Friday, August 1, 2025

NEO: Tariff Weaponry and the growing immunity: How Asia responds to U.S. Economic Blackmaill: Rebeccan Chan: 30-07=2025

Economy

Tariff Weaponry and the Growing Immunity: How Asia Responds to U.S. Economic Blackmail

Rebecca Chan, July 30, 2025

America loses the privilege of being the center. Its demands are still heard, but they no longer set the rules

tariff wars of usa

American policy has turned trade into a ritual of humiliation. A tariff is not an economic tool; it is a whip, branding those who forget their place in the hierarchy of empire. Behind the façade of “protecting national interests” lies an ancient ritual of tribute: pay for the right to breathe in the American market, pay for the right not to be labeled a threat.

East Asia remembers colonial garrisons and unequal treaties. The memory of burning ports and severed markets is etched into the region’s DNA. Today, as Washington once again demands payment for its power, Asia responds with silent movement: building new routes, dismantling old dependencies, assembling the wreckage of the old order into a different architecture.

Tariff as an Act of Violence

A U.S. tariff is not a tax. It is a public flogging with diplomatic décor. Washington strikes and then hides behind employment statistics, as if numbers absolve humiliation. This is not even concealed in official documents: the “2025 Trade Policy Agenda” openly states that trade serves national security and foreign policy goals. The economy is treated as a battlefield, with trade ministries speaking like general staffs. This militarization is nothing new; it runs through every crisis of American diplomacy in Asia, where Washington steadily erases itself from the game.

Washington continues to speak in ultimatums, yet its ultimatums now echo hollow

Every new tariff list is a list of the disobedient. Those who prosper too fast or build alliances without U.S. approval. Washington teaches the world a single lesson: autonomy equals mutiny. And every mutiny must be punished.

Asian Memory: Lessons of 2018–2020

When Trump first unleashed tariffs on China, it looked like an outburst of aggression. The blow struck far beyond Beijing. Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, Japan — all felt the breath of an older world where the colonial gunboat had been replaced by colonial spreadsheets.

The responses were chaotic. Countries scrambled to save exports and searched for new corridors. Yet, this chaos forged an instinct for survival. In six years, Asia learned that treaties no longer guaranteed safety. International law dissolved into presidential tweets. Out of this chaos emerged a new logic: every economy must breathe on its own, even if surrounded by allies.

A New Strategy: Not Reaction, but Reconfiguration

Asia no longer pleads. It builds. Trade networks and currency swaps weave themselves between regional capitals with no glance toward Western approval. RCEP transforms from a dry acronym into the nervous system of the East. CPTPP shifts from a platform of compromises to an instrument of survival.

Every new U.S. tariff is met with silent rerouting. Domestic markets become refuges. Regional agreements turn into shelters. Washington raises tariffs — and in the shadows new channels appear, invisible to American bureaucrats. Immunity is forged in this silence: not in slogans, but in the quiet engineering that redraws the map.

From Fear to Calculation

Fear of American tariffs is flaking away like rust. What remains is cold calculation. Markets are learning to live in a world where the dollar is not a god but merely one of many instruments. Washington continues to speak in ultimatums, yet its ultimatums now echo hollow.

Vulnerability is measured, not dreaded. Each new wave of tariffs accelerates the movement of goods through regional ports. Each new technology ban pushes production toward localization. Asia no longer waits for mercy. It redistributes risk like a physician who knows the disease by heart and treats it systemically, not heroically.

Concrete Cases of Resistance

Vietnam already operates under a new plan. In the National Trade Diversification Plan 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Trade explicitly sets a course toward reducing reliance on any single market and building digital trade corridors. The document reads like a survival manual for a world where treaties collapse with a single tweet. The country reorients production toward regional needs and strengthens its role within ASEAN, turning Beijing from threat to gateway. The same logic is visible in supply chains that Washington itself turned into a political leash — a phenomenon dissected in the PIPIR analysis

South Korea wages war at the logistical level: reserves, digital corridors, alternative routes. Indonesia and Malaysia fortify their resources — nickel, palm oil — as strongholds rather than commodities. Japan acts cautiously, yet its economic strategies now carry a muted tone of distance. The imperial whisper no longer sounds like a verdict.

