Happy Monday.
To be ITK, know this:
Ross Rant: Globalization + American politics: Globalization has significantly changed the nature of American politics forging a new generational paradigm.
How America proceeds in this new environment is unknown.
With an endless news cycle, a continuous flow of global trade, protectionist laws, and committed geopolitical powers, American politics is being shaped from many directions and far beyond America's shores.
Decisions made in Beijing now influence actions in Brussels, which then compel policy in Washington, DC.
The ability to manage this dynamic, geopolitical business environment, coupled with an underlying cultural phenomenon rejecting the establishment, makes this new environment more challenging for American government officials, policymakers, voters, and CEOs of multinational companies. Full post, click here.
China’s leader strikes a defiant note, warning of ‘stormy seas’: Xi Jinping is expected to secure a third term as leader during a pivotal meeting of the Communist Party, extending his authoritarian rule over the country. NYT
+ Xi Jinping defended his hard-line reign on Sunday, presenting himself to a congress of China’s ruling elite as the leader whose tough policies had saved the nation from the ravages of the pandemic and was now focused on securing China’s rise amid multiplying global threats.
+ He outlined a vision of the Communist Party leading China toward superpower status, saying that sweeping mobilization by the state was needed to ward off international threats circling around China.
Bloomberg: Defiant Xi tells world China is ready to stand its ground
+ Xi reaffirms policies at the center of frictions with the US.
+ Hits back in a two-hour speech to open a crucial party gathering.
+ Xi mentioned "safety" or "security" 73 times, compared with 55 times in 2017, according to state news agency Xinhua's transcripts, and said China will strengthen its ability to build a strategic deterrent capability.
+ By comparison, Xi said "reforms" 16 times in the televised speech, far fewer than the 70 mentions five years ago.
‘Uncle Xi’ to exalted ruler: China’s leader embodies his authoritarian era: Xi Jinping was first cast as a firm but a genial leader with a common touch. Approaching the second decade in power, he looms over China like a stern Communist monarch. NYT
+ A decade on, Xi looms over the country like a stern Communist monarch, reflecting on China’s fallen ancient dynasties and determined to win its lasting ascendancy in a turbulent world.
+ Xi will need more than loyalty oaths to achieve his goals.
Xi Jinping’s path to power: From outcast to 'emperor': US-China relations will be prey to the hawkish authoritarian for years to come. Politico
+ Xi has harnessed a masterful combination of strategic planning and an uncanny aptitude to lead allies and enemies alike to underestimate his ambition to pave a path to becoming the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.
Can the US take on China, Iran, and Russia all at once? America’s top rivals aren’t allies in the conventional sense, but by acting in unison, they could stretch a superpower well beyond its military capabilities. Hal Brands
+ "In some ways, America’s predicament resembles the period before World War II."
+ "Then as now, the international system was being battered from many directions. Japan was seeking dominance in the Far East. Hitler’s Germany was bidding for primacy in Europe and beyond. Mussolini’s Italy was making a bloody push for empire in the Mediterranean and Africa."
+ "Don’t expect Russia, Iran, and China to commit suicide for one another, but don’t think they will be indifferent to one another’s fate."
EU to formally establish military training mission for Ukraine: Le Monde reports two headquarters, in Germany and Poland, will coordinate the training of 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
What is a kamikaze drone? Sounds like a smart missile.
The Liz Truss travesty becomes Britain’s humiliation: Even by British traditions of political failure, this prime minister’s brief tenure has been a spectacular disaster. Tom McTague
+ "For the first time in my adult life, there is a genuine sense of decay in Britain—a realization that something has been lost that will be difficult to recover, something more profound than pounds and pence, political personalities, or even prime ministers."
+ "What’s happening now is entirely new: the very real prospect that the markets will force a change of prime minister before an election. They have already forced a change in policy."
+ "Britain was once a rich country, seemingly well governed with institutions that sat like sedimentary rock on its surface, solid and everlasting. Today it is very obviously not a rich country or well governed, but a poor country, badly governed, with weak institutions. In trying to reverse this reality, Truss has made it visible for all to see."
The markets have taken back control: So much for Truss’s Brexit delusion of sovereignty. This is the biggest humiliation of Britain since Suez, a reminder that no government can ignore reality. Jonathan Freedland
+ "Historians will look back and see a point of origin to the current madness, one that explains how a new prime minister could see her administration fall apart in a matter of weeks, even if we struggle to name that cause out loud right now."
+ "As several economists have noted, Truss was acting as if Britain were the US, issuer of the world’s reserve currency, with markets falling over themselves to lend it money."
+ "She is not in charge of events; she is not even in charge of her own government."
+ "She is finished, a hollow husk of a prime minister."
+ "The Brexit bubble has burst. The country has seen that the Tory hallucination of an island able to command the tides was no more than a fever dream, and a dangerous one at that."
Apple’s AR/VR headset will scan your iris when you put it on: ARS reports Apple's headset will also scan users' legs for inclusion in virtual space.
