Yeah. Actually, while doing it, I imagined ways that this could be done - like putting critical works in bold. The problem obviously is that I just don't know what the critical works are most of time because I'd have to read so much to get a good gist of what is and isn't important.
It's not something I can realistically do alone, I guess, unless you gave me a couple decades to get through all this.
Thank you, will add!
This is awesome, thank you!
Thanks for the recommendation, will add.
- indicate the length somehow
I did initially have a page count for the first hundred or so books but I found that a) I sometimes couldn't get consistent page counts from various sources (some would say like 250 pages, others would say like 370, and I have no idea why) and b) for more obscure books, which is kind of the whole point of having a very big reading list which includes books about tiny little countries 90% of Westerners haven't even heard of, I couldn't get page counts at all.
So while I gave up on that idea, I think I might go back and add them again where I can. Of course, if anybody reading the thread wants to do some of that for me, I wouldn't argue!
- have essays or shorter works included
You caught me - this is (hopefully) going to be the second stage of the reading list. While going through bibliographies, I found that the sources that authors get information from tended to be a mixture of studies, essays, and articles, and while articles are perhaps a little ephemeral and limited as a pure source of accurate information, I am much more open to posting essays and studies, as I think they're really good at talking about a very specific point without needing to prove every single thing from scratch, or just have lots of good statistics to discuss.
However, right now I'm focussing more on books than those things. But it's something I'm considering in the background, and once again, if anybody reading the thread is like "Oh, I know a few great places which host studies and essays!" then I'd love to hear it!
I can already imagine the redditors: "how dare the republicans use Biden's actual, stated positions against him. what a deeply unfair electoral strategy."
unironically this might be the most fair and legitimate strategy the Republicans have used in the last... uh... ever
I honestly doubt it because I don't think the US (or most Western countries for that matter) even really have the capacity anymore to send enough troops abroad with all associated equipment and supply lines to make conscription something that could be supported versus the cost of having an increasingly unhappy population. Even with a hot war with China - what, are we doing amphibious assaults on the shores of Shanghai? Where's the angle of approach there? Feels like you're either talking about Southeast Asia (Vietnam 2.0? Myanmar?) or getting right in the middle of the Russia-Iran-China region and going through Tajikistan or something, through mountains and deserts. If you try the amphibious approach, at some point you run out of boats because the US can't industrialize fast enough and then you're just cooked.
Fundamentally I just don't know how conscription can really function in deeply neoliberalized, financialized economies, when you start getting into the logistics of it all. It would necessitate a dramatic shift towards reindustrialization and non-neoclassical economics that we saw in WW1, but I don't know if it can happen again. Israel is famously a country where many civilians enter military service, and what has it gotten them? Their army fucking sucks. They're still quaking too hard in their little booties to take on Hezbollah, and China and Russia are orders of magnitude stronger than Hezbollah, obviously.
So I think we're just gonna have terrorist groups and mercenaries doing the ground combat while the West tries to use their aircraft to support them, with mostly unimpressive results. Some countries might be couped and their populations thrown into battle against the US's enemies in the hopes that the Russians and Chinese run out bullets before those countries run out of bodies to throw at them, as Ukraine is going and likely how Taiwan would go, but the US itself? Probably not.
We are so back.
The world has run out of cholera vaccines as outbreaks continue to occur throughout the world. This is due to all cholera vaccines coming from a single vaccine manufacturer, EuBiologics in South Korea, who has limited production capacity. Other companies are projected to enter the market soon, and hopefully by 2025 things will be largely back to normal.^S^
A broad coalition of EU lawmakers have called for a ban on all Russian energy, including gas, presumably as secret communist agents to accelerate the collapse of the EU.^E^
Increasing numbers of Arabs and Muslims are planning to vote for Donald Trump out of spite due to Biden’s fervent licking of the blood and mud on Netanyahu’s jackboots.^MEE^ From the Red Clarion: The Democrats Have Nothing Left To Offer You.
