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	<title>Sam Vaknin &#8211; Brussels Morning Newspaper</title>
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	<title>Sam Vaknin &#8211; Brussels Morning Newspaper</title>
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	<item>
		<title>Yes Means Yes &#8211; Unless It Means No</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/yes-means-yes-unless-it-means-no/97607/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:44:28 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=97607</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, the European Parliament called on the European Union to adopt a consent-based definition of rape. “No means no” needs to be replaced with “yes means yes”. This conceptual shift is grounded in trauma-informed studies that have conclusively evinced the “freeze response”: people are incapacitated in situations they perceive as threatening. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Board Of Peace or State of War?</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/board-of-peace-or-state-of-war/92431/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2026 11:55:45 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=92431</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The Board of Peace (initially: Gaza Board of Peace) should not be conflated or confused with the Gaza Executive Board. The Board of Peace is presented as a permanent international parallel or even substitute to the United Nations controlled fully and solely by Donald Trump. It is a part of his ongoing attempt to establish [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Imperial SCOTUS and Its Narcissistic Vision for Itself </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/imperial-scotus-and-its-narcissistic-vision-for-itself/85197/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Dec 2025 09:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=85197</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I am not a legal analyst like the inimitable and profound Stephen Vladeck. But the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is now a political institution and so, I do feel qualified to make a few observations. I assume that my readers are well-acquainted of and petrified by recent developments.  SCOTUS&#160;seems to be predominantly&#160;concerned with the restoration [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>How Wikipedia is Poisoning AI</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/how-wikipedia-is-poisoning-ai/82446/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:02:06 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=82446</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The anonymous user and top-tier “editor” Slp1 is representative of the culture of narcissism (grandiosity, entitlement), bullying, and prideful ignorance that is rampant in the cult or cabal known as Wikipedia.&#160; On her user page, this senior contributor shockingly boasts: “I tend to edit articles that take my fancy and have no connection to my [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>GITA and Two-state Solution: Netanyahu’s Nightmare</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/gita-and-two-state-solution-netanyahus-nightmare/79564/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:59:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=79564</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Both Gaza International Transitional Authority (GITA) and the New York UN plan are clear precursors and pathbreakers to an eventual Palestinian state under the aegis of the Palestinian Authority (PA). GITA even includes a prototypical Arab administration in Gaza, the PEA (Palestinian Executive Authority). Netanyhau’s government will sabotage GITA precisely because it is clearly laying [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Macron’s France Stirs The Palestinian Pot</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/macrons-france-stirs-the-palestinian-pot/76560/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2025 18:40:08 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=76560</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The French recognition of Palestine is a storm in a teapot. It is inevitable that a Palestinian state should be ultimately recognized, even by a post-Trump USA. Many international organizations and 147 of 193 of UN members already recognize it. More countries and territories recognize Palestine than recognize Kosovo. The French recognition is a symbolic [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Attack on Iran – What’s Next? </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/attack-on-iran-whats-next/74378/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2025 11:21:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=74378</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Israel has finally attacked Iran. But why now?&#160; There has been a qualitative shift in Iranian policy in the wake of the decimation of the leadership of its proxy in the Middle East, Hizbullah. Iran has made a strategic decision to manufacture nuclear weapons and the missile heads needed to carry and deliver them all [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Perfidious USA: Make Autocracy Great Again</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/perfidious-usa-make-autocracy-great-again/68799/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Mar 2025 20:15:55 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=68799</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Perfidy is the essence of both empire and realpolitik. Perfidious Albion is now usurped by its former colony, the USA.&#160; The self-righteous, sanctimonious, and virtue signaling USA has a lengthy history of betraying its most ardent and loyal allies, especially when they are in the throes of existential crises. In the Yalta conference in 1945, [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The Post-Ukraine world of Trump’s realpolitik</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/the-post-ukraine-world-of-trumps-realpolitik/67648/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Feb 2025 13:52:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=67648</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We are heading to a new military conflict, but not in Europe. It is inevitable that the USA and China will clash militarily whether directly or by proxy (a remilitarized Japan) and not only over Taiwan.   Whenever old empires and superpowers (such as the British Empire and the USA) decline and new ones (such [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>USA: Pacific, Not Atlantic Power (Pace Ukraine and Biden)</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/usa-pacific-not-atlantic-power-pace-ukraine-and-biden/67386/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Feb 2025 14:34:45 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=67386</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The USA has pivoted from Europe to the Pacific immediately in the aftermath of the Cold War.&#160; The USA has always been a Pacific power. The Atlantic Alliance is a relic of an aberration in US history after the USA was forced to reluctantly intervene in Europe twice in the space of 30 years (1917-1945). [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>USA: Democracy’s Endgame </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/usa-democracys-endgame/66893/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Feb 2025 14:16:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=66893</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[College students are unleashed on smug intellectuals and a bloated bureaucracy. Elon Musk’s DOGE? Yes – but also Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Trump is probably using Musk to intimidate the “deep state” into submission.