March 19, 2024 | Daily Notes
Israel-Palestine, Russia-Ukraine, US Immigration, Japan Central Bank Policy
I’m working to include United States domestic policy in my analysis of United States foreign policy. The two areas appear to be increasingly interconnected. United States foreign policy hinges mainly on the assumption that liberal democratic values are inherently superior to other political systems. United States domestic policy reflects its liberal democratic values in practice. Thus, domestic policy reinforces foreign policy.
US Immigration
A city in Pennsylvania embraces immigrants as tensions over 'sanctuary' policies rise across the country (NBC News)
The all-Democrat Lancaster City Council unanimously passed an ordinance last month preventing local police and any city official from inquiring about a person’s immigration status unless it's required by state or federal law or by court order, or reasonably necessary in the course of a criminal investigation. It also prohibits them from providing any information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that could result in civil or noncriminal immigration enforcement actions.
Immigration helps explain US economic strength: Goldman (Financial Times)
Goldman Sachs thinks that immigration will short-circuit the Sahm Rule, which stipulates that a recession is in the mail when the three-month moving average of the US unemployment rate rises by half a percentage point off its 12-month low.
Israel-Palestine
Gaza's catastrophic food shortage means mass death is imminent, monitor says (Reuters)
Extreme food shortages in parts of the Gaza Strip have already exceeded famine levels, and mass death is now imminent without an immediate ceasefire and surge of food to areas cut off by fighting, the global hunger monitor said on Monday.
The Integrated Food-Security Phase Classification (IPC), whose assessments are relied on by U.N. agencies, said 70% of people in parts of northern Gaza were suffering the most severe level of food shortage, more than triple the 20% threshold to be considered famine.
Israeli forces raid Gaza City hospital; U.S. confirms death of top Hamas leader (Washington Post)
Israel’s army said Monday it had killed a Hamas official inside Gaza City’s al-Shifa medical complex, an operation that unfolded as experts warned that the northern part of the enclave may already be in the grip of famine.
The White House, meanwhile, confirmed that Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing, was killed in an Israeli strike earlier this month in central Gaza.
How Israeli settlers are expanding illegal outposts amid Gaza war (Al Jazeera)
Data gathered by activists and verified with satellite images by Al Jazeera's verification unit, Sanad, show that between October 2023 and January 2024, settlers in the occupied West Bank have built at least 15 outposts and 18 roads - illegal under both Israeli and international law. In addition, settlers built hundreds of metres of fences and multiple roadblocks, further limiting Palestinians' movement.
Is the Destruction of Gaza Making Israel Any Safer? (The Atlantic)
Israeli forces are killing thousands of innocent civilians and badly damaging their country’s standing with its most important partners, including the United States. Israel has also no doubt severely degraded Hamas’s military capabilities, but the question needs to be asked: Is the country’s furious response to the Hamas invasion of October 7 making Israel any safer? At best, it’s still too soon to say—but on balance, what I see worries me.
Russia-Ukraine
Putin Warns Russia Won’t Stop After Predictable Election Win (Bloomberg)
Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, Putin, 71, is extending his nearly quarter-century rule into a fifth term at a time when his troops are on the offensive in Ukraine. Russia is pressing its advantage in the third year of the invasion, which has become Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II as Ukraine struggles to supply its forces with munitions amid delays in military aid from its US and European allies.
Putin Hails Conquests in Ukraine in Red Square Spectacle (New York Times)
President Vladimir V. Putin, a day after declaring victory in a performative election, signaled on Monday that the war against Ukraine would continue to dominate his rule and called for unity in bringing the people of eastern Ukraine “back to their home family.”
In this Ukrainian village, almost no men are left (Washington Post)
Japan Central Bank Policy
Bank of Japan scraps radical policy, makes first rate hike in 17 years (Reuters)
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) ended eight years of negative interest rates and other remnants of its unorthodox policy on Tuesday, making a historic shift away from its focus on reflating growth with decades of massive monetary stimulus.
While the move was Japan's first interest rate hike in 17 years, it still keeps rates stuck around zero as a fragile economic recovery forces the central bank to go slow on further rises in borrowing costs, analysts say.
China, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Adopts Sweeping Security Laws, Bowing to Beijing (New York Times)
The new legislation, which was passed with extraordinary speed, grants the authorities even more powers to crack down on opposition to Beijing and the Hong Kong government, establishing penalties — including life imprisonment — for political crimes like treason and insurrection, which are vaguely defined. It also targets offenses like “external interference” and the theft of state secrets, creating potential risks for multinational companies and international groups operating in the Asian financial center.
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash