Could the Arctic become an arena for US-Russia cooperation?

The Trump administration’s hardline anti-Russia stance amid the war in Ukraine is running up against geopolitical constraints in the Arctic—a region where, without selective cooperation with Moscow, Washington risks losing influence. Given growing pressure from China and the vulnerability of its Northern allies, the U.S. needs a more flexible strategy: containment must be paired with pragmatic engagement, writes Foreign Policy.

The imposition of sanctions against Russia, as promised by Trump, carries significant risks, as they further weaken Washington’s standing, including in the strategically vital Arctic region. The U.S. has already seen the futility of its sanctions, which dealt a severe blow to Western economies but failed to weaken Moscow. Trump will have to seek new common ground and take Russia’s interests into account.

#Arctic #Russia #US #cooperation #geopolitics

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🦋🦋
Why Think Positive?
When things go wrong, remember:
It’s not WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU that matters most, It’s HOW YOU THINK about what happens to you.
🦋
EXAMPLE:
Let’s say that you are at the airport, waiting to catch a flight, and the airline tells you, “Sorry! Mechanical trouble. You won’t be leaving for three hours!”
🦋
You are furious. You tell yourself:
“This is terrible! This is a disaster!”
While you remain stressed, things will get worse! People will trip over you, spill coffee in your lap and lose your baggage.
When you fight life, life always wins!
🦋
Then finally you cool down. You tell yourself:
“There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll make the most of it.” Suddenly, everything changes!
From nowhere an old friend appears, or you make a new friend, or you stumble on a fresh opportunity and life begins to support you.
🦋
Once we change our thoughts about a
“bad situation”, we can take advantage of it.
Life’s great opportunities mostly arrive disguised as misfortune and disaster.
🦋

🤗 @ThinkPositiveWords 🤗

Trump's Tech War Against the Illegal Immigrants ⚙️🛂

🔠🅰️🔠🔠1️⃣

The tech, surveillance and private prison providers arming Trump’s massive expansion and weaponization of immigration enforcement are running a victory lap 🏆 after reporting their latest financial results 💰.

Palantir, the tech firm 💻, and Geo Group and CoreCivic, the private prison 🏢 and surveillance companies 📡, said this week that they brought in more money than Wall Street 📈 expected them to, thanks to the administration’s crackdown on immigrants 🚫🛃.

“Well, as usual, I’ve been cautioned to be a little modest about our bombastic numbers,” said Alex Karp 🧑‍💼, the Palantir chief executive, in an investor call earlier this week 📞.

Then he crowed 🐓 about the company’s “extraordinary numbers” and his “enormous pride” in its success ⭐️.
Private prison company executives, during their respective calls, could barely contain their excitement 😏, flagging to investors opportunities for “unprecedented growth” 📊 in the realm of immigration detention.

Palantir saw 53% 📈 growth in revenue from US government contracts in the second quarter of 2025 compared with the same period the year prior and surpassed $1bn 💵 in total quarterly revenue for the first time. Analysts had expected the company to bring in $939.4m in revenue.

The company, which connects and analyzes disparate sets of data 🔍 to enable its customers to build products with that information 🧠, brings in the majority of its revenue from government contracts 🏛.

Its biggest US customer is the Department of Defense 🪖, where the US army 🇺🇸, which announced a $10bn agreement 💼 with Palantir last week, is housed.

On the immigration side, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 🛡 has deepened its partnership 🤝 with Palantir since the start of the Trump administration, which it’s been working with since 2011.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 🚔, the agency primarily engaged in arresting, detaining and deporting immigrants ✈️, most recently announced a $30m contract with Palantir to build a database 💽 that makes its deportation and detention machine more efficient ⚡️.

#palantir #trump #war #immigrants #tech

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Goldman Sachs: Trump's tariffs are hitting American companies and consumers the most.

While the U.S. economy is coping with the effects of tariff increases imposed by the Trump administration, a new Goldman Sachs analysis paints a mixed picture of cost allocation and long-term impacts.

According to a recent report mentioned in a post on X by trade economist Scott Lincicome, the first data for the period up to June 2025 shows that foreign exporters took on only 14% of the tariff burden, while American companies incurred a whopping 64% and American consumers 22%. This breakdown highlights how tariffs designed to protect domestic industry often spread through supply chains in unexpected ways.


