Boom. Trump Tariffs, Democratization & China
These books are free today (Friday) only!
Lots of Explosions in Russia. I don’t think that “truce” is gonna hold…
These books are free today (Friday) only! Now or never!
European Union Law and Globalisation?
Pictogram Palace: A Chinese Character Dictionary keyed to Hanzi Gong
Constitutional Law
Contract Law
I’m very Very good at Contracts.
About Russia
Mafia State Art Kiss Kiss Kill
International Corporate Crime Law
The Devil's Diplomatic Dictionary
CHINA AND DEMOCRATIZATION AS A CHINESE PERSON SEES IT
These are key insights derived from the translation of a Chinese language document: in other words, it’s how Chinese people see democratization in China. If you want to influence others you must understand them: the better you are to understand them the likelier you are to influence them in ways you desire.
Comparison with Greece
Greek democracy emerged due to fragmented geography, fostering independence, naval trade, mutual trust, and civic consciousness.
Comparison with Rome
Roman Republic emerged from confrontation between nobles and farmers; geography led to decentralized farming, citizen-soldiers, and negotiation for civic rights like the Tribune.
China's Geography
China's terrain favors centralization (flat North China Plain, surrounded by natural barriers); easy to unify and control vast land with minimal cost.
Resource Scarcity
Lack of gold and precious metals shaped a land-based, stability-seeking civilization. Power came from controlling land and food, not wealth or trade.
Cycle of Dynastic Change
China historically trapped in a loop: famine → resistance → regime change → short prosperity → famine again.
Legalist Legacy
Legalist philosophy (e.g., Qin state) prioritized efficiency, control, and militarization over ethics and freedom; set precedent for later autocratic rule.
Systemic Conditioning
Over time, society was psychologically domesticated by autocracy, losing imagination or will for alternative systems.
Scholar-Official Class
Intellectuals prioritized personal gain over principle; absorbed into imperial system, weakening potential civic or democratic leadership.
Confucianism & Legalism
Confucianism served to teach obedience; Legalism enforced control—together, they suppressed legal spirit and independent thinking.
Absence of Religion as a Check
No monotheistic religion emerged in China; polytheism was transactional and state-controlled, leaving no power higher than the emperor to limit autocracy.
Courage & Resistance
Chinese people are not inherently cowardly; history has many uprisings, but they only led to regime replacement—not systemic reform.
Civilizational Inertia
China’s deeply ingrained political and social structure is difficult to break, and tends to assimilate or weaken external forces (e.g., ethnic rulers).
Outlook & Hope
Although historical and structural challenges are deep, change is possible. The root solution lies in rebuilding community, civic spirit, trust, and self-governance.
Conclusion
Democracy is not the starting point but the result. Cultural and social reform must come first. Simply introducing elections won’t create a true democracy.
Let me know if you want a CSV/Excel file version or a simplified version for presentation.
Liberalism and Democratization
Liberals notice that democracy correlates with peace, and believe that the key to world peace is universal democratization. This is their justification for their 20+ years of failed wars. That is a far too simplistic theory of peace: though, democracy correlates to peace, so does wealth. Liberals always glad for a twofer who notice that will argue that building wealth builds peace. But correlation is not causation. We can well argue that Imperial Germany in 1914 was no less democratic than Imperial Britain, and the first world war was definitely a war among peers and not between a superior democratic system against an inferior dictatorial system, much as the advocates of divide-and-rule might wishful thinking their way out of their limited ideas about war and peace.
Wealth as well as democracy tend to make peace likelier but they do not guaranty it. Sometimes wealthy states wage wars against each other. Sometimes democracies do go to war against each other, e.g. the 1812 war, 1914.
In this book I argue that we can attain global peace by combining deterrence, collective security, free trade, cross border investments, international functionalist institutionalism, and psychological approaches: that none of these alone is sufficient, nor do any of them alone guaranty peace. But, when combined, they create peace.
Trump & Tariffs
Trump is currently knocking down one or two pillars of peace: he is opposing free trade and is also opposing cross border investment. This in turn will lead to greater poverty, making war somewhat likelier: desperate people do desperate things. Economic dependence results from free trade and cross border investment, making war less likely since we are less likely to destroy a source of our own wealth: not impossible, just less likely.
If Trump were trying to wreck US foreign policy to benefit his lord and master putin what would he do differently
President Donald Trump did not impose tariffs on Russia in his recently announced sweeping tariff plan. While he introduced a baseline 10% tariff on nearly all U.S. trading partners, Russia was notably excluded from the list. The White House explained that existing U.S. sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict have already significantly reduced trade with Russia, making additional tariffs unnecessary[1][2][6].
However, Trump has threatened to impose secondary tariffs of 25% on Russian oil and other products if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine within a month[1][5]. This potential move would mark a shift from the current exemption.
Citations:
[1] https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/no-russia-on-trumps-tariffs-list-days-after-pissed-off-at-putin-remark-8074299
[2] https://www.newsweek.com/white-house-explains-why-russia-not-included-trumps-new-tariffs-2054548
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/business/economy/trump-tariffs-chart.html
[4] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live/trump-tariffs-live-updates-trump-reveals-liberation-day-tariffs-across-over-150-countries-191201863.html
[5] https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/trumps-russia-oil-tariff-threat-depends-china-india-reaction-russell-2025-03-30/
[6] https://apnews.com/article/trump-reciprocal-tariffs-trade-025d996838e64d7f1b33eb288e34d892
[7] https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/
[8] https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/politics/fact-check-trump-tariffs-trade/index.html
[9] https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/tariffs-trump-news-04-02-25/index.html
Moscow goes Boom
Russian Docks in Karelia go Boom
Dagestan? Yeah, boom.
Voronezh? Are we seeing a pattern here? Boom.
Taganrog?