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Donald Trump’s regional security officials have been called “hawks” in subsequent criticism who support a difficult part for the United States against China. This is incorrect and detracts from the need to put America’s regional objectives at the center of US foreign policy.

Trump’s first time in office suggest a willingness to reach out to Beijing that does not fit with the “hawks” label, the president saying he wants to&nbsp, visit&nbsp, China, and would prefer not to impose levies if a&nbsp, “deal” &nbsp, can be struck on trade.

This should be unsurprising since Trump ‘s&nbsp, appointees&nbsp, include both those committed to standing up to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP ) and those with deep economic investments in the country.

Trump’s China “hawks” include&nbsp, Marco Rubio&nbsp, for secretary of state, &nbsp, Mike Waltz&nbsp, for national security adviser, &nbsp, Pete Hegseth&nbsp, for secretary of defense, &nbsp, Peter Navarro&nbsp, for business director, major advocate of the TikTok ban&nbsp, Jacob Helberg&nbsp, as State Department monetary policy standard, and as deputy national surveillance adviser&nbsp, Alex Wong, anti-CCP Senator Tom Cotton’s past director.

But Trump’s team also includes a new constituency of advisers likely to have a say in China policy: the tech bros. Palantir CEO&nbsp, Alex Karp&nbsp, and&nbsp, Palmer Luckey&nbsp, of autonomous weapons manufacturer&nbsp, Anduril&nbsp, have much to gain from an open congressional spigot on defense spending and both have said the US must prepare for a possible conflict with China.

Elon Musk’s business interests, in contrast, diverge from Tesla, which accounts for a sizable portion of Tesla’s profits, as do many other leading US tech companies. The tech bros are thus divided.

In fact, there are few real “doves” on China in Washington these days. Those like SAIS professor&nbsp, Jessica Chen Weiss or former deputy secretary of state James Steinberg&nbsp, who reject the zero-sum language of much of the debate are far from naïve about the China challenge.

A hawks-and-doves framing neglects the real issue: not what the new administration’s China policy&nbsp, might&nbsp, be, but what it&nbsp, should &nbsp, be. Trump should be guided by realism and restraint, an accurate assessment of the balance of power in Asia and a clear-eyed view of America’s core national interests.

A zero-sum competition framing of China, one that casts any issue in terms of military buildup/deployment or sanctions/tariffs, is unhelpful. China does pose the kind of military challenge America hasn’t faced since the start of World War II, and it has succeeded in standing up to the West in advanced manufacturing, from AI to cars.

But the People’s Republic of China ( PRC ) is not an&nbsp, existential&nbsp, threat. We do not in America have to&nbsp, like&nbsp, the Marxist-Leninist one-party state the CCP is bent on defending, but we can live with it. A less expansive definition of “national security” would be a good way to clarify our definitions of China. This is a lesson that America ought to have taken away from the war on terrorism.

Despite the tensions with the PRC, questions like whether to allow TikTok to operate, whether to own US port equipment or a company like US Steel, or whether foreign-made drones or electric vehicles should be legal, all need serious scrutiny from lawmakers. However, domestic law enforcement should be kept separate from militarized understandings of national security from concerns over fears about propaganda or data theft.

Questions like whether to link TikTok’s military defense of East Asia to a zero-sum discussion of China serve as justification for a grand plan of “primacy” or the preservation of the United States ‘ military might in East Asia.

Primacy, however, is both unrealistic and unnecessary. The People’s Republic of China’s coast should not be the first place the United States should begin its defense. The United States is not responsible for protecting Japan and the nations that border South Korea and New Zealand. Washington can act as a security partner but not as a guarantee.

On Taiwan, the major imperatives are cooling tensions, maintaining the status quo, and not being sucked into a shooting war. The most effective strategy is still to remain uncommitted to the use of force in the event that the PRC attempts to conquer Taiwan.

Beijing may not like a liberal democratic Taiwan, but it can live with one, just like the US with the PRC. Washington cannot prevent Beijing from invading Taiwan, however. If Xi decided to try his hand at capturing the territory, it would not be a policy failure. These conceits of US control, which are used to criticize others for being” soft on China,” serve to reinforce primacy as the only viable strategy.

