Image is of the Preah Vihear Temple on the Cambodian border. Image sourced from the UNESCO World Heritage website.
Over the last few days, Thailand and Cambodia entered into a heightened stage of conflict due to a long-running border dispute. Like many problems on this planet, Europeans are ultimately to blame - specifically France. Certain sections of the border drawn up by France about a century ago were not fully agreed upon by both sides, with the ownership of some Khmer temples being the most visible points of disagreement.
Despite interventions in favor of Cambodia in the 1960s and later 2010s by the ICJ - one of the mainly mostly useless global institutions that liberals periodically disown - the border conflict has simmered at a generally low level. Of the two countries, Thailand is significantly more militarily and economically powerful.
Last Wednesday, a Thai soldier lost his leg by stepping on a landmine, prompting a rapid escalation between Cambodia and Thailand that has since resulted in dozens of deaths and tens of thousands displaced. Cambodia was willing to come to the negotiating table fairly quickly, but Thailand was more hesitant. International pressure on the two countries by Malaysia, China, and the United States eventually forced Thailand to the table, and they have recently agreed to an immediate ceasefire courtesy of ASEAN.
Notably, Trump refused to hold trade talks with either country until they agreed to peace, which suggests that he really wants a Nobel Peace Prize - which he seems a shoe-in for given that he's met the two most important requirements that several Nobel Peace Prize recipients have needed to meet in the past, which are: 1) start at least one war, and 2) accelerate the genocide of millions of people as billions more people watch on. His policies vis-a-vis ICE creating a domestic terror regime only further increase his chances of winning the prize.
Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
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The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Ah yes, he’s hiding his power level
I don't understand why anyone is arguing about this. Nobody argues that Mick Lynch or Corbyn weren't hiding their power levels. Lynch specifically said it's ridiculous that the media were calling him a communist when he absolutely 110% is lmao
I don't see what is different here. Zohran is definitely personally left of what his electoral policies and media presentation are going to be.
It's simple, Zohran is the candidate they always claimed to want and he's winning, but that invalidates the anti-electoral ideology so many here use as a comfort blanket and it makes them ROYALLY PISSED
I mean, I don't think electoralism will achieve socialism so i'm with them on that one.
I do think demonstrating electoralism will not achieve socialism is a necessary prerequisite to revolution though.
If demonstrating the "failure" of electoralism is a prerequite for revolution, then that means electoralism is in fact a crucial tactic that will help achieve socialism
This isn't semantics, the failure of analysis from the doomer faction is assuming the "demonstration of failure" arises from losing elections, it doesn't, the demonstration effect is only possible after you win
Reformists IN POWER being undermined is not the same thing as reformists losing elections
Opposition in power polarizes and energizes the base, losing demoralizes and leads to demobilization
To demonstrate to the masses the anti-worker solidarity of the ruling class, socialists and their allies have to be in some position of power to manifest that anti-worker opposition in the first place
WE HAVE TO WIN ELECTIONS
I agree with this, but it's also fraught with danger. Chile being the fundamental example of what we do not want to replicate.
With that said, a socialist winning within the democrat party is not the same thing at all. We must win in socialist parties. Although I am not even sure if that is possible in the american system.
I just don’t understand why you want democrats to win elections. Why you identify with democratic party in the first place. They are not the opposition
I want to have hope sooo bad... and I understand you've helped with his campaign and say he's the real deal. But I thought the "reform or revolution" question was already answered. Are we wrong about that?
Like, I don't see how this ends well unless it's all part of a much larger plan to get a revolution going. Is there a larger plan? You don't have to say what it is, if it's like op sec or whatever.
I could see it if it's like, a plan to radicalize more people:
Mayor tries to do objectively good shit and gets ratfucked --> people get angrier and say fuck the system (but they could just end up getting more fascist)
Mayor gets some good things done --> hey socialism is cool, maybe we should join! (join what exactly tho? no vanguard party?)
???