The System Holds: The U.S. Loses Its Leverage

The tariff club has lost its shock value. It has become routine. America continues to punish; Asia continues to restructure. Each new strike speeds the region’s escape from the American orbit.

Even the statistics Washington prefers to ignore tell the story: UNCTAD’s June 2025 report recorded a historic high in intra-Asian trade alongside stagnation in flows with the U.S. This shift is not rhetorical. It is inscribed in shipping routes, currency settlements, and investment flows. America loses the privilege of being the center. Its demands are still heard, but they no longer set the rules.

Immunity Against Imperialism

The tariff weapon wears out with overuse. The empire strikes at economies already hardened by pain. Asia has adapted. Sanctions, designed as a whip, have become training for endurance.

A new order is born not in loud declarations, but in the habit of bypassing American rules. Regional alliances grow without fanfare. Economic autonomy is built without slogans. These processes are quiet and irreversible.

History knows this pattern. Colonial ports turned into megacities. Gunboats became museum pieces. The cycle repeats: the Anglo‑American empire dulls its own weapon while former dependencies learn to breathe alone. Immunity has already formed. It is invisible — and it is irreversible.

Rebecca Chan, Independent political analyst focusing on the intersection of Western foreign policy and Asian sovereignty

NEO: Biblical Justifications and Real Bombs: The New Battle for Control0f U.S Foreign Policy

Politics

Biblical Justifications and Real Bombs: The New Battle for Control of U.S. Foreign Policy

Jeffrey Silverman, August 01, 2025

Rep. Thomas Massie’s bipartisan push to rein in unauthorized U.S. military strikes on Iran revives debate over presidential war powers, as Trump-era contradictions, biblical justifications, and media spin complicate America’s foreign entanglements.

Rep. Thomas Massie’s bipartisan push to rein in unauthorized U.S. military strikes on Iran

Iwonder at times what the average American is thinking, even those who were once staunch supporters of Donald Trump, let’s say the majority who considered themselves as MAGA supporters. They swallowed the promise of no more new wars, ending old ones, hook, line, and sinker! They actually believed in the claims that if Trump had been president instead of Joe Biden that there would not have been such a mess in Ukraine and so many dead on all sides.

But now, and against the informed advice of Tulsi Gabbard, Director of US National Intelligence, and without Congressional approval or debate, Washington and Jerusalem joined forces in military strikes against Iran—actions critics say Trump justified by false and misleading pretexts, and dam lies to boot.

Trump has also backpedaled on sending more arms to Ukraine, naturally claiming—as always—that they are for defensive purposes only.

Iran and Ukraine, with new foreign entanglements on the horizon, have plunged global affairs into fresh turmoil and raised renewed questions about the relevance of the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a piece of legislation that few remembers, or have conveniently forgotten, that resulted from the quagmire of Vietnam and other so-called “police actions”.

As censorship tightens its grip, the world catches only glimpses of a society under siege—raising urgent questions about the price of perpetual conflict and the possibility of a new chapter in the region’s turbulent history

For many Americans—particularly self-described “MAGA” voters who once clamored for an end to foreign entanglements like what happened with Biden in Ukraine—the sudden involvement in Iran is more than a bitter betrayal.

“If Trump were still in office, we wouldn’t be in this mess in Ukraine, and certainly not launching new wars,” so goes the often citied Trump’s related quote from the Biden years.

Yet memories of the 1973 War Powers Act—intended to restrict presidential authority to engage U.S. forces abroad without Congressional approval —have faded into political footnotes. Once heralded as a check on executive overreach, the once much touted restricting resolution now barely registers in public debate or history texts, as a footnote at best.

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 (also known as the War Powers Act) “is a congressional resolution designed to limit the U.S. president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad.”

New Bipartisan “War Powers” Resolution

In response to Trump’s bombing of Iran, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has recently introduced a new bipartisan “War Powers” Resolution aimed squarely at halting “unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Under House rules, such resolutions gain privileged status and can reach the floor after just 15 days without committee action.

