Israeli strategists push decoupling from a waning U.S. as Israel veers toward a ZISIS model and risks internal collapse
Recent Items
Thursday, October 15, 2026
It’s Official: Israel Will Dump the U.S. and Become ZISIS
Topics: Middle East, Moral hazard, Politics
Posted by Curro Jimenez at 2:00 pm | 11 Comments »
Americans Who Go to Church and Trust Science Are Also More Likely to Believe in Ghosts and Curses, New Research Shows
Who’d have thunk it? You can believe in science and rationality and also believe in ghosts.
Topics: Guest Post, Science and the scientific method, Social values
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:56 am | 21 Comments »
How Non-State Alliances Are Reshaping the Global Order
Non-state actors, aka rebels, are purportedly getting more external support. What are the roots of this shift?
Topics: Africa, Commodities, Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Globalization, Guest Post, Middle East, Politics
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:34 am | 7 Comments »
Links 10/15/2026
Topics: Links
Posted by Conor Gallagher at 6:55 am | 63 Comments »
Saudi National Arrested for Spying at OpenAI
Abdulrahman Alfozan, an OpenAI employee and a citizen of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been arrested for attempting to bug a meeting room.
Topics: Guest Post
Posted by Nat Wilson Turner at 6:20 am | 25 Comments »
West Asia War: Riyadh Ravaged, Battles in Yemen, Iranian Mines Sink Ship
Saudi Arabia and Ansar Allah continued to trade bombs and ballistic missiles. Battles continue in Yemen. More ships hit in the Strait.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Energy markets, Middle East
Posted by Nat Wilson Turner at 6:15 am | 6 Comments »
Short Iran War + Ansar Allah v. Saudis Update
Today’s Iran war news: IIran and Ansar Allah have dug into “ever be escalating” mode as the US may be manning up too.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Energy markets, Media watch, Middle East, Politics
Posted by Yves Smith at 12:10 am | 17 Comments »
Coffee Break: CoreWeave the Canary in the AI Credit Coal Mine?
CoreWeave had a brutal day on the stock and credit markets yesterday, and may indicate troubles coming for the broader AI industry.
Topics: Coffee Break
Posted by Nat Wilson Turner at 2:00 pm | 30 Comments »
Record Tanker Rates Leave Heavy Crude Stranded in the Americas
Nosebleed high tanker rates, thanks to Iran attacks on vessels, are producing oil supply chain breakage on the other side of the planet.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Energy markets, Globalization, Guest Post, Media watch
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:48 am | 15 Comments »
Links 10/14/2026
Topics: Links
Posted by Conor Gallagher at 6:55 am | 133 Comments »
Aramco Burns, Oil Execs Avoid Saudi Confab, MbS in the Bunker
Ansar Allah continues to score as they trade tit-for-tat strikes with the Saudis. Several top American and European executives attended Riyadh’s WPC Energy Congress remotely. Reports say Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is shuttling “between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers and is guarded by a handpicked security team.” Ground combat continues in Yemen.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Energy markets, Middle East, Politics, Turkey
Posted by Nat Wilson Turner at 6:05 am | 15 Comments »
‘Extending Russia’: Successes, Failures, and What Comes Next?
US ‘allies’ to continue to pay the price as hopes are pinned on a post-Putin crisis in Moscow.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Europe, Russia
Posted by Conor Gallagher at 5:00 am | 22 Comments »
Michael Hudson on the Swedish Central Bank’s Wannabe Nobel Prize 2026
Michael Hudson gives a terse takedown on how the fake economics Nobel prize shores up destructive elite-serving orthodoxies.
Topics: Banana republic, Dubious statistics, Economic fundamentals, Federal Reserve, Guest Post, Income disparity, Ridiculously obvious scams, Social policy, Social values, The destruction of the middle class, The dismal science
Posted by Yves Smith at 12:21 am | 16 Comments »
Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – The Phantom Limb of Decisive Warfare: Reaching for Catastrophic Victory
The nuclear revolution transformed the conditions of great-power warfare, yet military institutions continue to pursue decisive conventional victory. The phantom limb of traditional warfare survives through cultural admiration for martial courage and institutional commitment to military superiority, even as the pursuit of victory risks triggering nuclear catastrophe.
Topics: Coffee Break
Posted by Haig Hovaness at 2:00 pm | 14 Comments »
Financial Sanctions and the Global Payments Network
Complexity of the payments system means that currencies like the yuan are not benefitting from sanctions as much as widely believed.
Topics: Banking industry, China, Currencies, Free markets and their discontents, Globalization, Guest Post, Payment system, Regulations and regulators
Posted by Yves Smith at 12:54 pm | 2 Comments »


