Ian Hall
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drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall
@drianhall.bsky.social

Professor of International Relations at Griffith University, India’s foreign policy, Indo-Pacific stuff, snakes when I find one. Usual caveats.

Political science 68%
Economics 10%

I did not know until today that USINDOPACOM uses the date / month / year system, not the weird American month / date thingy. www.pacom.mil/Media/NEWS/N...
www.pacom.mil

Reposted by Ian Hall, John Delury

This is very different from how it has been reported in the Japanese press, but this is *exactly* what they've been worried about in Tokyo.

Reposted by Ian Hall

Mr. Xi reached out to Mr. Trump because a Japanese leader is taking her country’s strongest stance since World War II to assert that Taiwan’s security is also Japan’s security www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/w...
China and Japan Are in a Showdown, With Trump in the Middle
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Ian Hall

'The 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine drew from a Russian-authored paper submitted to the Trump administration in October, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The Russians shared the paper with senior U.S. officials in mid-October' www.reuters.com/world/europe...
www.reuters.com

Oh good. I need to refresh my corporate fraud and corruption training. Should come in useful in this new age of grift, unchecked power, and the rules-don’t-apply.

I’m going to be thinking about this all day now.
When Tony Blair came to power in 1997, the UK economy was bigger than China and India combined.

Reposted by Ian Hall, Paul Davies

When Tony Blair came to power in 1997, the UK economy was bigger than China and India combined.

Another big attack in Pakistan. www.dawn.com/news/1957041...
Federal Constabulary headquarters in Peshawar under attack: police
Area being cordoned off, says Peshawar CCPO.
www.dawn.com

I’m not sure what they have put in the water at DFAT recently, but whatever they have done has stimulated the writing of a lot of new diplomatic memoirs. Looking forward to reading this one from Lachlan Strahan…all 550-odd pages!
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?

Americans and their food. I will never understand these abominations.
The marshmallows are necessary. nyti.ms/43KOVtp

Reposted by Ian Hall

The marshmallows are necessary. nyti.ms/43KOVtp

And Trump looks even weaker than before. Putin might not be a strategic genius but he knows how to humiliate.

Trump threatens to sanction Russia, Russia offers to talk, convinces Witkoff to sell something patently unacceptable to Trump, Ukraine rejects, Europe gets jumpy, Trump backs down, Putin wins again - still no sanctions, no peace deal, no US commitment to Kyiv; even more trans-Atlantic mistrust.

Globalisation is *so* back.

Reposted by Ian Hall

🤦‍♂️ Vance advises Ukrainians and Russians to "trade and travel" instead of "killing each other"
Vance advises Ukrainians and Russians to "trade and travel" instead of "killing each other"
US Vice President JD Vance has said he believes that Ukraine and Russia should trade and engage in "cultural exchanges" instead of fighting.
www.pravda.com.ua

Amen to that.

Reposted by Ian Hall

Consciousness of gilt

Reposted by Ian Hall

Millions across northern India have spent weeks living under a toxic blanket of smog. The air is choked with particulates from the seasonal burning of rice-paddy stubble on nearby farms, mixed with industrial and vehicular emissions. See more photos:
Photos: India’s Polluted Skies
Millions across northern India have spent recent weeks living under a toxic blanket of smog. The air is choked with particulates from the seasonal burning of rice-paddy stubble on nearby farms, mixed with industrial and vehicular emissions.
bit.ly

Reposted by Ian Hall

'The fact that Indian intelligence agencies had discovered the broader plot before the bombing may reduce the pressure on the Indian government to respond with overt force,' writes Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan.
Delhi terror attack heightens India-Pakistan tension | The Strategist
A powerful car bombing near Delhi’s Red Fort Metro Station has ratcheted up existing tensions between Delhi and Islamabad. While a motive for the 10 November attack is yet to be specified, the perpetr...
www.aspistrategist.org.au

By 2035.
If Dassault can built them that fast (they’re really, really slow).

Bangladesh’s former leader, in exile in India, sentenced to death for her crackdown on anti-government protests. www.bbc.com/news/live/cp...
Ex-Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death over brutal protests crackdown - follow live
The former prime minister, who is living in exile in India, was tried in her absence over a deadly crackdown on protests last year.
www.bbc.com
"Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model by default...tests repeatedly showed that the AI toy dropped its guardrails the longer a conversation went on, until hitting rock bottom on incredibly disturbing topics."
AI-Powered Stuffed Animal Pulled From Market After Disturbing Interactions With Children
FoloToy says it's suspended sales of its AI-powered teddy bear after researchers found it gave wildly inappropriate and dangerous answers.
futurism.com

An interesting piece on why political “start-ups” fail in India, even when led by savvy operators like Prashant Kishor. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Prashant Kishor: Why India's political start-ups rarely succeed
Prashant Kishor’s new party, Jan Suraaj, created a media splash but flopped, winning no seats in Bihar.
www.bbc.com

Given that he’s 75 and smokes multiple packs a day, it may be that he’s just got a health issue.

Tributary system with American characteristics.
"It was tough to beat Apple, but the Swiss did it." said one administration official.

How the Swiss convinced Trump to drop tariffs with gifts of a Rolex desk clock and a 1 kg gold bar.

www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
How to lobby Trump with Swiss precision: gifts, gold and gab
How the Swiss broke a diplomatic logjam on tariffs by arriving with tributes fit for a king.
www.axios.com