&#160; It seems that democracy can never survive for long because it is self-contradictory: voters are barred from deciding to abolish it. In [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Trump faces backlash over proposal to empty Gaza and redesign its future</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/trump-faces-backlash-over-proposal-to-empty-gaza-and-redesign-its-future/66616/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Feb 2025 17:04:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=66616</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Trump has just proposed to take over Gaza, transfer its denizens to Arab states, and convert it into a scintillating Riviera. I never support ethnic cleansing.&#160; But the facts are important here: only 30% of the population of Gaza is local. More than 70% are refugees from the erstwhile territory of Palestine (now the State [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Elon Musk&#8217;s X: Power grab for federal payment control?</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/elon-musks-x-power-grab-for-federal-payment-control/66387/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Feb 2025 18:09:18 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=66387</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[When an individual or a collective is hellbent on self-destruction, there is nothing you can do but stand back and wait to pick up the pieces, if any are left. The way he did in Twitter, the apparently sadistic narcissist Elon Musk is plunging the federal administration in the USA headlong into a civil war.&#160; [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Africa’s future is in its past</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/africas-future-is-in-its-past/66251/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 Feb 2025 09:31:20 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=66251</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Africa has been failing to get its act together since the late 1950s. This enormous continent with its vast potential is always rife with internecine civil wars and election fraud.&#160; But Africa is not unique and judging it too harshly is racist (a virulent point of view internalized even by African intellectuals). It took 1000 [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Israel-Hezbollah: Ceasefire, Never Peace </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/israel-hezbollah-ceasefire-never-peace/60969/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:43:36 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=60969</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In the protracted skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah, both parties have been damaged severely during the past 13 months. The situation for both of them is unsustainable.   Israel’s north is emptied of its citizens who are now internally displaced and rockets keep raining on its cities and military facilities. Israel’s economy is in tatters. It [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Opting out of Democracy </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/opting-out-of-democracy/59645/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Nov 2024 12:45:41 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=59645</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In a scene reminiscent of the 1930s, all over the world, both the ultra rich and the masses have been opting out of democracy in droves. &#160; Rent-seeking billionaires have transformed themselves into Russian-style oligarchs embedded in insidious patronage networks around authoritarian figures such as Putin, Orban, and Trump.   These oligarchs provide the dictatorship with much [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Authoritarianism Scale </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/authoritarianism-scale/59644/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Nov 2024 12:45:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=59644</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Like cancer, authoritarianism is a spectrum with clear and often ineluctable progression of egregiousness from one stage to another.&#160; Stage I&#160; Institutions: compromised, subject to political interference and pressures, but largely still functional.&#160; Freedom of speech and freedom of the media: intact, but self-censorship abounds, induced by amorphous, fuzzy fear and gaslighting.&#160; Politics: dominated by one party with [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Postmodern Monopolies and Oligopolies Good for Consumers, Economy </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/postmodern-monopolies-and-oligopolies-good-for-consumers-economy/58365/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Oct 2024 13:54:25 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=58365</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Anti-monopoly legislation and regulations around the world are antiquated, based as they are on 19th century realities of the late phase of the industrial revolution.&#160; In our post-modern age, monopolies are based on brands, not on capital assets and they emerge through fierce competition, not by stifling it.&#160;&#160; All contemporary monopolies are superior in some [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>USA’s Hobson’s Choice: Personality Cult vs. Ideological Tyranny </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/usas-hobsons-choice-personality-cult-vs-ideological-tyranny/58033/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Oct 2024 13:26:03 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=58033</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In the forthcoming elections in the USA, the electorate faces a choice between a personality cult and an ideological tyranny.   Personality cults such as Trump’s come to an abrupt end with the demise or assassination of the adulated leader. Their outcomes and impacts are easily reversible.   Ideological tyrannies – namely both the far Left and [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Shadow Libraries: The Future? </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/shadow-libraries-the-future/58009/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Oct 2024 12:25:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=58009</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In this digital age, the custodians of published works are at the center of a global copyright controversy that casts them as villains simply for doing their job: letting people borrow books for free.  (ZDNet quoted by &#8220;Publisher&#8217;s Lunch on July 13, 2001)  In 2024, the Internet Archive has been forced to remove 500,000 books [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The Signaling of War: Ukraine, Israel </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/the-signaling-of-war-ukraine-israel/57257/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Oct 2024 13:13:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=57257</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[War is not merely or even mainly about slaughtering and conquering. It is more often a form of signalling.   Iran’s recent volley of missiles directed at Israel and Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk region in the Russian Federation are prime examples of the latter.  