“Last week, Trump announced that the U.S. will, for 90 days, admit up to 300,000 metric tons of ground-beef product without the normal out-of-quota tariff, and that he has obtained a ‘commitment’ that the beef will be sold 25% below current market prices. This comes on top of February’s much smaller measure allocating an extra 80,000 metric tons of tariff-free lean beef specifically to Argentina. … My immediate reaction to this was, ‘That sounds like some Third World shit.’ A little research would bear this intuition out: this is something like a practice of developing nations. For example, Nigeria during the oil boom of the 1970s.” (08/24/26)
“While the US has a long history of signing treaties, making commitments, and then walking away from them (ask Native American tribes about this), this century’s record of American policy in the Middle East is something quite extraordinary. Dramatic policy shifts, broken treaties, promises made and forgotten, foolish wars fought without attention paid to the mess left for others, and the shattering of international law and conventions—all of these have done substantial damage to the region and to the trust that others have in the US. It’s convenient for Republicans and Democrats to point the finger at the ‘other side’ for America’s loss of standing and support in the world. In reality, there’s plenty of blame to be shared by all of this century’s administrations.” (08/24/26)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh
“On August 18, Israel bombed a non-operational Syrian air base, reportedly to derail Turkish plans to deploy military forces to the installation. The move drew swift condemnation from the United States, which did not receive prior notification despite its growing support for Syria, its alliance with Turkey, and the presence of thousands of U.S. military personnel based nearby, in Jordan and other parts of the region. Is this the behavior of a ‘model ally?’ The Jewish Institute for National Security of America seems to think so. The group, which promotes ‘strategic cooperation’ between the United States and Israel, tries to defend this position in its new report, ‘Shifting the Center of Gravity: Transforming the U.S.-Israel Security Partnership.’ It also lays out an ambitious set of proposals JINSA hopes will be part of a renewed 10-year U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding (the current one expires in 2028).” (08/24/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“Starting in 1993, a small business owner in any EU member state could sell to another member state without having to face new bureaucratic or financial barriers at every border. The potential size of a new business was no longer determined by the size of the country where it was based. Today, the European Commission estimates that the Single Market has increased the European Union’s GDP by 3–4% and created 3.6 million jobs since its creation. A study by Bertelsmann Stiftung estimated that integration increases European citizens’ incomes by an average of about €840 ($974) per person per year. Yet the benefits created by this integration, and the freedom that made these benefits possible, began to come under threat on August 12, 2026, quietly and through an apparently harmless packaging regulation.” (08/24/26)
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“As the Department of Defense fires top editors and reporters at Stars & Stripes, the clash over editorial independence exposes the dangerous urge to replace oversight with state propaganda.” (08/24/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by Liam Childers
“The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit this week, his first to South Korea in five years, comes as Lee seeks China’s help to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang. Beijing reaffirmed its pledge to play a ‘constructive role’ in promoting peace on the peninsula. None of this means Seoul is becoming a Chinese ally. Rather, South Korea, which endured considerable Chinese retaliation for accepting THAAD in the first place, has been reminded that Washington’s priorities often shift without warning. South Korea is simply demonstrating that it is an independent nation with a strong interest in avoiding an unduly antagonistic relationship with its powerful neighbor.” (08/24/26)
“Florida, you might have heard, is no longer purple: Since Ron DeSantis became governor, Republicans have gained nearly 2 million registered voters over Democrats in the Sunshine State. It is an astonishing change in partisanship for the state that famously decided the 2000 presidential election by 537 votes. The outcome of the statewide races in Florida this November, such as those for governor and US senator, are therefore not in much doubt. Democrats might dream about making Florida competitive again, but they might as well believe in the tooth fairy. But if Florida isn’t much in play between the two parties, it’s definitely in play within them. As last week’s primaries indicate, the Sunshine State is the new ground zero for the roiling internal civil wars that have dominated both parties for years. On the Democratic side, the results were a mixed bag.” (08/23/26)
“In a fundamental respect, libertarian minarchism (minimal, or limited, government) and market anarchism (or anarcho-capitalism) have something important in common: neither can guarantee individual rights. But there’s a big difference: unlike market anarchism, minarchism appears to offer a guarantee, which allegedly makes it preferable to market anarchism. Actually, it’s a false guarantee, a bait-and-switch. So it’s not preferable to market anarchism, at least on those grounds. However, what market anarchism can do is show how everyday incentives will tend to protect liberty (and already do now). Minarchism can’t credibly say the same thing because constitutionally limited representative democracy is riddled with well-known perverse political incentives. That makes market anarchism the better bet.” (08/23/26)
