Image is allegedly of the note Trump wrote while editing a speech while on the way back from the G20 summit.
The top Russian-Chinese agent, Donald Trump, has decided that the pace of dedollarization and the decline of American financial hegemony is going too slowly. He has therefore decided to put tariffs on everybody; from America's largest trading partners to uninhabited islands. In the process, he is trying to create an autarkic America. Jokes aside, interpretation and analysis of this has ranged across a wide spectrum. I think we can broadly agree that the most idiotic are the "true believers"; those that actually believe Trump's every word, and that this will somehow bring back American manufacturing and whatever other inane promises he has made.
However, there is a much more interesting debate. The first camp are those who believe Trump is acting as an inadvertent accelerationist due to his lack of understanding about how the world economy and dollar hegemony functions (and that this will subsequently ensure that countries flock to China instead). The second camp are those who believe that Trump does know what he's doing, at least to a certain extent, and that the effective result of this period of madness will be countries kowtowing to the United States; renegotiating trade deals to be even more in favor of the US in order to get tariffs reduced. There's even a yet more cynical camp who believes that in fact, this entire trade war is just theater for further national wealth redistributions from poor to rich; that all these monumental international trade wars are more of a sideshow. To quote the linked article: "[...] out of the mountain of tariffs that threaten to turn into a global trade war will emerge the mouse of further tax cuts."
I'm not embarrassed to admit that I have absolutely no idea which one of these is the closest model to reality. We're in new economic and political ground, and even if the tariffs are quickly renegotiated and/or dropped, the impacts will continue to reverberate around the world for years. I'm sure we'll debate this for months to come here, though!
Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
Please check out the RedAtlas!
The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Given her current record, she seems much more on the appeasement track, no?
I think she rather had to work for mexico not to be invaded. Most people here thought that Mexico would be the focus of us aggression in trump's america not canada.
Yeah I don’t doubt that drone strikes would be portrayed as a compromise compared to boots on the ground. I believe her continued cooperation with the regime is part of the diversion of attention from Mexico to Canada, Trump sees Mexico as bending the knee, so he can focus his attention elsewhere
I agree you dont want to be a zelensky with trump.
Exactly! And especially on the southern border, the specific target of this admin, I don’t blame her/the administration for lying low
No? In what way has she appeased him?
She’s cooperated consistently on trade and immigration, there doesn’t seem to be a desire to upend US-Mx relations
Please be specific. She's continued the existing immigration policy but refused US military deportation policy. What trade has she appeased him on?
She offered to send troops to the border, she’s been cooperative on tariffs, isn’t denouncing them or picking fights, you can say it’s reasonable given her position, but I simply don’t see Sheinbaum pushing back against anything Trump does, even when it encroaches on Mexican sovereignty so explicitly. I believe she saw where AMLO appeared contradictory and is adjusting as a result
an already existing deal that predates both presidents
in what way?
Would you say her approach to this administration has been more confrontational or conciliatory?
I would say to claim she has been cooperative on tariffs and trade you need to give an example of what, specifically, she has done.
I think the absence of confrontation is cooperation and I expect nothing different going forward. Canada has talked shit, gotten hit and backed down, Mexico has stayed quiet and both dodged reciprocal tariffs. I plan to not be disappointed when they stay quiet going forward
So you have nothing specific that she has conceded, you just wish she'd be more vocal. Idealism.
I never said I wished she’d be more vocal, I understand her position entirely. I think it’s idealism to hope she’ll push back on American influence when her strategy of respectful collaboration has been working great so far
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/04/03/americas/mexico-praises-preferential-us-tariffs-treatment-latam-intl
“Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that this treatment is due to Mexico’s positive relationship with the US.
“There are no additional tariffs to Mexico and that is good for the country,” Sheinbaum said at a Thursday morning press conference, touting her government’s relationship with the Trump administration.
“This has to do with the good relationship we have constructed with the US government, based on collaboration but with respect.” “
Tbf Sheinbaum isnt communist and Mexico isnt a socialist republic.
I’m unsure how this is impacts what I said? That’s exactly why I wouldn’t expect drastic action like preventing the US from using drones on Mexican soil
In fairness, this would have the side effect of letting Mexican military officials keep an even closer eye on what the Americans are up to. Could be a malicious-compliance thing.