After many protests in the UK particularly over Gaza, Prime Minister Sunak has ordered a crackdown on protestors which would essentially make any act that isn’t sitting silently in a public field a criminal offence. A human rights campaign group is suing the government due to this.^NC^
AMLO proposed a package of 20 constitutional reforms in early Februrary, which is unlikely to survive congressional pushback but nonetheless represents the government’s latest attempt to reorient away from neoliberalism. Canada is also quite angry at AMLO, as Canadian companies have interests in 70% of Mexican mining operations, and AMLO wishes to grant property rights over Mexico’s energy and mining assets to all Mexican citizens.^MR^
Libertarian President Milei has stated his intention to implement reforms by decree due to the democratically elected parliament opposing him.^MP^
Algeria hosted leaders from 13 countries in Algiers, including Russia, Iran, Qatar, and Venezuela, in order to co-ordinate on natural gas investments. Algeria is the second largest supplier of natural gas to Europe, after Norway. However, despite aggressive plans to expand production up to 2030, infrastructure is limiting the amount of gas that can actually be supplied - and domestic needs from a growing population also need to be balanced.^AN^
Ghana has passed an anti-LGBTQIA+ bill which makes same-sex relationships, sexual activity, and public displays of affection illegal. People who support or fund related activities could face up to a decade in prison. This has faced international comdemnation from several countries, and the UN has called it "profoundly disturbing".^AN^
UN peacekeepers have begun withdrawing from the DRC, in which 12,000 troops have been located since 1999, with the government accusing the UN of not doing their goddamn jobs, which does seem like a fairly accurate view of how things have gone in practice.^RT^
At least 25 million Sudanese are suffering from hunger or malnutrition as the war continues to decimate the country. Less than 4% of the $2.7 billion in assistance that Sudan needs has been provided by donors so far this year, and last year, last than half was funded.^MEE^
Russia's Rosatom has received applications from several African countries for the construction of new nuclear power plants, such as South Africa, which has expressed interest in a floating NPP. An Egyptian NPP is under construction and Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Uganda also want them.^BNE^
Chinese company Transsion, with its three brands of Tecno, Infinix and iTel, have 48% of the African market share and are expanding into other markets, and experienced large growth in 2023 in both Africa and the Middle East, surpassing Samsung. This is due to a combination of relatively low prices, better marketing, and producing camera phones which work better with darker skin tones.^SCMP^
China has warned New Zealand not to harm its own security interests after it expressed interest in an AUKUS security partnership on cyberwarfare, AI, and hypersonic weapons.^SCMP^
The US has approved a $75 million weapons package to Taiwan which involves the Link 16 communications system - which completes Taiwan as the final link of the “transnational coalition kill chain”, giving Taiwan access to the jam-resistant tactical data network for co-ordinating NATO weapons systems that can be linked with countries like Japan, Australia, South Korea, and the US.^GPE^
The Biden administration has announced that they’re launching a probe into Chinese smart cars to protect the American car industry, with all the usual “Xi Jinping himself is spying on you through the car cameras and hidden microphones and, uh, kills a Ughyur every time you brake, or something.”.^RT^
The US has revealed that they have struck 230 targets in Yemen in response to their blockade; notably, the focus on big number rather than effect (HUNDREDS of sanctions on Russia!!!) is a tacit admission of the actual impotence of the attacks. In general, we’re seeing a rather uninspiring repeat of the propaganda that the US has used against Russia; that they’re running out of missiles, etc. ^NC^
Worth also bringing up how Saudi Arabia and the UAE are telling the US that they can't use their military bases to launch attacks, presumably as they fear reprisals from Ansarallah.
In West Asia, the bedrock of US power projection lies in its strategically located military bases nestled within the Persian Gulf. However, the future of these vital installations appears increasingly uncertain as geopolitical alliances shift toward multipolarity, hastened by the multi-front war unfolding in the region. The fallout from Israel's brutal military assault on Gaza and unconditional US support for it are accelerating these shifts. Traditional allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE – once steadfast in their partnership with Washington – are now charting more independent courses, cautiously avoiding entanglements that could lead to broader conflicts, particularly with Iran and its Axis of Resistance allies.
Indeed, this recalibration, coupled with the Persian Gulf states' concerted efforts toward economic diversification beyond oil, is gradually eroding the sturdy foundations of long-standing partnerships. The question now is how these shifts will affect US military presence in the region and the ability of Americans to operate from their established bases.
The article's a little too long to quote in full so I'll be picking the most important parts out.
Against the backdrop of the widening, US-backed and armed Israeli war on Gaza, the US airstrikes against Iraq and Syria were meant to deliver a strong message of deterrence to Iran's allies in the Axis of Resistance, who are targeting US military interests in West Asia in response to the carnage in Gaza. But the strikes have instead served mainly to embarrass the Iraqi government and its domestic allies, prompting a reevaluation of the country’s relationship with Washington and reviving calls for an end to the US military presence in Iraq.
Despite a steady stream of US threats and intimidation tactics employed to deter the Iraqi resistance since late last year, these factions have incrementally increased and expanded their engagement in the region-wide war, driven by their commitment to the Palestinian resistance and its liberation goals. The Iraqi groups have a specific goal: pressure Washington until it forces a Gaza truce – a strategic target that reflects the unity of purpose among the resistance factions in Iraq and the region.
