic Partnership, United Nations, vladimir putin, Xi Jinping -
Burning the Lifeboats
How Governments and Markets Are Consuming Strategic Reserves to Bridge a Hormuz Disruption Whose End They Cannot Demonstrate On 11 March 2026, the International Energy Agency coordinated the largest emergency strategic reserve release in history, drawing 400 million barrels from the stockpiles of 32 member nations, the United States contributing 172 million barrels from the… Continue reading
AI and Digital Control, America, China, economics, Energy, EUROPE, Financial markets, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Global Finance, iran, israel, middle east, Mineral Resources, NATO, politics, reserve currency, Russia, South East Asia, war$4.45 national average, 10 million barrels per day deficit, 172 million barrels, 18 to 22 percent premium, 1973 oil embargo comparison, 20 million barrels per day, 400 million barrels, 8.5 million barrels per day drawdown, Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, Al Jazeera IEA analysis, Art Berman, artberman.com, Asian energy dependency, Atlantic Basin producers, Bianco Research, Biden SPR drawdown, Brent crude, BrentChart.com shortfall analysis, buffers exhausted, buy the dip conditioning, bypass pipeline capacity, CleanTechnica UBS warning, compressed decades of change, crude oil quality mismatch, Dallas Federal Reserve, de-mining lags, debt-saturated global economy, December 2026 Brent futures, demand destruction, demand rationing by price, Discovery Alert inventory projection, East-West pipeline, energy investment IEA $3.4 trillion, energy realist, energy Secretary Chris Wright, energy shock 2026, energy transition, even peace takes months, Federal Reserve monetary policy, Financial Sense Newshour, forced adjustment, gasoline prices United States, global oil consumption, Global South energy costs, heavy sour crude, historical oil shocks, Hormuz blockade 2026, Hormuz probability model, IEA coordinated release, IEA Gas Market Report Q2 2026, India energy investment $170 billion, inflation oil prices, institutional blindspot, insurance market recovery, insurance premiums war risk, inventory drawdown, inventory minimum operating levels August 2026, Iran Strait of Hormuz mining, Iran war energy, Iranian Revolution 1979, Jim Bianco, Kevin Warsh Fed Chair, liquidity misdiagnosis, LNG market transfer, LNRG Technology bypass analysis, Macquarie four days global consumption, maritime chokepoint, mean reversion, Mineral Rights Podcast SPR analysis, no historical precedent, not a bull market , oil futures backwardation, oil market pricing, OilPrice.com IEA revision, OPEC structural strain, Palisades Gold Radio, panic buying risk, Paul Horsnell, petroleum geologist, Petroline, Philippines Thailand Malaysia Indonesia South Korea, physical scarcity, refinery configuration, repayment November 2026, rerouting costs, scar tissue effect, Southeast Asia import dependence, SPR exchange structure, SPR facility damage, SPR release, stagflation, Strait of Hormuz closure, strategic petroleum reserve, Strategic Petroleum Reserve capacity, structural energy deficit, structural shortage, supply chain lags, system failure, tanker disruption, tanker queue normalisation, The Great Simplification podcast, Trump SPR release, UBS inventory warning, unprecedented disruption, US LNG exporters, US–Iran war, wartime price spike, WTI crude