Nor should domestic investment be a prerequisite for the pursuit of primacy through competition with China. Because they promise good jobs, economic growth, and a boost to domestic innovation, leaders should want to see America at the forefront of new technologies like AI.

Secure supplies of things like critical minerals and semiconductors should, therefore, be a priority absent a peer challenger. No China threat rhetoric is required.

Finally, engagement with Beijing cannot remain off the table, however toxic the word has become. American diplomats don’t like how Beijing conducts diplomacy, in particular their reneging on promises.

However, the Chinese don’t like how America conducts business: lecturing rather than bargaining, avoiding strategic questions, and giving up little while enforcing structural changes. Yet while cheap, talk is still worth the effort.

No matter who Trump appoints —hawk, dove, or tech bro—a realistic and restrained policy attuned to America’s core interests remains the gold standard for making China policy.

David M. McCourt is an associate professor at the University of California, Davis, in the Department of Sociology. He is the author of a book titled&nbsp,” The End of Engagement: America’s China and Russia Watchers and US Strategy Since 1989″. Published with the permission of Defense Priorities.

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Forget about Syria becoming an Islamist province. The country’s de facto ruler and former al-Qaeda agent Ahmad Sharaa on Wednesday proclaimed himself” intermediate leader”, with his&nbsp, X account&nbsp, just dropping the word” intermediate” and referring to him as “president of the Syrian Arab Republic”. But who was killed and made Sharaa prince? No one is the truth. In a place where “might is right”, the person with the weapon becomes “president”, and, before we know it, Sharaa may be leader, long.

But not all Syria are on table. Taha Bali, a Syrian-American Sunni from Damascus who has supported the Arab rebellion since its beginning in 2011, has spoken out frequently about Syria’s new ruler and his impulses.

Two months after moving into the People’s Palace, once Bashar Assad’s seat of power, Sharaa had “received foreign ministers, intelligence chiefs, celebrities ,]International Criminal Court ] prosecutor, foreign media and Syrian diaspora”, Bali&nbsp, wrote&nbsp, on X.

But, Sharaa had yet to get people of Syria whom Assad had killed or imprisoned, those injured and maimed in 14 years of civil war, native non-governmental companies, organizations or local advertising. Bali concluded that Sharaa’s intentions were clear. He was only interested in making connections with” the strong,” whether domestic or foreign, so he didn’t speak directly to Syria or travel to areas other than the presidential palace, like the famous Saydnaya prison.

To be honest, Sharaa did left the political house just to meet Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad, whose plane touched down at Syrian airport on Thursday for the first time by a head of state.

In another article, Bali welcomed the formation of all armed groups into a central troops, but added that the incident was used to support for Sharaa taking control of the country.

Another Arab revolution, Mazen Ezzi, a French-Syrian Druze from Sweida in the north, also objected to what looked like Sharaa’s conquest of energy. The fact that Sharaa relied “on military groups, more than political and civil causes”, made it look like a revolt rather than political change, Ezzi&nbsp, argued.

Parties that pledged affiliation to Sharaa, when he proclaimed himself leader, were all Sunni, according to Ezzi. ” Any social process that eliminates Kurds, Alawites, Christians, Druze, Murshidis, Assyrians and others is not a really regional one”, he&nbsp, concluded.

Ezzi was best. Despite” President Sharaa,” large portions of the nation still fall under its purview. In the southeast, the Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces ( SDF) maintain an autonomous government and military. The Kurds insisted on agreeing to the process initially when Sharaw demanded their hands to be surrendered.

According to SDF key Mazloum Abdi,” We told Sharaa that we are willing to join our martial skills to create a national Syrian troops – an organisation with agreed on guidelines and chain of command.” We are not willing to sacrifice to him because Shaara does not want us to be his peers. For the Kurds, it helps that their martial features, and global relationships, are excellent to Sharaa’s. However, with time, the balance of power does shift in favor of them.

Before coming to power, Sharaa asserted that his only goal was to create a different and rich Syria deserving of its citizens and that he was not seeking strength or fame. However, Sharaa’s actions have since demonstrated that he has only feigned his past in order to gain international support for his need to consolidate power and, likely, not give up.

More than 50 years after the Assads took office, Sharaa is still riding on the famous joy of ejecting the Assad monarchy.

