“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)
“At some point in the future, AI and robotics will be advanced enough to perform nearly all of the jobs currently performed by humans. Such a future will require that we radically change the relationship that we have with the economy and the means of production. Corporations will be forced to share their revenues as a universal basic income if they want to exist at all. However, before we achieve complete automation, there will be a period of gradually increasing AI adoption that will present unique challenges that cannot be so straightforwardly remediated (relatively speaking) as a world with full automation. So, what does a world look like where artificial intelligence has led directly to an unemployment rate comparable to or exceeding that of the Great Depression (25%)?” (12/17/25)
“Blockading Venezuela’s oil shipments finally gives teeth to a sanctions regime that dictator Nicolas Maduro has only scoffed at, offering real hope for a peaceful transition of power. The criminal gang ruling from Caracas has operated under a variety of sanctions for two decades, yet the Chavez-Maduro regime is still firmly in control. Targeted and political sanctions — mostly aimed at high-ranking individuals — did little to moderate political repression, subversion of neighboring nations or plotting with the gangs that rule Cuba and Iran. In the Biden years, Washington pursued a feckless policy of sanctions relief, allowing Caracas to trade oil and gold. But hopes that Venezuela would rejoin the international order as a respectable partner were dashed in 2024 when Maduro declared himself the victor of (yet another) openly corrupt presidential election.” (12/17/25)
