Great Power contentions

[Pannonian]

I dont think what this commentator says is really true. Lithuania, Norway, and Estonia all have conscription in some form, and Greece and Turkey have mandatory service. Poland had it until 2008, 9 years after joining NATO. Lithuania abolished it in like 2007 I think and then brought it back in 2015. So I have a feeling that if Finland wanted to join they wouldnt have an issue with their conscription. From looking up the issue, it seems that there was pressure to remove the conscription based service format, however this was more due to striving to get up to the level of quality of other NATO allies than a desire to not be a threat to their neighbors. Which is a dumb concept anyways because in what world is Latvia a threat to Russia?

Eurovision Song Contest?

[Montmorency]

This is why you gotsta have the expertise:

nobody remembers that the 82nd Airborne is also pretty good at embassy evacuation, expat evacuation, HA/DR and even refugee management. All things folks near this mess might need/appreciate.

Yes. If Russia does what Russia has visibly prepared to do (but which it may not do!) then there will be refugees, retreating Ukrainian troops, questions about borders, and general disruption of life across the region.

I've made the point before that the crisis will have deterrence, Mitigation, and Punishment components. The deployment of [NATO] troops is less important to Deterrence and even Punishment than it is to Mitigation.

[spmetla]

EU’s chip production plan aims to ease dependency on Asia
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden...85beb93d04e8cf

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union announced a $48 billion plan Tuesday to become a major semiconductor producer, seeking to curb its dependency on Asian markets for the component that powers everything from cars to hospital ventilators and game consoles.

At a time when natural gas shortages and Europe’s reliance on Russia for energy shows the political risks of economic dependency, the 27-nation bloc is moving to boost its economic independence in the critical semiconductor sector with its Chips Act.

“Chips are at the center of the global technological race. They are, of course, also the bedrock of our modern economies,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. The plan still needs the backing of the EU parliament and the member states.

The EU move mirrors U.S. President Joe Biden’s $52 billion push to invest in a national chip-producing sector to make sure more production occurs in the United States.

As the economy has bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, there has been a supply chain bottleneck for semiconductors. In Europe, some consumers have had to wait up to almost a year to get a car because of a lack of spare parts.

“The pandemic has also painfully exposed the vulnerability of its supply chains,” von der Leyen said. “We have seen that whole production lines came to a standstill.”

“While the demand was increasing, we could not deliver as needed because of the lack of chips,” she added. As a result, factory belt lines ground to a halt, some factories had to temporarily close and workers were left unemployed because of lack of electronic parts.

Semiconductors are the tiny microchips that act as the brains for everything from smartphones to cars, and an extended shortage has highlighted the importance of chipmakers, most of which are based in Asia, to global supply chains.

Von der Leyen said Europe’s Chips Act will link research, design and testing and coordinate EU and national investment. The 43 billion euro plan pools public and private funds and allows for state aid to get the massive investments off the ground.

The prospect of massive industrial subsidies at first seems like a blast from Europe’s past, when overreaching state involvement stifled creativity and kept ambitious newcomers out of the market. The EU itself has been trying to undo this over the past decades with rigorous vetting whether state aid was not impeding competition.

The EU Commission promised that every Chips Act project will be carefully vetted on anticompetitive grounds, but that the sheer size of setting up production facilities demand a push if the bloc is to become a global player.

“Europe needs advanced production facilities, which come, of course, with a huge upfront cost. We are therefore adapting our state aid rules,” said von der Leyen.

Now, EU nations only have 9% of the global market share of semiconductors, and von der Leyen wants to increase that to 20% by 2030. Because global market production is expected to about double over the same time, “it means basically quadrupling our efforts,” she said.

She said the plan will add 15 billion euros ($17 billion) in public and private investment on top of funds already committed in the EU’s budget.

The EU also wants to get involved in chip production for geopolitical reasons and become more resilient in its strategic independence. Still, von der Leyen did hold out her hand for cooperation.

“Europe will build partnerships on chips with like-minded partners, for example, the United States or, for example, Japan,” she said.

With the US and EU both looking to relocate 'strategic' manufacturing to their own shores to reduce dependency (on chips so far and perhaps rare minerals too) I wonder if we'll see that push in other industries as well such as the EUs fuel imports. Can only hope that future energy sources like fusion can become realized sooner than later as burning various forms of hydrocarbons and the inability to store 'green' energy in the quantities needed hurt economically not to mention the environment too.
The COVID crisis and subsequent supply chain hits have certainly put cracks into the global trade system we've all relied upon for 30 years or so. One ship blocking the suez for several weeks had huge effects on European supply chains, the increasing tensions and risk of war in multiple parts of the global makes for few 'safe' manufacturing hubs for importing key components.

[Pannonian]

EU’s chip production plan aims to ease dependency on Asia
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden...85beb93d04e8cf


With the US and EU both looking to relocate 'strategic' manufacturing to their own shores to reduce dependency (on chips so far and perhaps rare minerals too) I wonder if we'll see that push in other industries as well such as the EUs fuel imports. Can only hope that future energy sources like fusion can become realized sooner than later as burning various forms of hydrocarbons and the inability to store 'green' energy in the quantities needed hurt economically not to mention the environment too.
The COVID crisis and subsequent supply chain hits have certainly put cracks into the global trade system we've all relied upon for 30 years or so. One ship blocking the suez for several weeks had huge effects on European supply chains, the increasing tensions and risk of war in multiple parts of the global makes for few 'safe' manufacturing hubs for importing key components.

I'd look to recycle as much material for high-tech products as possible. Something that isn't reflected in the raw numbers of pure capitalism.

[Pannonian]

Britain's foreign secretary goes to meet her Russian counterparts to re-emphasise Britain's hard line on Ukraine. Russian diplomat asks her whether Britain recognises Russia's sovereignty over Rostov and Vornoezh oblasts. Liz Truss states that Britain will never back down over Ukraine. Russian diplomat points out they're not in Ukraine (Rostov and Voronezh are in Russia).

He probably twigged her level after she talked about our Baltic allies coming over the Black Sea.

[rory_20_uk]

Britain's foreign secretary goes to meet her Russian counterparts to re-emphasise Britain's hard line on Ukraine. Russian diplomat asks her whether Britain recognises Russia's sovereignty over Rostov and Vornoezh oblasts. Liz Truss states that Britain will never back down over Ukraine. Russian diplomat points out they're not in Ukraine (Rostov and Voronezh are in Russia).

He probably twigged her level after she talked about our Baltic allies coming over the Black Sea.

At one level, talking is better than fighting.

Why Russia would care what our tiny armed forces might do it almost funny. Germany should be taking the lead and since they're not the USA seems to be content to spend money the Europeans would rather not.

[Pannonian]

At one level, talking is better than fighting.

Why Russia would care what our tiny armed forces might do it almost funny. Germany should be taking the lead and since they're not the USA seems to be content to spend money the Europeans would rather not.

Just because talking is better than fighting doesn't mean our foreign secretary has to be as idiotic and ignorant as she is though. I'm not a professional diplomat, and even I know that the Black Sea is nowhere near the Baltics. The Russian diplomat also noted that there was no negotiation or even discussion going on, but only Truss passing slogans at him as though they were supposed to achieve something. I'm not sure if that counts as talking. I suppose the Tories have been used to Brexit diplomacy, being there in person but actually passing the message for the benefit of the audience at home, that they've forgotten that diplomacy is supposed to engage with the person you're talking to, not the papers back home.