Cold war 2.0

[Virtual ghost]

The details of the current situation in Bakhmut.
But this is the right move. Save the troops for some other day because the city is an empty pile of rubble at this point.

 

[The Cat]

The details of the current situation in Bakhmut.
But this is the right move. Save the troops for some other day because the city is an empty pile of rubble at this point.

Today's empty pile of rubble is tomorrow's foundation for a monument of "principles"...in bed.

 

[Virtual ghost]

To punish Putin, the West must talk to the Global South as partners

Metsola wants Ukraine EU membership talks to start this year

High Seas Treaty secured after marathon UN talks

Estonia’s incumbent leader Kaja Kallas on course for election win

Mapped: TikTok faces bans, blocks and probes across Europe

In Irpin, Ukrainians slowly rebuild their burned out homes

Germany’s Scholz says China ‘declared it will not deliver’ weapons to Russia

 

[Virtual ghost]

Turkish opposition unites behind Kılıçdaroğlu as anti-Erdoğan candidate

This is huge. Opposition parties have evident advantage in the polls when summed and this basically means they will be summed on the election day.
In other words Turkey is now so full of problems that they only have to run a half decent campaign and that should be it. What really matters since Turkey is one of the most strategically placed countries in the world and pro democratic shift would change some things in the wider picture.

 

[Virtual ghost]

The tensions are rising.


China’s new foreign minister slams U.S. 'malicious confrontation'

Did China mess with Canada? Trudeau says he has a plan to find out.

Putin’s Russia summons Stalin from the grave as a wartime ally

Belarus sentences opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years in prison

German government reviews Huawei components in 5G networks

Ukraine updates: Kyiv generals vow to keep defending Bakhmut

 

[Virtual ghost]

It would be kinda ironic that the whole Bakhmut story ends like this. But with enough of reinforcements it actually might.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Georgia’s government abandons Putin-style bill that triggered huge protests

The Netherlands to block export of advanced chips printers to China

Biden to reveal nuke submarine plans Monday alongside U.K. and Australian leaders

Tensions mounting in Moldova amid war in Ukraine

Turkey’s ‘Gandhi’ sets his sights on strongman Erdoğan

 

[Virtual ghost]

Why Ursula von der Leyen matters to Biden

U.S., EU search for climate truce — and a united front against China

It looks like we will see more or less fully unified front in the end.




China brokers deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia after 7-year dispute

China's Xi assigns premier job to close aid

Erdoğan officially sets Turkey’s elections for May 14

 

[Virtual ghost]

French Senate adopts pension reform as street protests continue

France — President Emmanuel Macron’s approval rating


The dude is about 30 points underwater and he keeps pushing, so the gap will probably widen even more.
I mean his whole party is basically one man show and after his term is over it is quite questionable what will happen in France. Especially since the party is less popular than the man himself from what I understand.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Russian jet collides with U.S. drone in ‘reckless’ maneuver

Pacific heights: With AUKUS, Britain finds new place in the world at last

EU Parliament chiefs spar over Spain’s stance on arming Ukraine

Germany acts to shrink its massive parliament

 

[Virtual ghost]

Germany — National parliament voting intention

If the trends continue a little bit longer the Greens will fall in support below the far right AfD.

 

[Virtual ghost]

 

[Virtual ghost]

 

[Virtual ghost]

Finland gears up for Turkey’s NATO blessing, as Sweden gets left behind

Turkey’s anti-Erdoğan opposition vows a reset on EU and NATO


Ok, but Finland is what really matters since it is a front line country. If Finland is in that automatically protects Sweden.
Plus Sweden is EU member and almost all EU members are in NATO. Therefore since EU is much deeper block than NATO attack on one member is attack on all. What in the end triggers the whole West anyway. However elections in Turkey could really make all of this much more simple.




How NATO sees the recent Russian jet incidents

It’s just not easy saying goodbye to China and Russia

Putin and Assad hold talks on anniversary of Syria uprising

 

[Virtual ghost]

 

[Virtual ghost]

Poland to transfer MiG-29 jets to Ukraine within days

Libya eastern army claims tons of missing uranium recovered

Dutch farmers' party wins big in provincial elections

Hong Kong exiles try to preserve culture and press freedom

TikTok banned on UK government phones

 

[Virtual ghost]

ICC issues arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over child deportations from Ukraine

ICC issues arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin

To be honest I was thinking that they wouldn't dare to do that.




Turkey, Hungary to approve Finland’s NATO membership

Turkey's Erdogan paves way to ratify Finland NATO accession

As expected.

 

[The Cat]

 

[SD45T-2]

Ok, but Finland is what really matters since it is a front line country. If Finland is in that automatically protects Sweden.

That's been my thinking as well. And based on my cursory search just now, it appears that Finland already spends about 2% of their GDP on defense like NATO members are supposed to, whereas Sweden is significantly below that. So it seems like Finland would be able to hit the ground running, so to speak.

Poland to transfer MiG-29 jets to Ukraine within days

And it looks like Slovakia will be joining in: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/slovakias-mig-29s-are-officially-heading-to-ukraines-air-force

 

[Kephalos]

Report: Supply Chain Interdependence and Geopolitical Vulnerability: The Case of Taiwan and High-End Semiconductors.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2354-1.html

Key Findings:

• The dominance of Taiwan over global semiconductor production creates geopolitical and economic vulnerabilities for the United States and its allies, as well as for Taiwan.
• These vulnerabilities provide China with a potential asymmetric advantage.
• Without preparation, a severe semiconductor supply disruption would have an immediate and significant impact on the U.S. economy and would create a national security challenge.
• Because of the potential disruption to the global semiconductor supply chain and the absence of prior investment to create alternative semiconductor fabrication capacity, there are generally no good options for responding to either a peaceful or contested unification scenario.
• Taking steps to support any Taiwanese resistance efforts could lead to broad and lengthy economic turbulence that would be politically unsustainable.
• Any actions taken to offset the loss of semiconductor production access would likely lead to a long-term decline in economic output for the United States and its allies.
• The vulnerabilities generated by Taiwan's dominance of the semiconductor supply chain were not well understood by any of the players who participated in the TTX.
• Most of the players were unaware of (1) the degree of interdependence within the global semiconductor supply chain and (2) the time and expense that would be required to generate an alternative supply.

Recommendations:

• The U.S. government should improve its analysis and understanding of the semiconductor supply chain specifically and the degree of supply chain interdependence in general.
• An immediate and concerted effort should be made to reduce the concentration of semiconductor production in Taiwan.
• The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) should be incentivized to move at least some production out of Taiwan.
• Irrespective of TSMC actions, governments should take action to strengthen both domestic and allied semiconductor production.
• The United States should coordinate with its allies to discourage and heavily regulate the movement of facilities and equipment to China.
• Collaborative relationships with allied governments and industries are essential, even if such relationships run counter to the normal impulse to keep sectors separate.
• Executive agencies need to engage with industry partners to identify the strengths and vulnerabilities of the U.S. position within the global semiconductor supply chain.
• Instead of acting unilaterally, Washington should engage its allies and partners to respond as a united, multinational bloc.