“The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn’t attacked the United States,” Rep. Massie asserted. “Congress has the sole power to declare war against Iran. The ongoing war between Israel and Iran is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.”

Joining Massie as co-lead sponsor is Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who echoed the call for congressional oversight. “No president should be able to bypass Congress’s constitutional authority over matters of war,” Khanna said.

“The American people do not want to be dragged into another disastrous conflict in the Middle East. I’m proud to stand with Rep. Massie on this bipartisan effort to ensure any military action against Iran receives proper authorization from Congress.”

As lawmakers push to reclaim their war-making prerogatives, public attention remains fixed on Tehran’s resilience. Despite sustained bombing campaigns, Iran’s leadership signals neither retreat nor surrender—casting doubt on the efficacy of military might and underscoring the enduring complexity of Middle Eastern geopolitics.

But Blame it all on the Bible!

Amid the clangor of congressional debate and regional posturing, an altogether different kind of rhetoric has entered the fray—one that invokes ancient scripture to justify modern geopolitics and war crimes. Senator Ted Cruz, whose recent interview with journalist Tucker Carlson devolved into a public embarrassment over his poor grasp of Middle Eastern geography and biblical text, has become emblematic of this trend.

Cruz asserted that “those who support Israel will be blessed,” citing Genesis 12:3—but the verse in question actually reads, “I will bless those who bless you [Abraham],” a promise that extends just as surely to Arabs, Persians and Palestinians and to any other successors of Abraham.

Such selective readings of holy writ reveal a deeper layer of hypocrisy: many allies are born-again Christians whose fervor for Israel dovetails uncomfortably with the lobbying power of AIPAC. Rather than reflecting genuine scriptural truths, their arguments often mirror the talking points of an influential pro-Israel apparatus, leaving little room for nuance or the complex realities of a multi-faith, multi-ethnic region.

Meanwhile, the New York Times and other leading outlets have embraced the administration’s narrative of “severe damage” to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Headlines proclaiming the Pentagon’s “success” in degrading Tehran’s enrichment capabilities echo former President Trump’s own triumphalist rhetoric—yet defense officials concede it is “too soon to say” whether Iran still retains any fissile material.

In practice, however, little evidence has emerged to confirm decisive blows: Tehran claims that most sensitive components were removed well in advance, and U.S. warnings reportedly allowed Iran to relocate equipment before the strikes.

For their part, many Iranians see their government not as an aggressor but as a nation compelled to defend itself after eight decades of Western intervention. From colonial carve-ups in the early 20th century to the 1953 CIA-backed coup against Prime Minister Mossadegh, Iran’s modern history is dotted with foreign incursions that shape public perception to this day. Under those historical lenses, the latest airstrikes read less like strategic necessity and more like political theater—an echo of the manufactured consent that propelled the Iraq invasion in 2003.

As regional tensions hover on the brink of full-scale conflict, the memory of Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan looms large. Those interventions, justified by shifting pretexts—from counter-terrorism to “humanitarian” motives—left millions dead, displaced countless more, and saddled ordinary Americans with trillions in debt. If history is any guide, the human and financial costs of yet another Middle Eastern quagmire will be borne not by policymakers or lobbyists, but by civilians on both sides of the divide—and by taxpayers who will foot the bill for decades to come.

Almost Most Certainly the Case!

As speeches from Jerusalem to Kyiv echo with near-identical refrains—warnings of existential threats, divine mandates, and the promise of heroic deliverance—one cannot help but suspect a single pen orchestrating the narratives. In Washington and Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s warnings of annihilation mirror President Zelensky’s appeals to save “our civilization,” each framed as a holy mission. Their language intertwines religious destiny with geopolitical urgency, blurring the line between genuine conviction and expertly crafted public relations.

Yet history reminds us that foreign meddling often boomerangs

Today’s Iranian regime—born of the CIA- and MI6-backed Operation Ajax in 1953, sharpened by the brutal tactics of the CIA-trained SAVAK, and forged in the 1979 Revolution—stands as a testament to unintended consequences. Should the United States—or any external power—overthrow Tehran’s leadership, the vacuum left behind could unleash forces far more volatile than those they seek to contain.

