Green deflation, Palestine's ruined economy, discourses of delay & the tunnel war
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Neo Rauch, Das Innere (‘The Interior’), 1990, Oil on hard fiber, 170 × 148 cm. Wikipedia’s intro is an excellent opening to Rauch:
Neo Rauch (born 18 April 1960) is a German artist whose paintings mine the intersection of his personal history with the politics of industrial alienation. His work reflects the influence of socialist realism, and owes a debt to Surrealists Giorgio de Chirico and René Magritte, although Rauch hesitates to align himself with surrealism.
This article by Frank Zöllner offers a fascinating retrospective on Rauch’s work.
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Green deflation
The year 2023 has seen a crash in green investment:
Source: FT
Ruining Palestine
Preliminary calculations from UNDP and ESCWA reveal alarming, if conservative, economic impacts of a three-month war, projecting a significant 15% Palestinian GDP loss compared to pre-war 2023 expectations. Key indicators include a 44.3% decline in investment, an 18.3% reduction in private consumption, a 27.7% drop in exports, and a 14.3% fall in imports, signalling widespread economic disruption. Further deterioration in economic metrics is expected as the war protracts. The lasting negative impact on potential output and productivity emphasises the need for urgent and comprehensive strategies to address the prolonged economic challenges anticipated after the conflict.
Source: Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute
Socialist nationalism in South America?
Benedict Anderson’s classic study of nationalism, Imagined Communities, was famously provoked by conflict in Southeast Asia between rival states all calling themselves socialist — how, he wondered, could that be explained without a theory of nationalism? Now this:
Venezuela’s revolutionary socialist government has trumpeted what it says is an “overwhelming victory” in a referendum on its claim to an oil-and-mineral-rich swath of neighbouring Guyana in a referendum on Sunday. The referendum, which Guyana has described as a pretext for “annexation”, marks a new phase in a dispute over the Essequibo region, which has escalated since ExxonMobil made one of the world’s biggest recent oil discoveries in the Stabroek block off its coast in 2015.
Source: FT
Who in Russia backs Putin?
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Neo Rauch, Das Opfer (‘Sacrifice’), 1990, Oil on hard fiber, 170 × 150 cm
Measuring Santa’s consumption
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Tunnel war
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US military aid to Ukraine is at its lowest levels since the war began
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Discourses of Delay: understanding climate conservatism
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Imperialism’s racial split
How much of the difference between Democrats and Republicans in US polling about Gaza can be explained by the higher number of people of color among Democrats? That is to say — it seems statistically likely from this date that white Democrats are only slightly less sympathetic to Israel than white Republicans, and the big split runs not along those classic axes we heard so much about during Trumpism (college education, gender) but through race. White adults in America are just much more likely to sympathize with Israel. Palestinian terms for discussing Israel — as settler colonial — might help in understanding this reality, where people with a sense of racial domination as a problem are more likely to feel solidarity with Israel’s victims than are people for whom “the West” and its racial hierarchies have been broadly beneficial:
Source: Gallup
A chariot survives 2,000 years
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Neo Rauch, Der Gärtner (‘The Gardener’), 1990, Oil canvas, 170 × 148 cm