A Conversation with Peter Zeihan
A Conversation with Peter Zeihan
You're invited
SAVE THE DATE: Peter Zeihan will be joining us on Monday, April 22 at 7 pm Paris time, which is 1:00 pm in New York and 11:00 am in Boulder, to talk about anything you’d like to talk about. The event is open to all of our subscribers.
Here’s the international calendar:
This arose because I was planning to invite him back to the Cosmopolicast to see how well his predictions have held up. Then it occurred to me that you hear me talk all the time, so why not cut out the middleman—or the middlewoman, in this case—and let you speak to him yourself?
I need a sense of how best to organize this, though, because he’s only got an hour. So please RSVP, and if you’re coming, give me a sense of the questions you’d like to ask. I’ll send a Zoom link to subscribers before the event.
I angled for a time that would allow people from most of the world’s time zones to participate, but 3:00 am is admittedly not great for our readers in Australia. I’m sorry, Australians. If you’re a devastated Australian, let me know. Maybe I can persuade him to join us for a second meeting at a better time. Likewise, let me know if you’re in another part of the world and you desperately want to come, but this time doesn’t work for you.
What would you like to discuss? ↘️↘️ (Please don’t skip this part.)
If you’re a new reader, Peter Zeihan is a Cosmopolitan Globalist favorite. Here are some of the essays and discussions we’ve had about him, and with him, in the past:
If you’d like to join us but you’re not a subscriber, it’s not too late:
And if you know people who’d love to join, let them know:
Questions for Peter Zeihan 4/22/2024
First, the windup:
The PRC has made claims about Taiwan along the lines of “the island is part of China”, that “under the law” (it is unclear what law is referred to) China is “allowed to use military force” to reunite Taiwan the mainland, etc.. At other times the PRC refers to the island as a “breakaway region” of China.
In recent history, control of the island has changed hands several times: It was settled by people from the Mainland during the Ming dynasty; the Chinese Empire ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the First Sino-Japanese War (Treaty of Shimonoseki); Japan ruled the island as a colonial possession until 1945, at which time it was ceded to the Nationalist-ruled Republic of China.
When the Kuomintang forces fled there in 1949, having lost the struggle with the Communists, Taiwan and various minor islands became the sole remaining territory of the Republic of China. There were for 3 decades two co-existent political entities, The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC), each with unenforceable claims over the other’s territory.
(While the Kuomintang continued to claim de jure sovereignty over the Mainland for several decades, I think they have subsequently relinquished that claim, or simply let it lapse).
Now for the Questions:
1. What is the status of Taiwan now, under international law: Is it a separate political entity entitled to proclaim its independence, or is it still considered Chinese territory?
2. a. If Taiwan IS NOT considered to be Chinese (under international law), what legal justification could China claim for a military invasion?
b. If Taiwan IS considered to be Chinese (under international law), what would be the legal basis for the US or other nation preventing China’s takeover?
(Claire & Peter – I hope the webcast is being recorded. I have a long-standing commitment that conflicts with CG’s webcast, otherwise I’d be on the call).
How does the transition away from reliable energy generation to wind and solar play into the deindustrialization of the Europe and the USA.