Category: US

intel, Military, USLeave a comment

US officials push back on reports of dangerously low munitions supplies

Colin Henderson

 Summarize ​ Experts warn that low stockpiles of air defence interceptors as a result of the war on Iran leave the US vulnerable. Joseph Stepansky The White House and Pentagon have pushed back on a slate of recent reports indicating that supplies of both offensive and defensive weapons have dropped dangerously low after five months of war on Iran. Experts have said that low supplies of air defence interceptors, particularly those used in Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defence systems, may pose a particular threat to US forces, with knock-on effects for allies in the region and beyond. … Continue reading US officials push back on reports of dangerously low munitions supplies

AI_regulation, USLeave a comment

White House’s AI framework close-hold fuels industry concerns

Colin Henderson

Aug 5, 2026, 4:43am EDTSHARE Dado Ruvic/Illustration via Reuters  The Trump administration told a handful of tech firms Tuesday that it will not publicly release its new framework for voluntary government reviews of advanced AI models, people familiar with the meeting told Semafor.  The decision, reported first by Axios, is fueling industry concerns that firms not briefed on the framework may not opt in to government review because they don’t know enough about it.  Ironically, administration officials also told AI firms they would host a public event touting the framework later this month, the people said.  “The Trump team appears destined to give … Continue reading White House’s AI framework close-hold fuels industry concerns

USLeave a comment

America Is Exporting Bewilderment to the Rest of the World

Colin Henderson

 Summarize ​ Max HastingsAugust 2, 2026 at 2:45 AM EDT A more serviceable global partner?Photographer: China Pool/Getty Images AsiaPac A week or two back I shared a plane ride down from Scotland with a group of Americans who had obviously been golfing. Since one was sporting a MAGA baseball cap, it seemed a fair guess that they had been playing on Donald Trump’s course up there. They were a cheerful, ebulliently vocal party, and I am glad they had a nice time. But their body language gave no hint of sensitivity to the fact that we are living in a … Continue reading America Is Exporting Bewilderment to the Rest of the World

EU, Europe, Geopolitics, USLeave a comment

Pentagon transfers leadership of Ukraine assistance mission in Germany to another NATO member – Politico

Colin Henderson

Khrystyna Bondarieva ,  Roman Petrenko  — 1 August, 12:08 The Pentagon is stepping down from leading the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine (SAG-U), based in Germany, and will hand it over to another NATO member state. Source: Politico; European Pravda Details: According to a US official and three people familiar with the plan, command of SAG-U – which has played a central role in equipping and training Ukrainian troops since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion – will ultimately be taken over by another NATO member. This move means the US will no longer help shape what Ukraine’s future armed forces will look like. Advertisement: … Continue reading Pentagon transfers leadership of Ukraine assistance mission in Germany to another NATO member – Politico

AI_factories, AI_regulation, Chips, Europe, iran, Russia, USLeave a comment

Globalization Ends Not With a Bang, But Tariffs 2.0

Colin Henderson

​ Summarize Source: Bloomberg This time, the silence from markets and the media has been deafening. John AuthersJuly 28, 2026 at 8:54 PM EDT Trump touts tariffs to GM workers.Photographer: Sarah Rice/Bloomberg To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here. Today’s Points: Protectionism Fatigue This is the way globalization ends, not with a bang but a whimper. The current US administration has declared war on the global free trade system. Last year’s “Liberation Day” imposition of the highest tariffs in a century drove a dramatic selloff in both stock and bond markets that within a week forced a presidential … Continue reading Globalization Ends Not With a Bang, But Tariffs 2.0

Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Russia, USLeave a comment

The Self-Destruction of American Power

Colin Henderson

  Fareed Zakaria July/August 2019 Published on June 11, 2019 ​ Washington Squandered the Unipolar Moment Sometime in the last two years, American hegemony died. The age of U.S. dominance was a brief, heady era, about three decades marked by two moments, each a breakdown of sorts. It was born amid the collapse of the Berlin Wall, in 1989. The end, or really the beginning of the end, was another collapse, that of Iraq in 2003, and the slow unraveling since. But was the death of the United States’ extraordinary status a result of external causes, or did Washington accelerate its own demise through … Continue reading The Self-Destruction of American Power

AI, Business Models, USLeave a comment

Marx would love it

Colin Henderson

Michael Bloomberg pens a highly relevant and true danger in current US posture on AI. The more interesting given the direction is promoted by a right wing party. ————- Government-Owned AI Is a Terrible Idea ​ Summarize ​ Michael R. BloombergJuly 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM EDT Keep it in the people’s hands.Photographer: Oscar Wong/Moment RF In the push to regulate artificial intelligence, a dangerous idea is gaining ground in Washington: handing the government ownership stakes in the biggest AI companies. Both parties see immediate dollar signs. Neither is thinking longer-term. Somewhere, Karl Marx is smiling. It’s not surprising that Vermont’s … Continue reading Marx would love it

Geopolitics, South America, USLeave a comment

Why the two Americas diverged

Colin Henderson

A combination of blood, faith, character and luck drove development in North and South America at a staggeringly different pace, resulting in today’s bifurcated hemisphere.ANTHONY DEPALMAJULY 3, 2026 On the same September morning that terrorists slammed hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the foreign ministers of 34 North, Central and South American nations had gathered in Lima, Peru, to sign the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The Charter was considered a critical step towards forming a Free Trade Area of the Americas that would usher in unprecedented economic progress for the entire region and narrow the yawning development … Continue reading Why the two Americas diverged

briefing, Frontier_AI, iran, US

Morning Briefing — Sunday, 21 June 2026 · 09:47 ET · ~1,180 words

Colin Henderson

Introduction The Iran de-escalation file is back in live diplomacy after Friday’s collapse: Vance is on the ground in Switzerland, the Pakistan and Qatar mediators are in the room, and the 60-day MOU clock is now the organising fact of the week — even as Iran’s contested re-closure of Hormuz and continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon show how thin the framework is. Two political stories carry outsized weight today: a Labour leadership crisis crystallising around Andy Burnham in the UK, and the Anthropic Mythos export-control saga, which acquired a genuinely startling new fact this weekend. Markets sit under a newly … Continue reading Morning Briefing — Sunday, 21 June 2026 · 09:47 ET · ~1,180 words

briefing, iran, Israel, US

Morning Briefing — Saturday, June 20, 2026 · 08:41 EST · ~1,290 words

Colin Henderson

⸻ Introduction The dominant thread today is the fragility of the week-old US–Iran deal: a sharp Israel–Hezbollah flare-up in southern Lebanon forced the postponement of the Switzerland talks and very nearly derailed the whole framework before a same-day ceasefire pulled it back. The notable feature is who blinked — Trump personally leaned on Netanyahu to stop the strikes to protect his own diplomatic win, a rare moment of visible US–Israel daylight. Second story of the day is domestic to the UK, where the Labour leadership crisis has tipped from chronic to acute over a single weekend. ⸻ 1. What changed … Continue reading Morning Briefing — Saturday, June 20, 2026 · 08:41 EST · ~1,290 words