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The Rivalry Peril has a cover! Everything Washington has told you about great-power competition is wrong. Come January 2025, @mbrenes1 and I are gonna reveal why! #TheRivalryPeril
Van Jackson
@RealVanJackson
Peace studies and the class politics of geopolitics. Newsletter and Podcast(s): un-diplomatic.com; bangbangpod.com.
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I’m not a fan of typologizing previous leaders who themselves were a bag of complications, but this is the first time I’d heard this argument about China, which reduces to US policy squeezing the moderated and empowering the more aggressive in China
China has avoided alliances, but what the United States is doing to Iran and Palestine leaves Beijing little choice. The Dengists are losing internally and this is giving way to a whole new wave of Maoists inside the Chinese political system. They are young, (fashionable,) and they are done with trying to appease US imperialism.
Kyoto University Symposium 2026: "Geopolitics in the Time of Monsters"
Presentation 8: Sheng Zhang
Sheng Zhang examines the competing traditions shaping China’s Middle East policy, contrasting Maoist solidarity with Dengist economic priorities. Using Palestine and Iran, he explores Beijing’s political commitments, trade relationships, public opinion and diplomatic constraints. He argues that regional conflict is challenging China’s balancing strategy and strengthening Iran’s strategic importance. The discussion considers boycotts, Gulf investment, energy security, generational differences and strategic patience, asking what might push Beijing toward a clearer position as regional power shifts and tensions with Washington deepen.
Sheng's Links:
Sheng's Article on China-Iran Relations: muse.jhu.edu/article/991335
Association for Global Political Thought profile: …alpoliticalthought.hsites.harvard.edu/people/sheng-z…
Neutrality Studies Links:
Neutrality Studies Substack: pascallottaz.substack.com
Support Neutrality Studies: neutralitystudies.com/donate
Neutrality Studies shop: neutralitystudies.com/shop
Time Stamps
00:00 China’s competing foreign-policy traditions
04:43 Xi Jinping and the Middle East
06:37 Gaza and Chinese public opinion
13:43 Trade with Israel and the Haifa dilemma
15:48 Iran, Gulf trade and diplomatic tensions
18:54 War and China’s reassessment of Iran
28:57 Discussion: boycotts, Gaza and Gulf investment
44:11 Energy, younger generations and strategic patience
#China #Geopolitics #Iran #Imperialism #NeutralityView quoted post on X
Have been pretty impressed with Ben Rhodes’s evolution. His statement here nails what Dems need to do on foreign policy like right now
.@brhodes: The Democratic Party has to be the anti-war party. The Democratic Party has to be the party that's going to stop spending $1 trillion in defense. And stop bombing other people's children and start investing in our children.View quoted post on X
This is what militaries are for: Self-defense or struggles of liberation. Everything else is chauvinism
Nous agirons frontalement au secours des Palestiniens, à la fois contre le génocide à Gaza et contre l’annexion progressive de la Cisjordanie.
Les navires français, s’il le fallait, escorteront les flottilles de citoyens mobilisés pour faire valoir leurs droits.
Nous n’acceptons pas l’annexion progressive de la Cisjordanie, ni du Sud-Liban, ni du plateau du Golan.
Nous organiserons concrètement la mobilisation contre l’extension des cruautés aux communautés chrétiennes assiégées, persécutées en Palestine et au Liban.
#Melenchon2027 #JLMBourgetView quoted post on X
Depressing conclusions about the party leadership’s staying power. If Dems can’t mobilize a no-shit anti-fascist economics and an anti-imperialist foreign policy quickly, then change will come too slow, people won’t feel it, and Dems'll be voted out again
I did a long q-and-a with my midterm takes. nplusonemag.com/online-only/on…View quoted post on X
