Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Cash-Strapped Saudi Arabia Is Willing To Give Up Its Influence To Iran / Politics / Saudi Arabia
By: John_Mauldin
BY XANDER SNYDER : Saudi Arabia’s strategy in the Middle East has for years focused on throwing money at majority Sunni states and groups in the region to counter Iranian influence. But its fiscal constraints started to limit its ability to project power even in the Arabian Peninsula.
Funding Sunni jihadist groups has not had the desired outcome. The rise of the Islamic State is evidence that this strategy can have unintended results. In fact, Saudi Arabia’s attempt to expand its influence regionally may have actually reduced Saudi power both domestically and on the peninsula.
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Friday, August 18, 2017
The World May Soon Split in Two Trading Blocs—Here’s How to Position Your Portfolio / Politics / Global Economy
By: John_Mauldin
BY PATRICK WATSON : What do freight trains, oil supertankers, and the Trump administration’s trade plans have in common? Once they get going, they’re pretty much unstoppable.
Trump wants to punish nations he thinks treat US companies unfairly. And China is first on his list.
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Friday, August 18, 2017
North Korea Is Far From Being Irrational… It Has A Plan / Politics / North Korea
By: John_Mauldin
BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN : The United States has several thousand operational nuclear missiles. It has a large fleet of strategic bombers, an enormous navy, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and marines. The US could bomb, blockade, and invade North Korea if it chose to incur the cost.
Yet North Korea is threatening to fire missiles at Guam, a US island territory in the Western Pacific where a substantial portion of the American strategic forces are now stationed. The North Koreans are also insisting that they intend to complete intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike the US.
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Friday, August 18, 2017
US Civil War - FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATES TRYING TO ERASE HISTORY / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
“True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels them the desire to do right is precisely the same.” ― Robert E. Lee
I consider myself a student of history. I’ve always been fascinated by the personalities who drove events throughout history. I probably would have been a history major in college if I didn’t feel the need to make enough money to support myself and my family. I chose a business major and decided studying history would be my hobby. Over the years I’ve taken a particular interest in the Civil War. You could even call me a Civil War buff.
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Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Trump’s Path to Trade Wars / Politics / Protectionism
By: Dan_Steinbock
As the White House is about to escalate trade frictions along with nuclear risks, global economic prospects will turn more clouded and markets more volatile.Last Friday, President Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping and told him that he is preparing to order an investigation into Chinese trade practices.
On Monday, he called for an investigation into China over U.S. intellectual property (IP) practices and technology transfers. As a result, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, a veteran Reagan administration trade hawk, opened an investigation against China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The ordering of the investigation will not immediately impose sanctions but it could lead to steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
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Monday, August 14, 2017
Deep State Conspiracy or Chaos / Politics / Deep State
By: James_Quinn
“The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory. The truth is far more frightening – Nobody is in control. The world is rudderless.” – Alan Moore
Alan Moore, the renowned graphic novel writer, and author of the dystopian classic V for Vendetta, politically identifies as an anarchist. His view that all political states are an outgrowth of anarchy, with the biggest gang taking control and dictating how things will be run, is manifested in V for Vendetta. As an anarchist, you can understand why he is doubtful of conspiracy theories and an all-powerful entity controlling the world. He believes in a chaotic world competing gangs position themselves to gain power and control.
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Monday, August 14, 2017
From the Trans-Atlantic Axis and the Trans-Asian Axis / Politics / Asian Economies
By: Andre_Gratian
The ASEAN faces old and new challenges, and a huge long-term opportunity. The next three decades could witness the shift of global economic momentum from the Trans-Atlantic axis to the Trans-Asian axis.Recently, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) marked its 50th anniversary in Manila with President Duterte hosting the celebrations. Despite its importance, the Summit’s international coverage remains unacceptably marginal. But times are changing.
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Sunday, August 13, 2017
The Islamic State Jihadi Pivot to Asia / Politics / ISIS Islamic State
By: Dan_Steinbock
As the Islamic State is collapsing in the Middle East, it needs wins elsewhere. Southeast Asia is Jihadi terror’s new battlefront. In order to contain the terror and sustain the Asian Century, new kind of cooperation is needed between the ASEAN, the US, China, and other major powers in the region and the Middle East.
A systematic terror escalation has begun in Asia. In May, an armed conflict started in Marawi in Mindanao, where government forces were surprised by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), and homegrown Maute and Abu Sayyaf Salafi jihadists.
After a foiled plot by an ISIL-linked group last year to launch a rocket at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, several radicalized Indonesian workers have been sent back home and Bangladeshis arrested, along with a few Singaporeans.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
North Korean Chinese Proxy vs US Military Empire Trending Towards Nuclear War! / Politics / China US Conflict
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The US continues to firmly trend towards war with China as the mainstream press media spotlight on North Korea during 2017 continues to displace the other dozen or so US/China flashpoints such as China's land grab underway in the South China Sea.
"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening beyond a normal state. And as I said, they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before". - President Trump
North Korea responds “it is 'carefully examining' plans for a missile strike on the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump told the North that any threat to the United States would be met with ‘fire and fury,’The strike plan would be put into practice at any moment once leader Kim Jong-un makes a decision, a spokesman for the Korean People's Army (KPA) said in a statement carried by the North's state-run KCNA news agency.”
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Friday, August 11, 2017
Is the Yellen Fed Planning to Sabotage Trump’s Presidency? / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: MoneyMetals
The Federal Reserve can make or break a president.
Monetary policy influences all financial markets as well as the cycles in the economy. No president wants to have to run for re-election when the stock market and economy are turning down.
Recall that President George H.W. Bush was sitting on sky-high job approval numbers in 1991 and was expected to coast to victory in his 1992 re-election bid. But then the economy swooned toward recession, giving Bill Clinton the opening he needed.