But quickly enough, when Sharaa becomes the unquestioned master, he will have to manage. Sharaa will need to use tactics comparable to those of other Middle Eastern dictators, including harsh suppression of opponents and a displacement of responsibility toward foreigners, primarily the West and Israel.

Another technique, probably closer to the emotions of Sharaa’s center, would be to succumb to Islamism. The reeling Iraqi dictator launched the “belief plan” in 1991, adding the Islamic word” God is Excellent” to the flag, after a global partnership ejected Saddam and destroyed Iraq and its market. When Syria encounters unemployment and poverty, it is likely that Sharaa will resurrect his Islamist past and engage in Islamization, which in combination with brutal repression, will lead to the establishment of an Islamic state in Syria, similar to the ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

There’s no guarantee that what comes after will be any different from what came before, but toppling bloody tyrants is great.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain works for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies ( FDD ) as a researcher.

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My baby emerged from German mankind’s fascistic calamity in the 1920s–1940s. Israel’s study with immigrant colonialism in Palestine was also the result of that catastrophe. This content refers to both these occurrences to analyze the current Palestine-Israel crisis.

My motivations or certification for writing this article begin with the fact that my paternal grandmother and grandfather were murdered at the Nazi concentration camp in Mauthausen. My husband’s sister was killed in Auschwitz. Years of concentration camp focus went on for my family and her sister.

Due to these circumstances, my kids emigrated from Europe and established a home in the United States. I have tried to understand their abuse and the sophisticated effects this had on my career, both directly and indirectly, like some other descendants of victims who witnessed for crimes.

Different heirs respond to what transpired. Some turn their attentions toward the larger universe and its background in search of security in a survival-focused withdrawal. Some make an effort to find comfort by believing that some or all of the world has changed since the circumstances that gave rise to socialism’s oppression.

Some suffer long-simmering combinations of helplessness, rage, and worry that it will happen afterwards. Among them are those who fight authoritarianism wherever it reappears, as well as those who perpetrate additional abuse phases against another. Some continue to try to arrive at a consensus through writing articles and books.

Israel attempted to implement resident colonialism in a manner similar to earlier Western colonialisms that had been established all over the world. That work had a remarkable individual impact on me in some ways. Without understanding why, I made the decision to enroll in a Harvard and Radcliffe undergraduate system that sent 20 of us to East Africa as volunteer teachers for a summertime of training. I began to understand what resident colonization meant.

Using study from the data of London’s Colonial Office and the British Museum, my doctoral thesis after came from Yale. My resulting guide,” The Economics of Colonialism: Britain and Kenya, 1870–1930″ ( New Haven, Yale University Press, 1974 ), tried to examine Kenya’s resident colonial economy.

Britain had expelled the country’s tribal people and left a few thousand of its light émigrés in charge of the rich mountains. In addition to land and police protection, Britain provided its émigrés with caffeine seeds, transportation, and a business to run a Kenya-grown caffeine export business. The thousands of Kenyan Blacks who were forced to relocate into constrained reservations realized they were insufficient to live on.

Therefore, they had to perform low-wage work on the coffee plantations of the light inhabitants to survive. The British colonial government, which rigged a mercilessly exploitative resident colonial system, was funded by taxes on those low wages. The better-known apartheid in South Africa was comparable to this financial and racial segregation in Kenya.

Such economic systems create regular resistance ranging from determined personal and small team acts to structured rebellions. These acts of resistance occurred in Kenya, South Africa, and somewhere also. They were frequently repressed by Britain.

In Kenya, later, administrators gathered around Jomo Kenyatta and mobilized the so-called Kenya Land and Freedom Army to fight. Their conflict with the British state was commonly known as the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s.

That uprising’s dying works included 63 English military officers, 33 inhabitants, more than 1, 800 local police and supplementary soldiers, and the widely held guesstimate of more than 11, 000 Kenyan rebels. The British repressed the revolution, imprisoned Kenyatta, and violently declared success.

Britain’s triumph, however, sounded the death bell for its Kenya town. Mau Mau provided an example of the rising resistance and revolution that the British would continue to face in the wake of the colonist colonies they had founded. These were viewed by American officials as rising costs for the colonies that they could never afford. Since the end of World War II, European colonialisms have been almost extinct almost anywhere.

