ESSENTIAL

RET. ADM. CEM GURDENIZ—The US and its allies continue to pay the price of the rapid downsizing at sea and in the region after the Cold War. They are falling behind in both the number of icebreakers and the number of troops ready for war in winter conditions.

In addition, Russia has advantages in the field of submarine warfare and hypersonic anti-ship missiles. However, despite its limited naval power, the US challenges Russia’s geographical superiority in these critical waterways through its allies. As the only NATO country with a permanent military headquarters north of the Arctic Circle (66°33’N latitude), Norway gives its most important security and defense priority to the protection of US interests in this region due to the newly developing Arctic geopolitics. NATO also uses Norway’s situation as a battering ram against Russia, putting it forward for the interests of the US in this region. Norway, one of the calmest, richest and most prosperous countries in the world, has now joined the group of risky countries that have to maintain high military vigilance and readiness at all times.

CHARLES McKELVEY—The United States, either through war with Iran to contain China, or through unconventional war to weaken all anti-imperialist states, or both, is seeking to stop the dialectical march of modern history.  The United States can do so only through destruction, which also could lead to its own demise.  It would be far more dignified for the American republic to participate positively in the second stage of the modern synthesis, in which cooperation and mutually beneficial trade are established as an international norm.  In doing so, the United States would once again be one of the world’s leading nations, and it could interpret its enlightened turn as the fulfillment of the promise of democracy contained in the founding of the American republic. 

INDRAJIT—Americans flatter him, to say Trump will be their Hitler. Hitler was actually a below-average evil as European rulers go.  American Presidents are all Hitlers, with Ronald Reagan being the last incarnation they’ve been stuck on for decades. Since then, every American President has been some poor Reagan impersonator, AKA Hitler. Bush I was nerd Reagan, Clinton was cool Reagan, Bush II was nepo Reagan, Obama was black Reagan, Trump was clown Reagan, and Biden was Reagan except somehow more senile and trigger-happy. America hasn’t had an original idea in decades, and every election since 1980 has been a reboot. Today, Harris is running as a Reagan Democrat next to the Cheney family, tapping into a rich base of 50,000 in Wyoming and assorted torture enthusiasts. History is truly repeating as farce. American politics is still centered around Reagan, who sucked.

EDITOR—An Eye-Opening Speech for the Tender Minds of a Young Privileged Audience.
Jeffrey Sachs delivers a speech and Q&A at 6pm in the Debating Chamber on Tuesday 22nd October 2024. Jeffrey gives a short speech about “whether there can ever truly be a liberal international order?” Followed by a few questions from Speakers Officer Alex Mitchell and then further questions from members of the audience. Jeffrey D. Sachs is University Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he directed the Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016.

KARL SANCHEZ—Professors Hudson and Wolff have discussed the upcoming US Election on several previous occasions with Nima, while this session specifically focuses on US political dynamics, issues foreign and domestic that are being completely ignored, and what the outcomes might be depending on who is declared the winner. And no, there’s no talk of the election being stolen by on side or the other or what the social response might be depending on who wins. The number of excellent ideas and insights are too many to list. Dr. Wolff carries the show because he has somewhat better insights and is able to articulate them better. Dr. Wolff provides one of the more interesting points that’s revealed at the 19:00 mark of the 80-minute podcast:

The Hegelian Moment of American Politics: Cold War Isolationism of the Other as the initial thesis has matured and become its antithesis: the isolation of the US as it’s now the Other compared with the Global Majority.