A recent op-ed appearing in Foreign Affairs titled, “The Taiwan Catastrophe,” helps paint a clear picture of US motivations behind its growing confrontation with China and the increasingly unrealistic nature of Washington’s desired outcome.
Washington’s True Fear of China: An Obstacle to American Hegemony
Tag: US Military
Aaron Bushnell’s Protest Reflects A Much Deeper Crisis In the US Military
Defense Contractors Are Bilking the American People
America’s national priorities are badly misplaced. Our country spends, with almost no debate, nearly $1 trillion a year on the military while at the same time ignoring massive problems at home.
Defense Contractors Are Bilking the American People
How Cyprus is used to facilitate genocide
Activists claim the UK and US use Cyprus as an “unsinkable warship” as recent conflicts in the Middle East spark renewed controversy over British military bases on the Mediterranean island.
UK ‘bases of death’ in Cyprus see controversy amid Middle East conflicts
Previously:
Is the Philippines becoming a US ‘proxy’ against Beijing in the South China Sea?
Is the Philippines becoming a US ‘proxy’ against Beijing in the South China Sea?
‘The ants that get trampled on’
Not everyone agrees with drawing closer to the US, however, and they warn about the Philippines turning into a “proxy” for American interests. The president’s own sister Imee, a senator, told ANC Digital earlier this month that “China will always be our neighbour, we have no fight with them, let’s not get dragged into a fight that’s not our own.”
Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, director of the pro-China Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute, wrote in the Manila Times on February 10 that “agreements such as the EDCA, the VFA and the Mutual Defence Treaty have not only cemented the US military presence and influence in the Philippines but also, most importantly, exemplified the Philippines’ dependence on the US in the military and defence sector.”
Teresita Ang See, former president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies and currently part of its advisory council, told This Week in Asia: “Filipinos in general condemn China’s action. But many also understand that China’s assertiveness is in response to US, Japanese and Australian provocations and increasing military presence in the Philippines.”
She warned that “we are fighting a proxy war between the US and China and in the end we will be the ants that get trampled upon”.
H/T: Johnsonwkchoi
Related:
Responding to the Catholic Bishops
Philippines counts the cost of tough South China Sea stance against Beijing
Israeli Group to Study MDMA Therapy for October 7 Survivors With PTSD
Israeli Group to Study MDMA Therapy for October 7 Survivors With PTSD
A group of 400 Israeli survivors of the October 7 Hamas attack, including civilians, released hostages, and soldiers, could be offered MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in a potentially trailblazing study to commence later this year.
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“Our goal is to create a therapy model that can serve universally, with the intention and prayer to help people,” said Dr. Keren Tzarfaty, CEO and co-founder of MAPS Israel, which is already running trials evaluating MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and eating disorders. “We hope it will demonstrate high levels of safety and effectiveness and enable us to offer the program in other places over the region and the world, not only to treat PTSD, but to help people open their hearts and expand their minds.”
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Dr. Rick Doblin, founding president of the U.S.-based MAPS and a longtime advocate for using psychedelic therapy in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, said that the study would serve as a seminal piece of research into whether psychedelic-assisted therapy can help large groups of traumatized people.
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PH: Governor Mamba reiterates Stance against Foreign Forces or Troops in Cagayan
What ISIS threat? Washington says there is none.
A new report insists the militant group now lacks the ‘intent and capability to direct attacks against the US homeland’
What ISIS threat? Washington says there is none.
ECOWAS: A PRIMER
ECOWAS in the larger context of Africa’s historic interactions with China, France, USA, UK and Russia
ECOWAS : A PRIMER
Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election + Notes
Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election
But the likely victory of Prabowo — an ex-general who was kicked out from the army and subjected to a two-decade ban from the U.S. over human rights violations — raises fears of the world’s third-largest democracy sliding backward into authoritarian rule.
Related:
3 things you should know about Indonesia’s presidential elections
Continuity and its risks
Prabowo is expected to largely continue the policies of President Widodo, or “Jokowi,” as Indonesians call him. President Widodo is not up for reelection as he’s serving his final term.Through his two five-year terms, Indonesia’s economy — Southeast Asia’s largest — has grown at about 5% a year. His infrastructure building, cash and food assistance to the poor and health and education policies have been popular.
Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, used in making electric vehicle batteries, and Jokowi has barred the export of raw nickel, to help Indonesia move up the value chain from mining to manufacturing.
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Prabowo is Suharto’s son-in-law. He received training in the 1980s from the U.S. military at Fort Benning, Ga. (now Fort Moore) and Fort Bragg, N.C. (now Fort Liberty).
Indonesia’s presidential election emerges as key battleground in US-China rivalry
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