Reposted by Ross O'Connor
Useful USG list on which sanctions+ export controls have been eased on Syria including export controls on most software, and parts limited to infra.
Many moves help trade, but sanctions supension and SST still a concern. No discussion of other banking qs
x.com/reziemba/sta...
Many moves help trade, but sanctions supension and SST still a concern. No discussion of other banking qs
x.com/reziemba/sta...
Rachel Ziemba on X: "Useful USG list on which sanctions+ export controls have been eased on Syria including export controls on most software, and parts limited to infra. Many moves help trade, but sanctions supension and SST still a concern. No discussion of other banking qs https://t.co/ojTI6BLB12" / X
Useful USG list on which sanctions+ export controls have been eased on Syria including export controls on most software, and parts limited to infra. Many moves help trade, but sanctions supension and SST still a concern. No discussion of other banking qs https://t.co/ojTI6BLB12
x.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Useful USG list on which sanctions+ export controls have been eased on Syria including export controls on most software, and parts limited to infra.
Many moves help trade, but sanctions supension and SST still a concern. No discussion of other banking qs
x.com/reziemba/sta...
Many moves help trade, but sanctions supension and SST still a concern. No discussion of other banking qs
x.com/reziemba/sta...
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
I’m thrilled that the Kennan Institute is back as an independent institution and delighted to have joined as a non-resident fellow www.kennaninstitute.org
Kennan Institute | Advancing Scholarship and Statecraft
Explore expert analysis on Russia, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia. Stay informed with the latest research, events, and policy insights from The Kennan Institute.
www.kennaninstitute.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I’m thrilled that the Kennan Institute is back as an independent institution and delighted to have joined as a non-resident fellow www.kennaninstitute.org
Mark Carney's grand design to reach 2% spending on Defence are a lot of smoke, mirrors and accounting tricks: placing the Coast Guard and Space agency under DND, boosting pay and counting bureaucrats as military by giving them a 3 day weapons training course.
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
Canadian military will rely on an army of public servants to boost its ranks by 300,000
Federal public servants would be trained to shoot guns, drive trucks and fly drones, according to a defence department directive.
ottawacitizen.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Mark Carney's grand design to reach 2% spending on Defence are a lot of smoke, mirrors and accounting tricks: placing the Coast Guard and Space agency under DND, boosting pay and counting bureaucrats as military by giving them a 3 day weapons training course.
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
Forced to agree with Bolton here.
Bolton says Carney made a ‘mistake’ apologizing to Trump for anti-tariff ad
Trump tariffs: Bolton calls Carney ad apology ‘a mistake’
A former national security advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump says it was a mistake for Prime Minister Mark Carney to apologize for the anti-tariff ad that angered Trump and prompted him to terminate trade talks with Canada.
www.ctvnews.ca
November 10, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Forced to agree with Bolton here.
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
I can't tell you how many interviews I've done where I've been asked: If Trump's policies are so problematic, why are U.S. stocks rising so rapidly.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
November 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I can't tell you how many interviews I've done where I've been asked: If Trump's policies are so problematic, why are U.S. stocks rising so rapidly.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
Tariff rebate discussions are back, as President Trump wants to revive his and their political capital. So problematic- tariffs (paid by Americans) will fund a dividend to other Americans that he chooses.
Tariffs not an efficient way to raise revenue yes. And being pledged to fund various things
Tariffs not an efficient way to raise revenue yes. And being pledged to fund various things
November 9, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Tariff rebate discussions are back, as President Trump wants to revive his and their political capital. So problematic- tariffs (paid by Americans) will fund a dividend to other Americans that he chooses.
Tariffs not an efficient way to raise revenue yes. And being pledged to fund various things
Tariffs not an efficient way to raise revenue yes. And being pledged to fund various things
This is a veiled message to the Supreme Court: Don't rule against me on tariffs or else I will cause America to riot and tear herself apart.
November 9, 2025 at 3:56 PM
This is a veiled message to the Supreme Court: Don't rule against me on tariffs or else I will cause America to riot and tear herself apart.