...In Iraq’s case, the greatest military burden was assumed by four of the resistance factions identified by Kataib Hezbollah Secretary General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi: his own group Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, and Ansarallah al-Aufiaa. As one IRI official tells The Cradle: "The fronts are opened at the discretion of the leaders (of these groups) themselves, based on religious, ideological, and moral commitments stemming from the nature of the Iraqi character in the first place."
Over the past few months, the IRI has demonstrated its versatility by employing a variety of tactics and weaponry in around 188 separate military operations against US targets. These range from missile strikes on US bases in Iraq to drone attacks against US occupation forces in Syria, and even include the targeting of distant Israeli territories such as Ashdod, Haifa, and the occupied Golan Heights. An official source in the IRI confirms to The Cradle that "We bombed with ballistic missiles American bases, even those in Iraq, and this was not limited to distant targets in the depth, or in the occupied territory."
However, as tensions escalated, strains in the relationship between Baghdad and Washington became palpable. The Iraqi government found itself caught between the embarrassment of complicity and the challenge of maintaining control over security affairs. Even some of the resistance factions themselves felt the squeeze of external pressures, notably Kataib Hezbollah, who on 31 January announced a temporary suspension of operations against US forces and Israeli targets. The halt came in the immediate aftermath of the killing of three US soldiers in Tower 22 along the Jordanian-Syrian border, in an Iraqi resistance operation unprecedented in its depth which was viewed as a direct challenge to Washington's perceived invincibility. As expected, the operation caused a spike in tensions, causing some ferocious shuttle diplomacy in the following days and provoking a strong, disproportionate US military response.
For factions like Kataib Hezbollah and Al-Nujaba, the decision to suspend operations was a calculated move to gauge Washington's response. Yet, the US military's targeted assassination of Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Baqir al-Saadi caught them off guard, eliciting a sharp condemnation of the US attack from Baghdad. Saadi’s faction, it should be noted, is part of the Popular Mobilization Units that defeated ISIS, and is therefore under the umbrella of the Iraqi armed forces. This time, the Iraqi government had no choice but to side with the resistance, while the IRI issued a stern warning to the US in which it signaled a return to operations.
...What cannot be ignored, however, is that these diplomatic initiatives followed a series of coercive measures by the US Treasury to diminish the value of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar. While Iraq - both officially and among its various political factions - insists that leveraging the volume of Iraqi oil exports as a bargaining chip in the global market is an ineffective negotiating tool, there are those who anticipate seizing the opportunity of market scarcity to increase their share by two million barrels. Sudani mission is a difficult one. He must hammer out a solution that fulfills his government's commitment to remove foreign military forces forces from Iraqi soil without triggering negative US repercussions.
According to leaks, the Iraqi prime minister reportedly reached an agreement with the IRI to suspend its military operations against US bases in order to facilitate his negotiations for the complete withdrawal of international coalition forces from Iraq. Yet, any decision in this regard risks eliciting a negative response from Washington, which brandishes an ever-present arsenal of pressure tactics. This is particularly concerning given that Iraqi oil revenues are still required to pass through the US Federal Bank before being released to Baghdad. Members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives are actively working to proceed with a law to remove foreign forces from Iraq, with majority representation from Shia-dominated central and southern Iraq. However, Sunni factions remain ambiguous in their stance toward the coordination framework blocs' efforts to enact such legislation. In addition, Kurdish parties, notably the Kurdistan Democratic Party, vehemently oppose any consideration of US military withdrawal from Iraq.
In response to these dynamics, the Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed Moscow's willingness to bolster Iraqi forces following the departure of unwanted foreign troops. The Russian offer has compounded the pressure on Washington, prompting a reassessment of the waning US strategic position in West Asia.
If anybody wants to know what the hell I've been doing for the last month that has disrupted the Goddamn News schedule, it's been creating this hefty list of theory that is now up on the bulletins website. It's far from finished, but I got to like 75 pages in Google Docs and I was just tired of sitting on it for any longer.
And these aren't all just crusty books from the 1940s. There are a couple on there from 2024 and quite a few from 2023, for example.
The regular posting schedule will be continuing ASAP.
I think one of closest things we have right now is Desai's book written in 2022. Personally I think it'll be interesting to see the history of the Ukraine War told when it's over, hopefully from an author that isn't pro-Ukraine. There's something strange/interesting about reading a recounting of events that you've actually experienced in some way, rather than being told about it for the first time.