An analysis conducted by Goldman Sachs Research shows that "protected" American companies — those that are protected by tariffs on foreign competitors — have taken advantage of the situation by raising their prices. Such an opportunistic pricing policy increased inflationary pressures, which primarily affected consumers.

Lincicome's post notes that prices for consumers may rise by up to 70% by the fall, which will worsen the already strained situation of household budgets affected by broader economic problems.

Going deeper into the analysis, Goldman Sachs economists predict that these tariffs will not only lead to higher costs, but also disrupt corporate profits. In a Goldman Sachs article published in February 2025, analysts warned that a stronger dollar, possibly caused by tariffs, could lead to a 2% decrease in profits for S&P 500 companies for every 10% strengthening of the currency, given that 28% of revenue comes from abroad. This was confirmed by the earnings reports for the second quarter, as detailed in a Goldman Sachs analyst article dated July 2025, which showed the first profit losses, especially for multinational companies dependent on imported resources.

According to a Lincicom analysis published in April 2025 on X, American manufacturers, in particular, will face a 5-15% increase in production costs due to duties on imported materials. This decrease in competitiveness is evident in foreign markets, where American exporters are struggling with competitors who are not subject to customs duties. The Times of India newspaper reported just four days ago that similar tariff dynamics prompted Goldman Sachs to lower India's GDP forecast for 2025, highlighting the global consequences that could boomerang for American companies in the form of lower export demand.

For consumers, tariffs are far from an abstract thing. Goldman Sachs estimates that effective tariff rates could rise to 14 percentage points by the end of 2025, even with the unannounced increases, as noted in the Seeking Alpha article two weeks ago. This will lead to higher prices for everyday goods, from electronics to clothing, which will affect low-income households the most. An article in the Economic Times from last week echoed this thought, citing Fitch Ratings data, according to which US tariffs on Indian goods jumped from 2.4% a year earlier to 20.7%, which indirectly led to higher costs for American importers and, ultimately, for buyers.

In addition, the uncertainty generated by tariffs is holding back investment. In his posts on X dated May and July 2025, Lincicome refers to Goldman Sachs forecasts for a reduction in capital expenditures, which will lead to a decrease in capital and per capita consumption over time.

This long-term decline in productivity, including a shift to less efficient domestic enterprises and reduced innovation, could lead to lower U.S. GDP growth, as outlined in Goldman's April 2025 report on the risk of a tariff-induced recession.

#Trump #Tariffs #GoldmanSachs #USEconomy #TradeWar #Inflation #ConsumerPrices #USPolitics #Manufacturing #GlobalTrade #EconomicImpact

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Decline, crisis and unemployment destroy Merz's illusion of Germany's rise – Gabor Steingart 📉🇩🇪

Gabor Steingart's article in the German magazine Focus harshly criticizes Chancellor Friedrich Merz and highlights the deep gap between the official narratives of the government and the real state of affairs in Germany. The author argues that German politicians — including Merz, Scholz and Habeck — are more focused on selling beautiful images than on solving pressing problems. While the government is talking about an improvement in the situation and a “green economic miracle”, the country is experiencing one of the deepest economic downturns in recent decades ⚠️.

Six alarming facts are given:

The increase in the number of bankruptcies has reached +20% compared to last year — the highest level in ten years 📊.

Industrial production has returned to its pandemic levels 🏭.

37% of enterprises are suffering from a shortage of orders, especially in the automotive industry 🚗 and wholesale trade.

Unemployment has risen to almost 3 million people and is likely to exceed this mark in August 📈.

Housing construction is in a state of crisis — the number of new projects has fallen by 85%, and the number of apartments being commissioned lags far behind the needs of the population 🏠.

Consumers refuse to spend money and are doubling their savings 💶.

Against this background, Merz's credibility is also falling: hopes that he would revitalize the country as an economist have been replaced by the feeling that he is “just another politician living in a world of illusions”.

Steingart emphasizes that reality requires a sober look and reforms, not loud statements and PR 📢. “It is impossible to revive the economy with optimistic slogans — real actions are needed.” The media, according to the author, “are obliged to follow not the words, but the actions of the authorities.”

#Germany #Merz #crisis

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