The American Centrist

Geopolitics and FP | WW2 history obsessionado | Future member of the deep state

[The American Centrist @USCentrist]

If Republicans want to show some patriotism today, they should act more like John McCain in 2008 then Donald Trump in 2019.

[Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 @Noahpinion]

A thread on how France decarbonized by building nuclear power.

[Patrick Fox @RealCynicalFox]

Bingo. Realistically Germany would need to be spending 5+% on defense for multiple years (likely a decade or more) and undergo a complete cultural overhaul with respect to the military to produce the kind of military capability that should be expected from it.

[Thomas C. Theiner @noclador]

Some examples of operational equipment reductions from 1989 to 2024:

Let's start with main battle tanks:
🇩🇪 3,892 -> 248
🇫🇷 1,297 -> 200
🇮🇹 1,206 -> 200
🇬🇧 855 -> 148
🇳🇱 750 -> 16
🇸🇪 660 -> 110
🇩🇰 330 -> 44
🇧🇪 296 -> 0
1/6

[Kane 謝凱堯 @kane]

the us navy imposed freedom of navigation disproportionately benefits poor countries

if the unholy alliance of far right isolationists and far left anti-interventionists gets what it wants, only countries w advanced navies will be able to benefit from trade

[Robin Brooks @robin_j_brooks]

There is NO meaningful decoupling of global trade from China. China's trade surplus with countries like Mexico (black) and Vietnam (blue) is up massively. Those goods don't stay in Mexico or Vietnam. They're trans-shipped to the rest of the world. No decoupling, only rejiggering.

[Adam Tooze @adam_tooze]

What Happened to Africa Rising? It’s Been Another Lost Decade. Oldie but goodie by @JavierBlas
https://t.co/Yk2uhhEDzw

[Thomas van Linge @ThomasVLinge]

Maybe this will finally get some more international press to focus on what's happening in #Myanmar 🇲🇲

[Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 @Noahpinion]

The U.S. is in great danger. We are facing a possible war with China. And if it happened today, there's a significant chance we'd lose.

We need to have more of a sense of urgency about this.

https://t.co/QBM0gXkfTp

[Sly Tea Jar @JayGSlater]

Possibly my favorite "WW2 US industrial might" story yet.

Plane a little dinged up after a mission? Bulldoze it off the side of the carrier/airbase and get a shiny new one.

[Paul Fairie @paulisci]

A Brief History of America is in Decline Like The Roman Empire

🧵

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Positive trend summary du jour, from @gapminder by Ola Rosling & Anna Rosling-Ronnlund.

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

This is a really important piece by @mattyglesias.

I love the framing of "Malthusian institutions"—groups and special interests worried about protecting their own proverbial nuts and berries—creating mass scarcity out of (ironically) a fear of scarcity.

https://t.co/Cu3STHwhI6

[Institute for the Study of War @TheStudyofWar]

NEW: The US has a much higher stake in Russia's war on Ukraine than most people think.

As Americans consider the costs of continuing to help Ukraine fight the Russians in the coming years, they deserve a careful consideration of the costs of allowing Russia to win. 🧵(1/19)

[Institute for the Study of War @TheStudyofWar]

US intelligence assessed that the war in Ukraine has devastated the pre-war Russian military, although Russia has partially offset these losses and continues to prepare for a long war in Ukraine. 🧵(1/5)

[Fareed Zakaria @FareedZakaria]

As long as America does not lose faith in its own project, the current international order can thrive for decades to come. https://t.co/btNS7t5RgB

[Amazing Maps @amazingmap]

How a coastline 100 million years ago influences modern election results in Alabama

[The American Centrist @USCentrist]

Green bean casserole. Easy.

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Anton La Guardia @AntonLaGuardia]

For defence-industrial policy wonks. ASD Doug Bush on US monthly production of 155mm shells.
- Feb 2022: 14k
- today: 28k
- Q1 2024: 36k
- Q3 2024: 60k
- early 2025: 70k-80k
If Congress approves 155mm supplemental of $3.1bn (part of Biden’s $106bn request)
- late 2025: 100k

[Thomas van Linge @ThomasVLinge]

Israel invades Gaza. The Myanmar junta collapses across northern Shan state. The RSF goes on a rampage across Darfur and Kordofan. Eastern Syria is ready to explode. Tuareg rebels take more ground in northern Mali, and now the GNU & LNA are moving in Libya.

Crazy times.