European leaders had to work within the traditional context to accommodate this. Soon after Mau Mau, Britain acknowledged Kenya’s regional freedom, freed Kenyatta, and accepted him as Kenya’s new president. Independence ended Kenya’s resident colonialism.

European leaders were profoundly affected by the Kenya training in settler colonialism, but it also demonstrated that Israeli leaders refused to take lessons from it. Most Israeli officials were determined to impose resident colonialism on the Israeli people and forcefully protect it because of the special biographies of Zionism and the Jews of Europe.

Arab and Muslim opposition that has persisted since Israel’s declaration of independence in May 1948 has erupted. Mass demonstrations and extensive rebellions have sprang from that resistance and attracted more and more external support ( from Arab, Islamic, and other sources ). The demise of earlier Western colonialisms resulted in enormous challenges for Jewish efforts to create and maintain a new civilization.

Forming an alliance with a global energy that could support its resident colonialism was a critical component of their reaction to those difficulties. Israel was given the advantage of its close relationship with the US, making it its main military ally in the Middle East, the United States ‘ powerful military expansion to the region where significant global energy resources were located. Undercutting Israel’s first socialist, totalitarian, and kibbutzim parts was facilitated by the empire with the United States.

The majority of Zionist officials gladly accepted this alliance’s cost. Another cost was Israel’s defense, economic, and political dependent on the United States. Ultimately, Israeli leaders established robust family and cultural ties to US and European partners who were financially and politically powerful. In these ways, Israeli officials hoped that resident colonialism would survive and prosper despite numerous historical occurrences that demonstrated often.

For some years it seemed, to several inside and outside Israel, that its leaders ‘ approach and connections may safe its immigrant colonialism. But then what transpired in Kenya started to occur again in Israel ( each under different circumstances ). Palestinians resisted, large actions followed, and lastly, prominent, organized rebellions arose. victories over each in turn turned out to be simple preludes to afterward, higher forms of criticism with ever more international support. victories by Israel resembled those of their American counterparts in Kenya.

Israel and Palestine are extremely aware that the prospect of unending war will likely result in even more deaths and injuries, physical and psychological harm, and economic and political losses. The survivors of Israel’s extraordinary violence in Gaza are now emerging more motivated, better-equipped, and equipped with more powerful weapons to fight. Many of the babies of those subjects are determined to put an end to Israel’s colonization.

History, and then day itself, is on the Palestinians ‘ aspect. Even a steadfast supporter of Israel, such as former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had to face a difficult fact ( even though he neither acknowledged its historical significance nor its political repercussions ). He said,” Indeed, we assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost. That will lead to a permanent war and an unending rebellion.

Britain’s dying kingdom forced its understanding of Kenya’s democracy in 1963 and the finish of its resident colonialism. The United States empire’s present decline is imposing something identical in Israel. Israel’s most important alliance is getting closer to the finish Britain reached in Kenya following the Mau Mau uprising following the most recent and worst of the Gaza conflict.

The risks and costs of its ally with Israel are rising faster than the benefits, according to growing numbers of US officials. Many have been persuaded, including US people, that providing Israel with money and weapons rendered the United States” involved in a murder” and, consequently, isolated worldwide. Donald Trump’s peace was in effect immediately.

Much less will be worth the much less important factors than the more fundamental path that is currently being followed. How and how it functions and how Israel prevents and evades the continuous criticism. According to history, Benjamin Netanyahu or his successors may later become disconnected from the United States. Their lost empire may hasten the close of Israel’s resident colonialism.

Richard D. Wolff is visiting doctor in the New School University’s Graduate Program in International Affairs and professor of economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Wolff’s regular present, “Economic Update”, is syndicated by more than 100 television channels and goes to millions via various TV systems and YouTube. His most recent book with Democracy at Work is” Understanding Capitalism” ( 2024 ), which responds to requests from readers of his earlier books:” Understanding Socialism” and” Understanding Marxism”.

This content was produced by Market for All, a initiative of the Independent Media Institute, and is republished with authority.

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It isn’t just foggy — it’s suffocating. During dust season in Lahore, Pakistan, anything as simple as breathing may be a major health threat. Individuals keep their windows shut to defend themselves, yet they can smell smoke yet home.

