“Since the Cold War ended in 1990, four legacy empires — those of China, France, Russia, and the United States — have exercised an undue influence over almost every aspect of international affairs. From the soft power of fashion, food, and sports to the hard power of arms, trade, and technology, those four powers have, each in its own way, helped to set the global agenda for the past 35 years. By dominating vast foreign territories, both militarily and economically, they have also enjoyed extraordinary wealth and a standard of living that’s been the envy of the rest of the world. If they now give way in a collective version of collapse, instead of one succeeding another, we may come to know a new world order whose shape is as yet unimaginable.” (12/22/24)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Karthik Sankaran
“For about a decade, American trade policy has been buffeted by competing impulses on how it should engage economically with the world. The controversy is over whether the U.S. should expand trade with all countries; use it as a tool that buttresses alliances and deters or coerces adversaries; or just step back from trade and aim for self-sufficiency. The debate goes back at least to Hillary Clinton’s 2015 decision to abandon the Trans Pacific Partnership, an agreement she had championed as Secretary of State. It is also a debate in which the divisions do not map cleanly along party lines, making predictions about policy under the new administration difficult. But it might help to identify the different factions and their interests in order to make sense of trade-related headlines rolling off the wires, like the below examples.” (12/23/24)
“President Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences to life sentences for 37 of the 40 men who are on the federal government’s death row. Those spared include child killers and mass murderers. Ironically, 36 of those 40 sentences were under a 1994 law written by then-Senator Biden, which designated dozens of new capital offenses. Biden’s decision came two days before Christmas. While Democrats oppose the death penalty, Americans overall support the death penalty by at least a 3-to-2 margin.” [editor’s note: Then Americans are wrong by at least a 3-to-2 margin. If it’s even possible at all to have “limited government,” it’s not possible to have “limited government” AND a government power of life and death over disarmed captives. They’re opposites – TLK (12/23/24)
“Oren Cass, the head economist of Compass, had a column in the New York Times today touting Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs. The gist of the piece is that ‘free trade’ has not worked out as economists’ textbooks promised and we should look to take a different path. As someone who was very critical of the major trade deals of the last three decades, I would say that they did work out very much as the economists’ textbooks promised. But they were also not ‘free trade’ and imposing high tariffs will not help us going forward.” (12/23/24)
“It’s been quite a year. From the election to weather extremes and the pent-up outrage we saw after the violent murder of a corporate CEO, we’ve faced unprecedented challenges. We know even bigger challenges await us in the next four years. That’s why I am so grateful to every member of the People’s Action family, and for all of the ways you have joined with others this year to make this country better for us all. Thank you. In 2024, you made millions of phone calls, knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors, and held meaningful conversations all across the country with complete strangers to change hearts and minds. You elected champions from your communities to state, local and federal governments, where they will fight for regular people, no matter the odds.” (12/22/24)
“President-elect Donald Trump has vowed he will deport millions of undocumented immigrants and their family members who are U.S. citizens. It may be a great soundbite. But this action is not only an injustice; it’s bound to devastate our economy. Our economy’s problems will not go away by blaming immigrants or by claiming that by deporting them, the nation will be great again.” (12/23/24)
“The fearmongering about China is a reminder of how pernicious defining U.S. foreign policy around great power rivalry can be. The threats against Panama show how Trump’s crude imperialism and the pursuit of rivalry with China reinforce each other. Trump assumes that the U.S. is always being ‘ripped off,’ and he believes that the answer to this is to steal from other countries. If he thinks another country is getting too close to a rival, he wants the U.S. to ‘solve’ that by threatening to steal some of their territory. Trump sees weaker countries in our hemisphere that he wants to dictate terms to, and rivalry with China provides him with the excuse for threatening them.” (12/23/24)
“As a physician deeply committed to improving the health of our nation, I have seen firsthand the challenges that plague our health care system. I wrote about these in Make America Healthy Again back in 2020. Sadly, we are worse off now than we were then. The new presidential administration has an opportunity to enact meaningful reforms that prioritize patient care, personal responsibility and the strength of American innovation. Here are five essential steps the administration should take to make America healthy again: 1) Promote Free Market Principles in Health Care … 2} Combat the Chronic Disease Epidemic … 3) Empower States to Innovate … 4) Restore the Doctor-Patient Relationship … 5) Ensure a Secure Pharmaceutical Supply Chain …” (12/23/24)