I've looked at the US Supreme Court hearings on tariffs and quite frankly, the outcome is too close to call. It will likely be a 5-4 decision, I am just not sure which way it will go.
November 6, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I've looked at the US Supreme Court hearings on tariffs and quite frankly, the outcome is too close to call. It will likely be a 5-4 decision, I am just not sure which way it will go.
"But as the designs advanced, his dream collided with reality. The Line’s own architects began to question whether the structure could ever be built as imagined. Costs ballooned, timelines slipped and the foreign investment that Riyadh had banked on failed to materialise."
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:00 AM
"But as the designs advanced, his dream collided with reality. The Line’s own architects began to question whether the structure could ever be built as imagined. Costs ballooned, timelines slipped and the foreign investment that Riyadh had banked on failed to materialise."
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
South Korea should pursue nuclear latency, says a longtime advocate of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
Architect of denuclearization policy says it’s time South Korea pursues nuclear latency
Interview | Song Min-soon, who served as foreign and trade minister under Roh Moo-hyun, discusses his new book “Good Fences, Good Neighbors”
english.hani.co.kr
November 5, 2025 at 10:00 PM
South Korea should pursue nuclear latency, says a longtime advocate of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
Why doesn't the budget include major money for submarines?
Cause we wouldn't be taking delivery until the 2030s.
The defence spend is presented on a cash basis over five years.
Cause we wouldn't be taking delivery until the 2030s.
The defence spend is presented on a cash basis over five years.
November 4, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Why doesn't the budget include major money for submarines?
Cause we wouldn't be taking delivery until the 2030s.
The defence spend is presented on a cash basis over five years.
Cause we wouldn't be taking delivery until the 2030s.
The defence spend is presented on a cash basis over five years.
November 4, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
I told my class this week that the US will be paying for this war deep in this century as the costs of health care for vets will mount to be perhaps double or even more than the actual cost of the invasion itself.
The 2003 Iraq war remains the worst and most costly US foreign policy decision ever. Let us never forget that Dick Cheney was the driving strategist, bureaucratic enforcer and chief anchor behind it.
www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/b...
www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/b...
'The Assassins' Gate': Occupational Hazards (Published 2005)
www.nytimes.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:11 PM
I told my class this week that the US will be paying for this war deep in this century as the costs of health care for vets will mount to be perhaps double or even more than the actual cost of the invasion itself.
The 2003 Iraq war remains the worst and most costly US foreign policy decision ever. Let us never forget that Dick Cheney was the driving strategist, bureaucratic enforcer and chief anchor behind it.
www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/b...
www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/b...
'The Assassins' Gate': Occupational Hazards (Published 2005)
www.nytimes.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:03 PM
The 2003 Iraq war remains the worst and most costly US foreign policy decision ever. Let us never forget that Dick Cheney was the driving strategist, bureaucratic enforcer and chief anchor behind it.
www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/b...
www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/b...
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
Resuming U.S. Nuclear Tests Would Only Help China, One Expert Says
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
“The only countries that will really learn more if testing resumes are Russia and to a much greater extent China,” says Jeffrey Lewis - @armscontrolwonk.bsky.social
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
“The only countries that will really learn more if testing resumes are Russia and to a much greater extent China,” says Jeffrey Lewis - @armscontrolwonk.bsky.social
Resuming U.S. Nuclear Tests Would Only Help China, One Expert Says
“The only countries that will really learn more if testing resumes are Russia and to a much greater extent China,” Jeffrey Lewis says
www.scientificamerican.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Resuming U.S. Nuclear Tests Would Only Help China, One Expert Says
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
“The only countries that will really learn more if testing resumes are Russia and to a much greater extent China,” says Jeffrey Lewis - @armscontrolwonk.bsky.social
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
“The only countries that will really learn more if testing resumes are Russia and to a much greater extent China,” says Jeffrey Lewis - @armscontrolwonk.bsky.social
The framing that Canada would be "lost" if Quebec acquired statehood is absurd. Why does Canada stop being Canada if Quebec leaves? Do identity insecurities vis à vis the US run so deep that it couldn't survive without Quebec?
