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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   845 thread views

Transnational Thursday for July 17, 2025

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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Relatively quiet week this time:

Anthropic has a $200M contract with the US DoD , as have a few other companies

A good roundup of rumours about Xi

OpenAI agent

Israel bombs Syria

Africa records over 4,200 cholera, mpox deaths in 2025

Gunmen Kill 1,111 Nigerians, Abduct 276 in June

Syrian troops accused of executing civilians in Druze amid Israeli strikes

IDF Ordered To Strike Syrian Regime Forces Invading Druze-majority Suweida

Syria Druze reach ceasefire with central gov, though a previous one fell. Israel also fired on the central gov in Damascus

They have been negotiating with the Islamist-led authorities in Damascus since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in an attempt to achieve autonomy but have yet to reach an agreement that defines their relationship with the new Syrian state. ...reports The Guardian. Btw, the Spanish federal system, where the central government defines foreign policy, and some formerly rebellious provinces (the Basque country) don't pay federal taxes and have special priviledges (fueros) could be a good model here.

Almost 300 killed in wave of violence in Sudan's North Kordofan

Israeli-linked ringleaders and elements arrested in southwestern Iran, says Iran's news agency

Israel launches airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Bekaa valley

US demands to know what allies would do in event of war over Taiwan

I think you forgot to link the Xi rumours, (unless it's a meta statement about how there are no 'good' roundup of rumours in a state as secretive and opaque as China).

Also, it's a bit cringe that the US wants assurances from allies about Taiwan when America itself maintains plausible deniability about what it's going to do. De jure, the US doesn't recognize Taiwan as an independent country nor is there a formal treaty requiring American aid. De facto the US has made clear intentions to go to war for Taiwan but the messaging is kind of schizo. America is the bloc ringleader, it's the US's job to make these hard calls not put others on the spot.

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