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Friday, August 11, 2017
Chicago is America’s Next Black Hole / Politics / US Politics
By: Rodney_Johnson
The Windy City is famous for a lot of things, including the biting winter breeze off Lake Michigan and blowhard politicians.Whether Chicago got its pet name from one or the other doesn’t really matter, since both fit.
But soon, the place also called the Second City will be known as something else: The municipal black hole.
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Thursday, August 10, 2017
North Korea Nuclear War Threat - It's Time to Support Your President / Politics / US Politics
By: Raul_I_Meijer
A Guardian headline today shouts: “Trump Has Taken Us To The Brink Of Nuclear War. Can He Be Stopped?”. And I’m thinking that is such obvious nonsense, how dare you print it? The North Korea nuke build up has been going on for decades, and neither Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush nor Obama ever took any decisive actions against it. And now it all falls into Trump’s lap. But that doesn’t mean he’s ‘taken us’ anywhere at all. The last thing Trump wants is this.
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Tuesday, August 08, 2017
Sen. Hatch: Those Opposing More US Debt ‘Don’t Deserve to Be Here’ / Politics / US Debt
By: MoneyMetals
Republican leaders in Congress, with the urging of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, are anxious to raise the federal borrowing limit from $19.8 trillion – no strings attached.
The only hitch is those pesky conservative voters who were promised restraint by party leaders. GOP establishment hopes to quietly pass a “clean” bill to raise the debt ceiling – a direct betrayal of that voter base – don't currently enjoy enough support from other Republican members who still consider themselves accountable. So, a deal with the Democrats beckons.
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Monday, August 07, 2017
Vladimir the Great Sums Up Pope Francis the Fake! / Politics / Religion
By: Antonius_Aquinas
Vladimir Putin has once again demonstrated why he is the most perceptive, farsighted, and for a politician, the most honest world leader to come around in quite a while. If it had not been for his patient and wise statesmanship, the world may have already been embroiled in an all encompassing global configuration with the possibility of thermonuclear destruction.
His latest comments on the purported head of the Catholic Church may have been his most perceptive as of yet and should be heeded not only by Western secular leaders, but by the globe’s one billion or so Catholics, most of whom regard Jorge Bergoglio as pope.
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Saturday, August 05, 2017
Four Maps That Show How Russia Could Strike Back Against US Sanctions / Politics / Russia
By: John_Mauldin
BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN, XANDER SNYDER, EKATERINA ZOLOTOVA : The US Congress has passed new sanctions targeting Russia’s energy companies.
Recognizing that a vital sector in its economy has even less chance of relief than it once had, Russia has retaliated. It has reduced the number of diplomats it has in the US and has seized property used in Russia by US diplomats.
Energy sales are an important source of revenue in Russia. But it’s more than that. For Russia, energy is also an instrument of geopolitical power. They give Moscow considerable influence over the countries dependent on Russian energy exports.
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Friday, August 04, 2017
Iran: Public Image Versus Historical Reality Part 2. Iran: The Last Century to the Present / Politics / Iran
By: Raymond_Matison
Iran: Part 2. Iran: The Last Century to the Present is a sequel to the first part of this report on Iran. The reading of both parts is necessary for a more complete understanding of how Iran has evolved to its present media perceived status in the world, and how reality diverges from popular perceptions. Part I, traces historical events which have shaped Iran’s evolution and development from its great Persian empire of over two thousand years ago to those taking place in the 20th century.
Friday, August 04, 2017
US Military May Soon Deploy Millions Of Drones—Which Presents A Big Investment Opportunity / Politics / US Military
By: John_Mauldin
BY PATRICK WATSON : If you were to ask me what the most inefficient US market sector is, I would probably say defense.
Now, that’s something no one likes to hear.
How come the one sector the US government spends the most money on—the FY 2018 defense budget is $824.7 billion, more than that of the next nine countries combined—is the most inefficient?
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Thursday, August 03, 2017
Here’s Why The US Sanctions Against Russia Threaten Germany’s Interests / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: John_Mauldin
By Antonia Colibasanu : The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to renew and expand sanctions against Russia that were imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The bill, however, could also have a negative impact on some European energy projects that are linked to Russian companies.
Since the initial bill was first approved by the Senate on June 15, the European Union has been lobbying US lawmakers to revise the proposed legislation and reduce its effects on third-party countries.
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Wednesday, August 02, 2017
Trump, the CIA and the Yokeldom / Politics / US Politics
By: Raul_I_Meijer
The western world is mired in a mile-deep political crisis and nary a soul seems to notice, or rather: everyone just sees their own little preferred echochamber tidbits of it. Which is not a good thing, because that crisis is bound to trigger other bigger crises that are much more damaging. And I’m sorry to say it, but Donald Trump is not your main problem. Not even close.
The main problem is the collapse of western political systems. While that is what brought Trump to power in the first place, he didn’t cause the collapse. The collapse is also what ‘gave you’ Brexit, and Trump didn’t cause that either. Moreover, in the next step, on the far end of all this, Trump may well be the only thing standing between you and CIA warfare. I know, who wants to hear that, right?! Who’s ready for that next step?
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Tuesday, August 01, 2017
Can Germany Be Made Great Again? / Politics / Germany
By: Antonius_Aquinas
When Germany Was Great!
Ever since the start of the deliberately conceived “migrant crisis,” orchestrated by NWO elites, the news out of Germany has been, to say the least, horrific. Right before the eyes of the world, a country is being demographically destroyed through a coercive plan of mass migration. The intended consequences of this – financial strain, widespread crime and property destruction, the breakdown of German culture – will continue to worsen if things are not turned around.
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