Today is the 30th Anniversary of the Quebec referendum, when we came within a hair’s breadth of losing a great country.
I wrote this piece last year because I was worried we are sleepwalking into another referendum, in a far more dangerous time.
thewalrus.ca/the-quebec-s...
I wrote this piece last year because I was worried we are sleepwalking into another referendum, in a far more dangerous time.
thewalrus.ca/the-quebec-s...
The Quebec Secession Crisis Is Coming, and Canada Isn’t Ready | The Walrus
Why sovereigntists see their chance now
thewalrus.ca
October 30, 2025 at 2:16 PM
The framing that Canada would be "lost" if Quebec acquired statehood is absurd. Why does Canada stop being Canada if Quebec leaves? Do identity insecurities vis à vis the US run so deep that it couldn't survive without Quebec?
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
I’ll give someone $1000 if they can find one factually correct statement in this post
October 30, 2025 at 1:37 AM
I’ll give someone $1000 if they can find one factually correct statement in this post
The US had toyed with nuclear powered cruise missiles in the 1950s (USAF film from 1963).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qMu...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qMu...
Nuclear-powered Ramjet Cruise Missile: LASV-N1 (Progress Report 1963)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
www.youtube.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
The US had toyed with nuclear powered cruise missiles in the 1950s (USAF film from 1963).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qMu...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qMu...
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
Clearly just cutting off talks with Canada not enough… tariffs going up on the Canadian items US pays tariffs on ~5% of bilateral trade assuming USMCA exemption remains in effect. Painful for those remaining sectors of course. But another example where watching exemptions matters!
The president got his feelings hurt, so we're doing 10% more tariffs on Canada. Joke of an administration.
October 25, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Clearly just cutting off talks with Canada not enough… tariffs going up on the Canadian items US pays tariffs on ~5% of bilateral trade assuming USMCA exemption remains in effect. Painful for those remaining sectors of course. But another example where watching exemptions matters!
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
Only 7 out of 71 employees at the Los Alamos NNSA field site are working, the rest furloughed.
At the Albuquerque site (overseeing Sandia NM), only 7/81.
"The furloughs are the [NNSA's] first since its creation in 2000, as none occurred during previous shutdowns"
sourcenm.com/2025/10/22/n...
At the Albuquerque site (overseeing Sandia NM), only 7/81.
"The furloughs are the [NNSA's] first since its creation in 2000, as none occurred during previous shutdowns"
sourcenm.com/2025/10/22/n...
October 25, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Only 7 out of 71 employees at the Los Alamos NNSA field site are working, the rest furloughed.
At the Albuquerque site (overseeing Sandia NM), only 7/81.
"The furloughs are the [NNSA's] first since its creation in 2000, as none occurred during previous shutdowns"
sourcenm.com/2025/10/22/n...
At the Albuquerque site (overseeing Sandia NM), only 7/81.
"The furloughs are the [NNSA's] first since its creation in 2000, as none occurred during previous shutdowns"
sourcenm.com/2025/10/22/n...
Reposted by Ross O'Connor
Chinese shipbuilders produce more than half of global vessels these days
• Many of China's shipbuilding firms are state-owned and receive public subsidies/cheap loans
• Economies of scale that Chinese shipyards have achieved make it hard for global firms to compete with them
• Many of China's shipbuilding firms are state-owned and receive public subsidies/cheap loans
• Economies of scale that Chinese shipyards have achieved make it hard for global firms to compete with them
October 24, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Chinese shipbuilders produce more than half of global vessels these days
• Many of China's shipbuilding firms are state-owned and receive public subsidies/cheap loans
• Economies of scale that Chinese shipyards have achieved make it hard for global firms to compete with them
• Many of China's shipbuilding firms are state-owned and receive public subsidies/cheap loans
• Economies of scale that Chinese shipyards have achieved make it hard for global firms to compete with them