Author: Christine Schier

The name of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s speechwriter, Sam Lyman, is prononced Lie-man, which happens to suit his nature. As a quack doctor reminiscent of Donizetti’s Dulcamara (from the opera Elixir of Love), Lyman authored an article for the Washington Post to promote the Trump administration’s “funny money” scheme, i.e., stablecoins, including pulling the ultimate argument out of his hat: […]

If gasoline prices stay as high as current levels for a longer period, or even increase, none of the current governments in the transatlantic world is likely to survive. In its March report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) called the crisis “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”. As much as 20 mb/d of crude […]

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz harshly criticized the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran at an event hosted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on March 27. “What Trump is doing right now is not de-escalation and an attempt to reach a peaceful solution, but a massive escalation with an uncertain outcome… These escalations are already menacing, not only for those directly affected, but […]

An exciting, new dynamic is developing on a grass-roots level in the United States of candidates for federal or state office, who reject the policies of “the Establishment”, in both the Democratic and Republican parties, and who are running as independents. Diane Sare, who announced her campaign for President in January, is spearheading a campaign to bring these candidates, scattered […]

The first-ever High-Level Forum between the African Union (AU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) was held in Bogotà, Colombia on March 21. Greater coordination of policy initiatives and enhanced trade among member countries, as representatives of the Global South, were on top of the agenda. The Forum itself was preceded by three days of discussion […]

While the West is increasingly attempting to “protect” its technological research and development from “outside forces”, the Chinese leadership has chosen the opposite approach. China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang told the Zhongguancun Forum on March 25 that broader and more diverse technological cooperation will be carried out, together with an increase in joint efforts in fundamental and frontier research, and […]

President Trump once again surprised the world on March 23 by suddenly announcing a halt on strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure. The U.S. and Iran “have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East”, he wrote on Truth Social, adding that strikes on Iran’s […]

In the United States, independent presidential candidate Diane Sare is leading a mobilization to put an end to the current U.S.-Israel war against Iran. To that end, she issued a new statement on the evening of March 22 (before Donald Trump’s latest about-turn), which we excerpt at length here. She calls upon American citizens to contact their Congressmen and demand […]

The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has already had severe consequences for the world economy, which hit especially hard the poorer countries, with the rise in energy prices and also, longer-term, in fertilizer and food prices. Globally, the entire financial system is now at risk, which may be the main factor that could convince Donald Trump to pull out now. The […]

The trend of the traditional labor vote for the Social-Democrats shifting to the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) was confirmed in March 22 elections for state parliament in Rhineland-Palatinate, (RP) following the collapse of the SPD in Baden-Württemberg two weeks before (cf. SAS 11, 12/26). Overall in Rhineland-Palatinate, the SPD received just under 26%, which means a loss of 10% […]