James Cameron
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jjjcameron.bsky.social
James Cameron
@jjjcameron.bsky.social

Associate Prof of Modern North American History at the University of Oslo, Norway. Nuclear strategy and arms control.

Norway is not a member state of the European Union (EU). It is associated with the Union through its membership in the European Economic Area (EEA), signed in 1992 and established in 1994. Norway was a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960, which was originally set up as an alternative to the European Economic Community (EEC), the main predecessor of the EU. Norway had considered joining both the EEC and the European Union, but opted to decline following referendums in 1972 and 1994. According to the European Social Survey conducted in 2018, 73.6% of Norwegians would vote 'No' in a referendum to join the European Union. Norway shares land borders with two EU member states, namely Finland and Sweden, and maritime borders with a third, Denmark. .. more

Political science 50%
Economics 14%

Don't threaten Stephen Miller and JD Vance with a good time.
DENMARK SAYS US ATTACK ON GREENLAND WOULD MEAN END OF NATO
DENMARK SAYS US ATTACK ON GREENLAND WOULD MEAN END OF NATO
Trump's Razor: The pettiest explanation is usually the correct one.
Insanity: Sources close to the White House told the Washington Post Trump lost interest in backing Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado to lead the country because she accepted her Nobel Peace Prize rather than demanding it be given to Trump, which was viewed as an “ultimate sin.”

I think Vance and Miller are smart enough to work it out, unfortunately.

A Trump move on Greenland would provoke a profound European security crisis, in part because there would probably be large differences between European allies on its implications for their security and for NATO.

So it would not just be a transatlantic crisis, but an intra-European one.

According to Peter Hennessey and James Jinks, The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945, p.506, the Thatcher govt judged that the UK's Trident force could last for 2-3 years without US support because the missiles would be more reliable than Polaris. Longer than I've seen before.

I'm not sure. It isn't in Putin's power to grant Trump an empire in the Americas.

For Putin's, the "problem" is that Trump still wants to control and extort most of Europe.

The British Empire called it "indirect rule".
"Venezuelans at celebration parties in Miami could not believe it, insisting that Trump had misspoken. His plan appears to be for Venezuela to remain under the day-to-day rule of a senior chavista, with its democratically elected leaders excluded and its wealth controlled by American corporations."
Donald Trump wants to run Venezuela, and dominate the western hemisphere
Snatching Nicolás Maduro and attempting to take control of Venezuela and its oil is an extraordinary display of the new “Donroe doctrine”
www.economist.com

Reposted by James Cameron

"Venezuelans at celebration parties in Miami could not believe it, insisting that Trump had misspoken. His plan appears to be for Venezuela to remain under the day-to-day rule of a senior chavista, with its democratically elected leaders excluded and its wealth controlled by American corporations."
Donald Trump wants to run Venezuela, and dominate the western hemisphere
Snatching Nicolás Maduro and attempting to take control of Venezuela and its oil is an extraordinary display of the new “Donroe doctrine”
www.economist.com

What does that mean in practice though? Trump can already intervene -- he just did. Will China pull its investments from Latin America? I doubt it.

Agreed. However, there are still disagreements between the three predators over the division of the world.

Trump clearly thinks most of Europe should be in his sphere, to exploit as he sees fit. He even wants to keep rump Ukraine. I doubt Putin agrees.

Same with Xi, Taiwan and the Western Pacific.
'What just happened is entirely consistent with the spheres-of-influence approach that Putin has long advocated, and that Trump embraced in the latest National Security Strategy. The emerging order is one in which Putin, Xi, and Trump each get to do whatever they want in their respective zones'
Venezuela may seem like a tactical loss for Russia, but in fact it's a strategic win for Putin's vision of the world. new essay:
hegemon.substack.com/p/venezuela-...

Reposted by James Cameron

'What just happened is entirely consistent with the spheres-of-influence approach that Putin has long advocated, and that Trump embraced in the latest National Security Strategy. The emerging order is one in which Putin, Xi, and Trump each get to do whatever they want in their respective zones'
Venezuela may seem like a tactical loss for Russia, but in fact it's a strategic win for Putin's vision of the world. new essay:
hegemon.substack.com/p/venezuela-...
Venezuela Is a Gift to Putin
and a harbinger of more Russian aggression in Europe
hegemon.substack.com

Just making it up as they go.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

Reposted by James Cameron

Turns out defending international law in a world of predators is impossible if you don't have sufficient force to defend yourself.
European weakness on full display by these horribly contorted responses from Merz, Macron and Starmer - neither condoning nor condemning US actions in Venezuela

Such weakness only risks making the Europeans more vulnerable (ie Greenland)
European weakness on full display by these horribly contorted responses from Merz, Macron and Starmer - neither condoning nor condemning US actions in Venezuela

Such weakness only risks making the Europeans more vulnerable (ie Greenland)

Reposted by James Cameron

7/10 Removing Maduro beheads the autocracy but doesn’t dismantle it. The coercive apparatus—and its ties to organized crime—doesn’t evaporate. The risk ranges from just a coup to even "warlordism." It remains unclear who will rule in a fractured, armed landscape.

To what extent can the tactical effectiveness of the US military compensate for zero strategy at the political level? I guess we're going to find out (again).
Trump is really fighting to keep his eyes open while Caine goes on and on
This makes the Iraq War seem well planned.

Reposted by James Cameron

Trump is really fighting to keep his eyes open while Caine goes on and on

And as the recent history of US interventions tells us, that will be the end of the matter.

Remember when capturing Saddam Hussein immediately turned Iraq into a model democracy? Or when killing Bin Laden ended all Islamic fundamentalist terrorism?
The US has halted further military actions in Venezuela, as Maduro is in US custody - Rubio.

Trump was threatening Iran yesterday. Will the Venezuela strikes influence Tehran's internal debate over the future of its nuclear program, and if so, how?

Reposted by James Cameron

The US has halted further military actions in Venezuela, as Maduro is in US custody - Rubio.

Reposted by James Cameron

Actual Panamanian here.

The real difference is that in 1989, the US took prisoner all of the Panamanian Fuerzas de Defensa leadership and a good chunk of the civilian flunkies who “ran” the government

The US also backed the duly elected opposition ticket (who won the May 89 elections) to take over

So who is in charge of Venezuela now, or is it a case of "let them fight it out"? What are the humanitarian consequences that and what will be the broader impact on neighboring countries?

Broke: Pacific pivot.

Woke: Latin America-Middle East seesaw.
Trump threatens military action against Iran in a 3 AM post:

Reposted by James Cameron

Trump threatens military action against Iran in a 3 AM post: