Month: November 2023

The most important strategic event of last week was the four-hour summit meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi on Nov. 15 in San Francisco, which both sides reported were constructive and reduced the growing conflict opposing the two major powers (cf. below). It is assumed, although not officially confirmed, that the two leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine and […]

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has insisted time and again that he will not yield to the “heavy opposition” from around the world, but if the United States, in particular, indicates it will withdraw its until-now unconditional support, the Israelis will have to accept compromises. Thus, Netanyahu’s allies are very worried about the growing protests inside the U.S., especially among Jewish […]

The four-hour meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, that took place Nov. 15 on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, reestablished lines of communication at various levels between the two countries, which had been frayed and even broken during the period of growing tensions of the last few years. The summit had […]

With the Iowa caucuses, which mark the official beginning of the 2024 presidential campaign, less than two months away, the news for the Democrats has not been good. Poll after poll shows President Biden trailing Donald Trump, who is the likely Republican nominee, even though he faces 91 criminal charges in four upcoming trials. While the polls are close, the […]

Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled on Nov. 15 that the government’s decision of one year ago to shift non-used funds earmarked for compensation of Covid-related losses to the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) violates the constitutional clause on the “debt brake”, and is therefore illegal. This leaves the Berlin government with a financial hole of €60 billion for its over-ambitious climate-related […]

The Swedish government published last week a roadmap for the construction of new nuclear power reactors – two by 2035, and another eight by 2045– with projected government credit guarantees of 400 billion crowns (€35 billion). The roadmap is intended to enter into legal force by January 1, 2024. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba […]

Libertarian extremist Javier Milei of the Freedom Advances party (LLA) came away with a big win in Argentina’s Nov. 19 run-off presidential elections, defeating Sergio Massa of the ruling Union for the Fatherland (UxP) coalition 56%-44%. This was a rout for Massa and represented a resounding condemnation of the government of Alberto Fernandez, who failed to follow through on any […]

In last week’s issue, we covered the successful conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan, organized by the Ibn Sina Research and Development Center in Kabul Nov. 6-8. An envoy of the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, who was at that conference, reported on it in the Nov. 19 edition. He describes the reality of the new Afghanistan in terms quite […]

The situation on the ground in Southwest Asia has dramatically worsened over the past days. Israeli forces have escalated their operations, bombing innocent Palestinian children and civilians under the protective umbrella provided by the United States, and the West as a whole. At the same time, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensified, with Israeli airstrikes deeper into southern Lebanon, and […]

Clearly, the Biden Administration is the one government in the world (outside of Netanyahu’s) that could move the most decisively to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza and put an end to the carnage. The Administration has repeatedly refused to do so, completely blowing the cover off “Western values” and morality. In the United States at large, however, opposition to the […]