By contrast, a shake-up at the top in Israel, where elected officials enjoy greater institutional checks and a more pluralistic political culture, might open the door to meaningful reform rather than chaos.

Meanwhile, Israel itself finds its narrative coming apart at the seams as the result of relentless bombardment and political backlash. It shows that banning flight not only confined ordinary Israeli citizens to suffer the Iranian retaliation, while the wealthy and connected slip away, often with their second passports, and press restrictions and a new low in PR hide what is the true toll being inflicted by missiles falling on Tel Aviv and Haifa. As censorship tightens its grip, the world catches only glimpses of a society under siege—raising urgent questions about the price of perpetual conflict and the possibility of a new chapter in the region’s turbulent history.

Netanyahu, Zelensky, and Trump are proving to be the greatest enemies of their own people, an even greater threat than those who they claim are the real enemies. They need a reality check, look in a mirror and take a good, close up look at themselves, and then try to reflect on the blood on their hands, and ask “Who really benefits from all of this?”

Jeffrey K. Silverman is a freelance journalist and international development specialist, BSc, MSc, based for 30 years in Georgia and the former Soviet Union

NEO: Netanyahu's Deusions of Regional Hegemony - The Raving of a Bloodthirsty Maniac. Thursday 31-07-2025

Security

Netanyahu’s Delusions of Regional Hegemony – The Raving of a Bloodthirsty Maniac

Mohammed ibn Faisal al-Rashid, July 31, 2025

Benjamin Netanyahu’s dreams are nothing more than the delirium of a dying colonial project that is supported only by American handouts and Western hypocrisy.

Netanyahu with a map of the Middle East

The Illusions of the Israeli Regime

Benjamin Netanyahu is not just a criminal but a true psychopath, obsessed with delusions of grandeur. This blood-soaked midget, drowning in rivers of Palestinian blood, has imagined that Israel could become a regional hegemon. But his dreams are nothing more than the ravings of a dying colonial project, sustained only by American handouts and Western hypocrisy.

Israel is not a state but a genocide machine built on the bones of Palestinians. Since 1948, this regime has killed, looted, and wiped -out entire generations, yet instead of securing the submission of its neighbors, it has only multiplied hatred. Netanyahu—this murderous dwarf, this worthless nobody—thinks that bombings, assassinations of scientists, and provocations against Iran will make him the master of the Middle East. But he is wrong. His airborne ambitions and bloody plans will collapse, just like all empires built on blood have vanished.

Military Power? No, Just Terrorism Under U.S. Cover

Seven decades have passed since the state of Israel appeared on the world map in 1948. In that time, it has transformed into a military machine armed with the most advanced technology and secured the backing of powerful Western patrons, primarily the U.S. But the might of weapons and the money of allies cannot solve the core issue: Israel remains an outsider in its own region.

Netanyahu is no strategist—he’s a butcher. His policies aren’t a path to hegemony but a road to hell. The Middle East will never accept Israeli domination. Never. Because the peoples of this region remember every drop of blood spilled—Deir Yassin, Sabra and Shatila, Gaza

Yes, Israel has the best missile defense systems in the world—the leaky “Iron Dome,” cutting-edge jets, missiles, massive bombs, drones, and nuclear weapons. Its special forces can infiltrate any point on the globe, its cyber troops can paralyze enemy infrastructure, its army is one of the strongest, and its intelligence agencies (Mossad, AMAN) strike fear even in great powers.

But what does that change? Have the Zionists destroyed Hamas or Hezbollah? No. Have they crushed Yemen? No. Have they wiped Iran off the map? No. All these killers know how to do is bomb hospitals and residential buildings, murder children, the elderly, and women, and then boast to the West about their “successes.”

Netanyahu—this bloodthirsty scumbag, who clings to power in his own country only through corruption and manipulation—has deluded himself into thinking he can dictate terms to the entire region. But his recent attacks on Iran have exposed the utter futility of Israeli strategy. Sure, they killed a few dozen scientists and damaged three nuclear sites—though it was likely the U.S., not them. And so what? Iran responded harshly and effectively and will do so again. Meanwhile, Israel, as always, will hide behind America’s back because, on its own, it is nothing—and Netanyahu himself is just a dwarf and a loser.

