“In the closing days of 2025, the White House turned an opioid crisis into a national security drama. Standing in the Oval Office during a Mexican Border Defense Medal ceremony on December 15, President Donald Trump declared that he would sign an executive order to classify fentanyl as a ‘weapon of mass destruction,’ calling the announcement ‘historic.’ Treating a synthetic painkiller like a nuclear bomb says more about Washington’s mindset than about the drug. Though drug overdose deaths declined in 2024, 80,391 people still died and 54,743 of those deaths were from opioids. Those numbers mark a public‑health emergency. Rather than tackle fentanyl abuse as a medical or social problem, the administration reframed it as an existential threat requiring military tools. Labeling a narcotic a WMD creates a pretext for war and sidesteps due process.” (12/18/25)
“Shoppers are filling their carts, both literally and digitally, with last-minute gifts. One tempting purchase, whether for gifting or for showing up in style at a holiday sweater party, is ultra-cheap clothing from Shein. Like many around the world, the French hunt for deals in December. During a recent interview with journalist Thomas Mahler, I learned that fast fashion has become a political flashpoint in France, the country known for haute couture. French lawmakers are considering measures aimed at threatening the economic viability of Shein, the Chinese company that dominates ultra-cheap clothing globally. Millions of French consumers shop through Shein regularly. Mahler asked me: Can politicians persuade consumers to buy domestically-made clothes instead, in a country with a proud tradition in domestic fashion? My reply was that this dilemma extends beyond France.” (12/18/25)
“Last week, Sen. Charles Schumer, the leader of the Democrats in the United States Senate, introduced a resolution on behalf of himself and 40 other Senate Democrats that, if passed, would record the sense of the Senate as condemning the media superstar Tucker Carlson because of the political, historical and cultural opinions of a guest on Carlson’s podcast. You read that correctly: The U.S. Senate is being asked to condemn Carlson because of what someone else said. Here is the back story.” (12/18/25)
“During the first Trump term, I warned friends not to assume that the world would at some point snap back to what it was prior to 2016, or that Trumpist populism was just a passing phase. There were too many shifts in right-wing coalitions around the world for this to happen. But it is important to understand that Trumpism is also not a permanent condition. I believe that already in the first year of his second term, we have experienced peak Trump, and that his power will decline steadily as time goes on.” (12/17/25)
“On December 15, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled ‘Designating Fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction’. The order declares that ‘Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic. Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose’. If it was not already clear and despite many think pieces and obituaries to it, the US government continues its failed War on Drugs. This designation of fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction has been nearly a decade in the making across multiple presidential administrations and with bipartisan support and media complicity. The people of the US have been groomed for this moment since 2015.” (12/18/25)
“After two years chairing Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, departing with a warm sendoff from the president in 2019, [Kevin Hassett] returned in Jan. as director of the National Economic Council. Hassett has managed this impressive feat without the indignity of remaking himself to fit Trump’s new radicalism. That’s because Hassett had already demonstrated that he places loyalty to Trump and the MAGA cause above intellectual integrity or scholarly reputation. He fits perfectly into Trump 2.0. So it comes as no surprise that Hassett may be Trump’s choice to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve. … Hassett’s time in the White House confirms that there is no principle or insight of economics that he is not willing to discard to please his boss. When Trump spouts nonsense, Hassett is always there to offer a smiling, expert gloss on it.” (12/18/25)
“The American labor market is undergoing a profound structural transformation, driven by an aging population, rapid technological change, and persistent mismatches between worker skills and employer needs. In response, states have been modernizing their workforce systems to expand labor force participation, align education and training with evolving industry demands, and future-proof their economies. As part of these efforts, policymakers, the private sector, and civil society are increasingly recognizing immigrants as a vital yet underutilized segment of the labor force and harnessing their contributions as workers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders.” (12/17/25)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Karthik Sankaran
“The president accused Caracas of ‘stealing’ the commodity and vows to take it back. First, we don’t need it, second, invading for it would be a blunder.” (12/17/25)
“Across advanced economies, a new axis of politics is emerging: scarcity versus abundance. Rising prices, stalled infrastructure, and eroding industrial competitiveness reflect constraints on building and innovation. Trade disruptions and inadequate state capacity compound the challenge. In response, a cross-partisan abundance movement offers a path to expand the supply of vital goods and services—infrastructure, energy, health care, and housing—while responding to voters’ growing affordability concerns. Abundance is both a goal and a lens for overcoming the regulatory and capacity barriers that constrain supply. Yet the debate has focused mainly on domestic issues, such as zoning and permitting, even though its success depends on international flows of goods, capital, knowledge, and energy.” (12/17/25)
“The Trump Administration’s effort to deport Chinese dissident Guan Heng has rightly drawn widespread outrage and condemnation. Guan is a hero for his exposure of the Chinese government’s oppression and persecution of the Uyghur minority, and he faces near-certain imprisonment or death if he is deported to China, or to Uganda (a Chinese-aligned state to which the Trump administration may be trying to send him). Legally, he has an rock-solid case for asylum. Sadly, the effort to deport Guan is part of a broader pattern of Trump administration efforts to deport dissidents and victims of persecution back to the regimes that oppress them.” (12/17/25)
