EPOCHTV’s Post

The 33rd NATO summit ended on 11 July, which commemorated the 75th anniversary of the alliance and re-evaluated the members’ commitment to defence spending. Most member states are set to reach the agreed-upon 2% of their GDP target. But what about their army sizes? Surely a higher defence budget can ensure an increase in troops. According to the latest data available, the size of the single biggest army within NATO in terms of personnel belongs to the US. Türkiye takes second place. Both of these members continue to increase their armies. This is not the case for France, Spain and Italy – the other big armies in the alliance. Created by Meike Eijsberg. Source: World Bank https://buff.ly/3Y2EEH4 #NATO #DefenceSpending #EuropeanCorrespondent

Wonder why #CBSnews is in danger of irrelevance? Failure, with just a 3% market share of American homes? Because it sets out to kiss the asses of the #American #Marxist #Socialist #Progressive #Left, as it did here, when #CBS Brass chastised #CBSMorningNews #Anchor #TonyDoukoupil for his tough questions of #Hamas-hugger #TaNeishiCoates for a new book that criticizes #Israel for fighting for its existence, barely mentioning the #Palestianians #Terrorist #Army #Hamas and its 7 Oct 2023 violent #Rape-#Murder Invasion of #Israel, killings of hundreds of #Israeli innocents in its #FromTheRiverToTheSea drive to extinguish #Israel and kill #Israelis. What a great #MediaCritique this column, calling out #CBSmanagement for some of the most egregious #PoliticalCorrectness and #Woke comments in Modern #Journalistic History! What a readable column. #CBS remains my go-to #NewsNetwork, principally because of its great #CBS3 #PhillyNews Anchor #UkeeWashington, a #Delawarean, but I find myself increasingly turn off the National News. How far it has fallen from the days when #WalterCronkite and #EdwardRMurrow set the standard for the post-#WWII Generation Broadcast Newsmen!

https://lnkd.in/dKv6N-Hv Analysis: China military in disarray over Xi's monopoly on power 83rd Group Army's advocacy for 'collective leadership' defies the supreme leader KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writer December 26, 2024 04:10 JST The People's Liberation Army, the powerful military of the Chinese Communist Party, is in political disarray amid a feud over Xi Jinping's handling of the country's leadership system.

It’s crucial to hold leaders accountable for their rhetoric, especially when it undermines values of service, honor, and respect. The words of a leader can either uphold or erode these principles. The military represents duty, sacrifice, and service to all citizens, and disrespect toward veterans or their families impacts the entire nation. Instances like Vanessa Guillén’s case highlight the need for empathy and responsibility from those in positions of power. 🔍 How can we encourage accountability and empathy among leaders who hold great influence over public opinion and policy? #LeadershipMatters #MilitaryRespect #Accountability

Beijing is increasingly using African reporters as the face of its narratives. Our latest Spotlight outlines the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda architecture and the vehicles it uses on the continent to convey Beijing's messaging. The CCP’s policy architecture for media development, media offensives, and narrative management is multifaceted. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) puts cognitive warfare on par with other domains of warfare like land, air, and sea. Duan Wenling and Liu Jiali, senior educators at the Military Propaganda Teaching and Research Department of the School of Political Science at China’s National Defense University, state that China’s approach to media warfare is to “shape the target audience’s macro framework for recognizing, defining, and understanding events.” According to Xi, “wherever the readers are, wherever the viewers are, that is where propaganda reports must extend their tentacles.” Read more:

“The question that haunts me is: What if China has learned the lessons of Cold War I better than we have? I fear that Xi Jinping has not only understood that, at all costs, he must avoid the fate of his Soviet counterparts. He has also, more profoundly, understood that we can be maneuvered into being the Soviets ourselves. And what better way to achieve that than to “quarantine” an island not too far from his coastline and then defy us to send a naval expedition to run the blockade, with the obvious risk of starting World War III? The worst thing about the approaching Taiwan Semiconductor Crisis is that, compared with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the roles will be reversed. Biden or Trump gets to be Khrushchev; XJP gets to be JFK.” https://lnkd.in/eQFtbWGs

As a military psychological operative in Vietnam I have an appreciation for the importance of Psyop.