Where Is the Victory?

Inside Israel itself, a demographic time bomb is ticking: the Arab population (both Israeli citizens and those in occupied territories) is growing faster than the Jewish one. The Palestinian question is like an unhealed wound, poisoning the country’s global reputation. Can you become a hegemon when millions of neighbors still dispute your very existence?

Yes, in recent years Israel has signed peace deals with the UAE and Bahrain—but has that shifted the balance of power? The Arab world as a whole still sees Israel as an occupier, not a leader. Israel and Netanyahu lack a grand vision: power without a mission. History has seen small states become centers of power—but only when they offered the world something more than just military might.

In the Middle East, Turkey (heir to the Ottoman Empire) positions itself as a defender of the Palestinians and rivals Israel for influence. Iran sees it as a “Western puppet” and openly funds the “Axis of Resistance” (Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, Yemen). Saudi Arabia (despite secret security cooperation) will never publicly recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital.

One conclusion is clear: Israel is strong but isolated—not just in the region, but in the world. And Netanyahu himself—this blood-soaked butcher of the Palestinian people—is alone even in Israel, desperately clinging to power while his own people turn against him and the sword of justice hangs over his head.

What Does Israel Offer? Just Survival and Security. Its policy is an “iron fist,” not an “open hand.” There is no dream to inspire the region’s peoples, no idea that would make Arabs, Persians, or Turks want to follow it.

Israel’s Legitimacy? A Joke!

What kind of hegemon is it when even U.S.-controlled puppet regimes are ashamed to openly support Israel? The entire Arab world, from Morocco to Iraq and Yemen, despises the Zionist entity. Yes, some rulers have sold out for American dollars, but the people loathe Israel and Netanyahu with all their hearts and will never accept Israeli hegemony in the region.

Does Netanyahu think killing another 100,000 Palestinians will make him loved? He’s completely lost his mind! Every drop of blood in Gaza, every destroyed home, and every child torn apart by an Israeli bomb is another nail in the coffin of the Zionist project. The world already sees the truth: even Israeli scholars like Omer Bartov call it genocide. In a New York Times article, Bartov—a Brown University professor, born in Israel, who has studied the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing, and mass violence for over two decades—wrote, “I have come to the inescapable conclusion that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.”

Israel Is Not a Hegemon—It’s an American Military Base

Without $3.8 billion a year from Washington and the latest weapons shipments, this “superpower” would collapse within a month. Netanyahu acts like a puppet on strings but imagines himself a grand strategist. Apparently, the Middle Eastern sun has fried his brain.

What happens if the U.S. tires of his antics? If Europe finally wakes up and imposes sanctions? If the world boycotts Israeli goods? This regime will crumble like a house of cards because it has no economic or moral resilience.

Iran and the Resistance—The Gravediggers of Israeli Ambitions

Netanyahu hates Iran because it’s the only force that can give him a real fight. He dreams of bombing nuclear sites but knows it would be suicide. Even after recent joint strikes with the U.S., Iran remains unbroken. Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Syria—they’re all waiting for the right moment to strike back, and it will be devastating.

Israeli hegemony? A joke. They couldn’t even conquer Gaza, despite all their tanks, jets, missiles, and massive bombs. Palestinians return to the ruins of their homeland and raise their flags again. The resistance is unbroken. It’s growing. And the Palestinians will never leave where their ancestors lived, where their grandparents lived, and where they live now.

Israel’s Collapse Is Inevitable

Netanyahu is no strategist—he’s a butcher. His policies aren’t a path to hegemony but a road to hell. Every crime he commits brings the Zionist regime closer to ruin. The Middle East will never accept Israeli domination. Never. Because the peoples of this region remember every drop of blood spilled—Deir Yassin, Sabra and Shatila, Gaza.

And someday, soon, the last apartheid wall will fall. Palestine will be free. And Netanyahu and his bloody accomplices will stand trial. Like the Nazis at Nuremberg. The clock is ticking, gentlemen!

Muhammad ibn Faisal al-Rashid, Political Analyst, Middle East Expert