What Actually Mattered This Week: Assad Overthrown in Syria
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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK
After less than two weeks of fighting by rebel forces, Assad's repressive dictatorship in Syria is no more.
The fall of a repressive regime that fought its own people —leaving more than 500,000 civilians dead—is welcome news.
But unfortunately for the people of Syria, I’m not convinced what replaces it will be too much better.
Let me explain how we got here:
What’s the best way to ensure control over a population?
Restricting information access in its totality.?
Trump’s late-night Truth Social posts came only days after Justin Trudeau rushed down to Mar-a-Lago on the back of Trump’s tariff threats.
This move was likely perceived as a weakness by Trump himself.
So far, Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico is handling the tariff drama much better.
South Koreans are coming together to file a class action lawsuit against President Yoon for “emotional distress” caused by the country’s brief descent into martial law.
Americans…don't get any ideas.
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TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS
Total net migration during the Biden administration is likely to exceed 8 million (!) people…a faster pace than the peak years of Ellis Island.
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THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN
THE GRAPHIC TRUTH
YOUR GZERO WORLD
What will President-Elect?Donald Trump’s election win mean for the US economy? After years of inflation and stagnating wage growth, millions of voters elected Trump off the back of his promise to usher in a “golden age of America.” Trump has vowed to raise tariffs, slash business regulation, and deport millions of undocumented immigrants, policies he says will put Americans first. But what will that mean practically for workers and consumers? On GZERO World,?I am joined by?Oren Cass, the founder and chief economist of the conservative think tank American Compass, who thinks Trump’s tariff plan will be a step in the right direction. Many economists argue that Trump's tariff plans will raise consumer prices and spark a global trade war, but Cass argues they're a necessary correction that will incentivize domestic manufacturing, reduce the deficit, and counter China’s unfair trade practices.
“If you actually believe that making things in America matters, then we are going to have to find a way to put a thumb on the scale for getting more of that investment back here,” Cass explains, “And I think that's what a tariff can help do.”
For a longer, wider-ranging version of my interview check out the GZERO World podcast.
领英推荐
WORLD IN 60
Why did I originally think Assad would be able to resist being overthrown?
What led me to believe Yoon's martial law declaration would fail in South Korea?
What's another major geopolitical assessment you've made that played out differently than expected, and what does it reveal about the complexities of global politics?
Find out in this week’s World in 60 Seconds!
DIG DEEPER: GZERO DAILY BY IAN BREMMER
This week, I took another stab at answering my followers' most pressing questions. Check it out if you want to learn what a post-Putin Russia might look like; the probability of America shifting to a multi-party system; and (most importantly) what I think about pineapple on pizza.
The State of National Security with Jake Sullivan (and yours truly)
Shameless plug: I’ll be sitting down with America’s outgoing National Security advisor, Jake Sullivan, at the 92nd Street Y in New York City on December 17th at 7:30pm ET. Come hang with us as we reflect on the past four years of American foreign policy (either in person or online).
Do you like what you’ve seen??Sign up for GZERO Daily by Ian Bremmer
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BECAUSE THE INTERNET
He sees you when you’re sleeping? Knows when you’re awake? Straight to the gulag for you, Santa.
- Newsweek
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WHAT TO READ THIS WEEK
BBC Journalist Gabriel Gatehouse fell down America’s conspiracy theory rabbit hole…and is taking readers along with him. “The Coming Storm” follows the rise of Q Anon into mainstream American society, chronicling this new era of political distrust and fear. Gatehouse offers up some harsh truths about America’s present and stern warnings about the future in this captivating (and slightly depressing) page-turner.
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DEEP THOUGHTS
“A situation will keep repeating itself until you have learned the lesson it was meant to teach you. Don’t stay in the same class forever.” – Chris P. Gardner
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Thanks for reading!?Please subscribe to GZERO Daily for coverage of global politics. And make sure to read my latest book?The Power of Crisis?for a roadmap of this decade's great crises and how they might help us build a better world.
I am president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and foreign affairs columnist at TIME. I currently teach at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and previously was a professor at New York University. You can follow me on?X, Bluesky, Threads,?TikTok, Facebook, and?Instagram.
Development economist
2 个月The Assad family was not just useful for Russia, but also for the West. Now Assad is gone, the West are darn worried if the so-called wrong hands take over power. By wrong hands, of course the Islamists. Islamists are the right hands by the people of Syria, but wrong in the eyes of Westerners. SO, when you preach the democratic rights of Syrians, I am afraid you are lying to yourself mate.
CEO & Founder at Cloud Audit Services | Technology Governance & Assurance Leader | Security Advisor | Innovation Analyst | Investor
2 个月Greatly appreciated the insightful interview with economist Oren Cass. Kudos to both of you for delivering such an outstanding presentation!
Principal - Artifex Engineering, Inc.
2 个月Syrian revolution: US needs to stay out, Syria and Syrians will be better off without US meddling, considering the US’ screw ups in Iraq, Afghanistan (and Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. before that), and considering the US’ sponsorship of the terrorist, illegitimate, evil, apartheid colony of Israel and its genocide and occupation of Syrian land. The US has no credebility in the region and is not an impartial interlocutor.