A Piece of Advice: Take some time to watch Lex Fridman interview with Volodymyr Zelensky. Seriously. This isn’t just a podcast—it feels like history in real time. And it’s nothing like what we’ve grown used to. The last time a war like this happened in Europe, was WWII. If we’re lucky, we have some grainy black-and-white photos or silent videos to try to understand what happened back then. Now? A war in Europe, and we’re watching it on YouTube—not on BBC or CNN. And it’s a podcaster—not a journalist, a podcaster, a content creator, guys—bringing us one of the most real, honest conversations I’ve ever seen. No filters. Not even with the language. Thanks to AI and ElevenLabs, the interview is dubbed into English while keeping Zelensky’s real voice—his tone, his pauses, his anger. It’s incredible. No human translator or even the best dubbing actor in the world could deliver the same experience. There are moments in this interview that left me shocked. For example, the way Zelensky speaks about Putin, he calls him:"Lord Voldemort" just to give an example... Another point that was... interesting... was Zelensky’s confidence in Trump to end the war: "Trump could step in and actually make something happen. He’s someone who believes in action, not just words." Is that what Zelensky really believes about Trump? Or is he, understandably, in survival mode—saying what he needs to say to ensure U.S. support? And then, on the other hand, his brutally low, low, LOW opinion of Europe: "Europe made promises, but they didn’t deliver. The sanctions? They were useless. They didn’t stop the war, and they didn’t stop Putin." Honestly, can we blame him? And then there’s the moment Lex brings up the words compromise—or worse, forgiveness. Zelensky, who remained remarkably calm and composed throughout the interview (even making jokes with Lex), couldn’t hold back: "This is not a small compromise. To forgive—no one will forgive. This is absolutely impossible to forgive him [Putin]." He gave Lex an example: VZ: "Do you have children?" LF: "Not yet." VZ: "God bless. They took away the most precious thing from us. Will you ask who ruined your life before ripping their head off? No. You’d go, fucking hell, and bite their head off. And it would be fair." Wow. You hear this directly from Zelensky, who also said that he spent the first hours after the attack trying to call everyone and when he and his team understood that no one would protect them, he said:"I walked the streets of Kyiv, handing out guns to civilians—ordinary people ready to defend their homes and future." But you know what’s even more surprising? Thinking about who delivered this interview. On one side, an AI researcher who started a podcast a couple of years ago to talk about AI—who never could’ve imagined he’d be sitting at this table. And on the other, a former comedian, now leading his country through a war, fighting a real-life Lord Voldemort. It’s wild. It’s powerful. You have to watch it, Our History

🎧 Oriana Skylar Mastro and David Sacks joined me this week to discuss the challenges the next U.S. president will face on Taiwan. I had four takeaways from our conversation. First, China's desire to reunify Taiwan with the mainland long predates Xi Jinping’s rise to power. What is different today is that China’s growing military capabilities, and especially its growing naval and air force capabilities, are making a forcible reunification thinkable. Second, both Oriana and David are skeptical that China could force Taiwan’s reunification through so-called gray-zone activities that stop short of war but still coerce Taiwan into submission. They both think that China can achieve reunification only through direct force, with all the risks that implies. Third, a Chinese decision to invade Taiwan would have devastating consequences for U.S. influence in Asia and for the U.S. economy. Fourth, while Taiwan is doing more to build up its own defensive capabilities, it remains an open question whether it is moving fast and far enough.

President Trump is right. Greenland is a very important strategic country for the United States security. 80% of the country is covered in ice and there are roughly 55,000 inhabitants, of which close to half live in the capital city of Nuuk. What's not frozen solid is a very beautiful country. The United States biggest fear is China taking over. Back in 2017, the CCP tried to buy an abandoned military base in Greenland but were denied due to the strategic partnership Greenland has with Denmark. The United States currently has Pituffik Space Force Base, formerly the Thule Air Force Base, and provides additional security. Greenland is technically an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, which provides major subsidies for Greenland. The relationship gets even more complicated due to the United State's long standing relationship with its ally Denmark. In 2023, the United States and Denmark signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) that builds on the provisions of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement and establishes a comprehensive framework for U.S. forces operating in Denmark. A separate agreement governs the U.S. presence in Greenland. If Trump wants to recalibrate the relationship that America has had with Denmark since 1801 I say go for it. Especially, if it denies our much closer launching pad for our enemies. https://lnkd.in/gTEK8p3H