Netflix with ads launches Nov. 3, will be missing up to 10% of Netflix catalog: ARS reports the $7 plan to have 5 minutes of ads per hour, 720p quality limit, and no downloads.
Exxon bets on ex-auto executive for climate-friendly profits: Dan Ammann, an oil-industry novice, is tasked with leading a new carbon-cutting business aimed at tackling climate change. WSJ
+ The oil giant recently tapped Dan Ammann, a former investment banker, and longtime GM executive, to lead its fledgling low-carbon business. Ammann’s task is daunting: turn a new unit intended to reduce carbon emissions into a profit center.
+ Exxon has vowed to spend $15 billion through 2027 curbing its emissions and helping other companies do the same. It has said its low-carbon investments will generate returns over 10%.
Meet the army of robots coming to fill in for scarce workers: Robots are spreading at a record pace, from their traditional strongholds, like making automobiles into nearly every other human endeavor. Christopher Mims
+ A half-million industrial robots were installed globally last year, according to data released Thursday by the trade group International Federation of Robotics—an all-time high exceeding the previous record, set in 2018, by 22%.
+ The total population of industrial robots in the world has now also reached an all-time high, 3.5 million, which exceeds the population of every US city save New York and Los Angeles, according to the federation.
+ Roboticists say realizing a roboconomy will require meeting the robots in the middle: Robot makers will continue to improve their products’ ability, while we also remake our world in ways that accommodate these robots.
Senate race in Ohio is ground zero for hopes of more manufacturing jobs: Long-term decline may be plateauing, but there are limited signs of factory renaissance. David Lynch
+ Dateline: Perrysburg, Ohio
Will America’s most pilloried pollster get it right again? A conversation with Trafalgar Group founder Robert Cahaly about his unusual methods. Benjamin Hart
+ "But asking 20 or 30 questions to get a horse race right is a joke. Average people will not participate. You will oversample college-educated people. You will oversample people who have lots of free time after a nine-to-five workday and not people who have various blue-collar jobs with strange schedules."
The innoficiency problem Blair Enns
Good stuff happening here.
+ "This post was six years in the making—the most inefficient piece of writing I have ever undertaken."
CowShed: From Team Do Lectures, you can now register your interest for the world's first blockchain conference held in a barn. Sign up here.
+ 11-14 May 2023. West Wales.
Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day could be linked to a longer lifespan, new research suggests.
What about eight cups a day?
Inspector Brushstroke heads for Saudi Arabia in the mystery of the $450m Leonardo: Salvator Mundi, which some doubt was really completed by Leonardo da Vinci, has not been seen since it was sold five years ago. The Times
+ A British professor has revealed that he has been invited to Saudi Arabia to inspect Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which has not been seen in public since it was bought for a record-breaking $450 million five years ago.
+ “I am confident that it is Leonardo’s original. Can I say that every brushstroke is by Leonardo? Not necessarily. Perhaps all the geometric patterns on the stole, it may be that it is a repeat motif and he could have assigned that to a student.”
The 51 coolest neighborhoods in the world: We polled 20,000 city-dwellers and grilled local experts to rank the greatest places for fun, food, culture, and community. TimeOut
1. Colonia Americana - Guadalajara, Mexico
2. Cais do Sodré - Lisbon, Portugal
3. Wat Bo Village - Siem Reap, Cambodia
4. Ridgewood - New York City, USA
5. Mile End - Montreal, Canada
SOTD: The Chemical Brothers - Dissolve
Manningcash: Eli Manning's professional football salary was larger than his brother's. Eli earned $252.3 million in salary during his playing career, while Peyton reeled in $248.7 million.
+ @AP_Top25: BREAKING: North Carolina is No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 men's basketball poll, ahead of Gonzaga, Houston and Kentucky and a tie for fifth place.
Watch: Deion Sanders: The 60 Minutes interview YouTube
Qatar World Cup: There will be no boycott: Le Monde reports despite pressure from the media and citizens, there was never any question of teams pulling out from the World Cup.
How Nike lost Lionel Messi: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's most famous athletes, were both signed to Nike sponsorships. Then one got away. WSJ
+ With billions of dollars at stake, Messi wore Adidas, while Ronaldo was Nike.
+ For one brief spell before the 2006 World Cup, Nike had both of them.
+ Until the 1990s, like most Americans, the company’s executives in Beaverton, Ore. viewed soccer as an esoteric pursuit. Then, in 1994, soccer came looking for America.
+ By the early 2000s, it was safe to say that Nike’s late entry into the game had been a success. Manchester United, Brazil, FC Barcelona, and a clutch of the world’s best players were all wearing the Swoosh.
+ Nike consoled itself with a single detail about the one that got away: compared with Ronaldo, one former executive remembers colleagues saying internally, Messi had next to no public personality.
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Caracal produces ITK Daily.
Caracal is a geopolitical business intelligence firm specializing in global business issues at the intersection of globalization, disruption, and politics.
Clients are Chief Communications Officers with global responsibility who rely on Caracal for help navigating today's interconnected business environment with political intelligence, research, strategic planning, public affairs, and communications.
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