East Asia

I was welcomed onto David Lin’s Podcast, “The David Lin Report” to talk about Gaza, the Middle East and the US-China rivalry. Embedded video and transcript below. He describes it this way: The David Lin Report! I’ll be reporting on the most impactful market-moving events, as well as interviewing experts in finance, economics, science, and […]

Displaced and Refugees

As Gaza rebuilds, what Lessons can be learned from Nagasaki in 1945?

The Conversation

By Gwyn McClelland, University of New England (The Conversation) – At first, there might not seem to be any immediate similarities between a devastated Nagasaki after the US atomic bombing in 1945 and Gaza today, aside from massive destruction. But in considering Gaza’s recovery from war – should the current ceasefire hold – much may […]

China

How Donald Trump Surrendered on Greentech to China Abroad and to Big Oil at Home

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Ours would be the normal story of imperial powers rising and falling on Planet Earth — nothing new there, of course — if it weren’t for one thing: the fact that this world, too, is now falling. Unfortunately, nothing is truly normal about this planet of ours anymore, as the slow-motion equivalent […]

China

Back to 1984? Trump Sees World Power through Petroleum-colored Glasses

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com ) – That was President Trump’s blunt assessment of global power politics when it came to the United States and Russia following his inconclusive “summit” meeting with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15th. Of all his comments about the meeting, that numerical assessment — made during a post-summit interview with Sean […]

China

Iran Seeks China’s help to Install 7 gigs of new Solar Capacity in “4th Industrial Revolution”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With the prospect of new Iranian nuclear power plants looking dim after Israeli and American bombing of its civilian nuclear enrichment sites, and with a need to export its fossil gas rather than consuming it domestically, the Tehran leadership is at last turning to renewables for electricity generation. President Masoud […]

Asia

While Trump Fiddles, China declares Eurasia Open for Business at At Shanghai Cooperation Org. Summit

Neil Thompson

Beijing raised its profile at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Council summit of non-Western countries just by providing a forum. London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – China hosted the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) last week at its port of Tianjin, drawing a crowd of world leaders from 20 non-Western countries. The […]

China

The Shanghai Cooperation Org. Summit and the Middle East in a Multipolar World

Middle East Monitor

By ‏Peiman Salehi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Beijing was accompanied by a striking military parade and a series of ambitious economic proposals. Much of the global commentary presented the event as further evidence of a transition from US dominance to a new Chinese […]

China

Under the Sea: China’s Digital Silk Road and the Middle East

Neil Thompson

London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – China-US geopolitical rivalries have manifested in many arenas from esoteric ones like export controls over semiconductor chips, to high profile trade wars and confrontations over Taiwan. The outcome of the two sides’ efforts to entrench their control over the physical infrastructure that underlies the digital world of the […]

China

Trump to Xi: ‘Hold our Beer’ – EVs majority of Chinese New Car Sales, as Exports rocket 74%

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Car News China reports that in the first half of 2025, consumers in that country bought 10,891,000 passenger vehicles. But here’s the catch. They bought 5,458,000 EVs and 5,433,000 gasoline cars. Look carefully at those numbers. They bought more EVs than internal combustion engine cars. To be precise, 50.1% of […]