Fuck hope, we're past hope, wrestle despair into rage and fear into defiance, wouldn't matter if Zohran was a CIA clone, if he wins under a mantle of socialism and pro-palestine sentiment WE STILL WIN
Most online leftists never understood the debate to begin with, the question was not about "reform or revolution" it was about whether reform will kill revolution or will reform trigger revolution and historically the question has been answered in favor of the latter
Lenin overthrew the reformists not the Czar, reforms genuine reforms gives us the space and time we need to pull it off
Zohran winning under Trump is the best possible combination for us, the heat of the fascist furnace with a forward socialist base in New York, we'll explode in numbers
This is an interesting perspective on it, as a DemSoc invariably has to go back on their principles in favour of the status quo, it does leave the door open for genuine socialist movements to speak to the masses and encourage a movement where the people actually do get what they want.
I would be a bit worried though, based on what I understand about the US, that such a thing is more likely to just leave people jaded and switch off to the idea that things could ever get better, and not trust a socialist promising better things, because electoralist demsocs have let them down too many times. (For examples, just look at some of your other replies!)
You have no idea what you are talking about
Do you know him yourself?
I don't think he's going to expose it if he is. As an official he is and will be a DemSoc and should be treated accordingly.
Read the details of his policy proposals and you'll see he is
None of you anti Zohran wreckers even realized his police policy would in fact cut their budget despite his "pro cop" rhetoric and we're supposed to take you all seriously when it comes to evaluating his power levels?
Just because hiding your power level hasn't happened much historically doesn't make it impossible.
You know what has happened historically repeatedly, over and over? Credulous leftists being fooled by Soc dem social fascism because they delude themselves into believing there’s “5D chess” or “hiding power levels” going on
The western left has learned zero lessons from AOCIA
Did anyone that calls themselves a communist actually ever believe AOC was further left than socdem liberal? I don't feel like anyone ever did.
Yes this forum was full of AOC supporters, as was the subreddit that spawned it. Just like the Iraq War, they all admit it's a mistake years later in retrospect but won't admit they supported her with the exact same enthusiasm, logic and rhetoric as they do Mamdani. It was the "DSA" and it was "harm reduction" and it was "a foot in the door" and it was "expanding the Overton window" et al.
This forum was 80% AOC content on the front page back in 2021 lol.
It was really only after the Ukraine war started that, I’d like to think driven by the news mega, that people started to pay attention to international news, that there is actually a world outside of America.
Even then, there were many that regurgitated Western/NATO propaganda about Ukraine and Russia in the early days of the war and I remember some of us here having to fight those comments time and time again. It took until September 2022 (six months after the war started) that the broader Western left changed their tune to the slightly better “actually we shouldn’t be funding NATO war machines” take.
I remember the whole "revolutionary defeatism" and "russia is an akshually tsarist empire and smol bean uwukraine needs our help!". Memory holing isnt just done by libs, we have that in spades a plenty.
Hell liberal zionism was even something that persisted until the last two years here on "our side".
So many people here fell for that fake "feminist" protests in Iran.
We’re currrently in the cope stage where people insist that a radlib politician is actually a secret communist.
Excited for two years from now when we reach the backpedaling stage (part 1) and everyone feverishly insists they never said he was going to do anything, and three years from now for the backpedaling stage (part 2) where everyone insists they had criticized him from the beginning.
And five years from now, we’ll get not-AOC #3, and go through the cycle again.
Truth is rarely appreciated and celebrated.
lol we have 5D chess, hiding power levels, etc arguments and parasocial pretzel-twisting and gaslighting to defend the honor of a socdem “israel has the right to exist” politician, sheepdogging the pro-Palestine movement towards a liberal zionist position. Simultaneously championing him as a paragon of pro-Palestinianism while saying it doesn’t matter because he’s only running for mayor of New York. Guys he said he’s going to arrest Bibi, also who cares about foreign policy he’s only running for mayor! Transparent bad faith rhetoric. Literally going “yeah he said that but it was actually a top secret dogwhistle designed to get zionists to argue against human rights thereby collapsing zionism globally”. At first I laughed it off as bad faith BS but now I’m struggling with the realization that it’s a sincerely held belief.
Someone give me a nobel prize because I’ve successfully time travelled back to 2018.
You know despite making so much fun about the "trump is fighting the deepstate and will release the epstein list!!" q-anon/maga, some have not a too dissimilar mindset in the end.
Their delusional conspiracy theories, our insightful dogwhistle interpretations