When we call family and friends in Pakistan, they frequently have to leave because they are coughing and gasping from the haze and the air they breathe.

This is typical for people living in many of Pakistan’s big cities. In recent years, the haze has gotten worse. Fine particulate air pollution known as PM2.5 increased by 25 % in 2024 compared with 2023.

Smog started to engulfing Punjab’s big cities, halting living there. In November 2024, 129, 229 people visited facilities due to respiratory conditions.

Due in large part to the dust that drew down on cities like Lahore and Sheikhupura every spring, Pakistan is the fourth-highest poisoned nation in the world. The air quality standards set forth by the World Health Organization are so low that life expectancy in these places is seven times shorter than where they are met.

Our analysis of how weather issues are presented in the media revealed that the internet have a significant impact on educating the public about smog’s dangers and causes. However, frequently the investigating disregards the man burden and ignores its effects on health and lifestyle.

Clouded stories

We analyzed 356 news reports related to dust in Pakistan during 2017 and 2019, which appeared in six media. Only 15 % of the stories discussed the negative effects of smog on public health, with the majority mentioning precautionary measures like wearing masks, moisturising skin ( to create a barrier effect against environmental substances ), eating a balanced diet ( to maintain a healthy immune system ), and limiting time spent outdoors when smog is heavy.

Our research demonstrates how Bangladeshi media view smog as a seasonal annoyance as opposed to a significant public health emergency necessitated immediate and lasting attention.

As we gathered information, we discovered that smog-related news content started appearing in both English and Urdu papers after the matter became more prevalent. Most media readers, particularly in Urdu papers, only seemed engaged in smog-related reports during smog period which is from October to February, though cloud hangs in the sky throughout the year.

Muslim media tended to assign dust to nearby factors, including urbanization, modernization, car emissions, and the burning of misuse or crops. Government initiatives to lessen mist effects were still crucial in the media, but they neglected to mention numerous sustainable policy options.

There are other local issues at play these, too. Despite the direction of the prevailing winds, the Bangladeshi media blame fumes from stubble burning on the American side of the border for haze outbreaks.

The media often cover the devastating effects of dust, such as the strain on the market, closing of schools, transfer delays and power supply disruptions. There were more than 20 % of media reports in each magazine about these effects.

However, there were far fewer stories in the media about the negative effects of smog on people’s health and about communities where they were susceptible, such as day-to-day workers who worked out and breathed toxic air.

Smog seen through a glass of remedies

By adopting a more human-centred and solutions-journalism approach ( rigorous reporting that’s focused on responses to particular social and environmental challenges ), the media landscape in Pakistan could become much more comprehensive.

Solutions-focused dust reporting should ultimately include climate justice by demonstrating how vulnerable communities are more adversely impacted by haze. With more human-centered account points, the internet may reveal the health relevance of dust.

Linking routine actions, such as burning fossil fuels, crops and waste, to major health issues, such as respiratory disease is essential. Powerful storytelling can demonstrate how reducing those effects can improve human health.

The impact of sustainable solutions on the media could be increased. Currently, the media focus mainly on stories about short-term policy actions. That includes highlighting the school’s prohibition of outdoor activities and holidays, as well as publishing reports about the number of cases of farmers burning crops in newspapers. Additionally, taxes may be paid on tickets issued to smoke-emitting vehicles, industrial units that have been sealed during the smog season, and the temporary pause in development projects to combat smog.

The 2019 media coverage we analyszd highlighted sustainable solutions in just 12 instances. That included stories about tree planting, rooftop gardening and urban forestry. Although Urdu is largely read and understood by people, Urdu newspapers have fewer stories that focus on solutions journalism than English newspapers.

Solution-focused journalism can help demonstrate how rigorous policy choices can be used to address environmental issues and open up new opportunities, such as knowing which trees are best for reducing air pollution.

The first step in improving the public’s understanding of smog is to increase the scientific and environmental literacy of Pakistani journalists. Once reporters and editors become more knowledgeable about science, they will feel more equipped to create compelling stories that tell compelling stories about the air quality in Pakistan and other developing nations.

Rabia Qusien works for George Washington University’s Alliance for a Sustainable Future as a postdoc. David Robbins is a co-director of the Dublin City University Institute for Climate and Society and an associate professor at the School of Communications.

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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