No tactical or strategic war aims could possibly be served by [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Iran, the Next North Korea: Proxies Out, Nuclear In </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/iran-the-next-north-korea-proxies-out-nuclear-in/57083/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Oct 2024 12:19:54 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=57083</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Hamas’s incursion into Israel and its massacre of hundreds of civilians came as a surprise to everyone, first and foremost to Hizbullah and to Iran. The last thing on their collective minds was to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into an all-out war with the “Zionist Occupier Entity”.&#160; The attack by Hamas has exposed Israel’s [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Regional War, Nuclear War </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/regional-war-nuclear-war/56760/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Sep 2024 11:31:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=56760</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Regional wars erupt only when some of the parties involved perceive a power asymmetry that would allow them to eliminate a foe or alter the geopolitical order.&#160;&#160; This is why regional war in the Middle East is out of the question: both Iran and Israel are depleted economically, torn apart internally, and vulnerable to annihilating [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The Fallacies of Anti-immigration Ideologies </title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/the-fallacies-of-anti-immigration-ideologies/56130/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Sep 2024 20:59:29 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=56130</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Xenophobic anti-immigrant sentiments are nothing new. Antisemitism is an early form of such a populist ideology, directed at an involuntary Jewish influx (exile to the diaspora).   Anti-immigration movements are founded on myths and fallacies. Two of the most potent are: 1. Immigrants are usurping indigenous workplaces; and 2. That most immigrants are poor and, consequently, [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Political Polarization as a Gender War</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/political-polarization-as-a-gender-war/55357/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:50:56 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=55357</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[One much-neglected aspect of political polarization the world over is the gender war. In the USA, 31% of men identify as conservative. Only 23% of women do. Women are now more educated than men. Women under age 25 earn more than men do. Some hitherto male professions have been monopolized by women. There is a [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Clerical pillar of new autocracies</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/clerical-pillar-of-new-autocracies/55276/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 Sep 2024 15:32:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=55276</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The post-modern variant of autocracy is a thinly disguised plutocracy or oligarchy, buttressed by a populist swell of ochlocracy. Institutional religion – hierarchical and utopian as it is – is an indispensable ally of such regimes. Evangelicals support Trump, rabid Islamists spawn psychopathic movements like ISIS and Hamas, the religious right in Israel is Netanyahu’s [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The Durov Case: Regulate the Internet, Finally!</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/the-durov-case-regulate-the-internet-finally/54718/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Aug 2024 11:22:22 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=54718</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Pavel Durov was arrested on 24 August 2024 in France by its anti-fraud office, which is attached to the French customs authority. The arrest warrant issued by the&#160;French National Judicial Police&#160;listed 12 suspected violations regarding crimes on the Telegram platform which is largely an unmoderated messaging and narrowcasting platform. With the advent of Web 2.0, [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>How to Confront Fake News, Misinformation, and Disinformation</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/how-to-confront-fake-news-misinformation-and-disinformation/54478/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Aug 2024 11:51:54 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=54478</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[There are two types of fake info: goal-oriented and narrative-minded. The motivations behind these twin operations are different although the channels of dissemination are often one and the same. Still, the root etiology of these insidious activities is identical: they thrive on the distrust between the citizens and the media as well as on persecutory [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Ceasefire-Hostage Deal is Irrational Choice: Hamas-Israel (and Hezbollah and Iran)</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/ceasefire-hostage-deal-is-irrational-choice-hamas-israel-and-hezbollah-and-iran/54306/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2024 10:25:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=54306</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[With Gaza already reduced to rubble, its population decimated and displaced, and the IDF largely out of the Strip, why would Hamas accept a ceasefire vs. hostages deal? Why would it give up its only remaining card in return for meaningless “concessions” by Israel? A permanent ceasefire is conditioned on the suicide-by-Mossad of Sinwar and [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Hostage Deal with Hamas: Israel’s Cognitive Dissonance</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/hostage-deal-with-hamas-israels-cognitive-dissonance/53651/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 18 Aug 2024 11:47:18 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=53651</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Israeli advocates of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal with Hamas, proffer the following arguments in favor of an agreement – all of them false: FALSE ARGUMENT NUMBER 1 The return of the remaining hostages – many of them as corpses – will restore trust and the shattered covenant between [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Iran Rules the Middle East</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/iran-rules-the-middle-east/53533/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Aug 2024 16:23:01 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=53533</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Intimidated by Iran’s belligerent and suicidal proxies, pressured into submission by a craven, isolationist USA, countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan are succumbing to the Islamic Republic as the new regional powerhouse. Only a dilapidated Israel, torn by internecine strife, stands in the way of Iran’s ascendance – but not for long. Under [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Circumventing Western sanctions: barter and countertrade in Russia, China, Iran</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/circumventing-western-sanctions-barter-and-countertrade-in-russia-china-iran/53406/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Aug 2024 11:15:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=53406</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), Western sanctions have effectively cut off Russia, Iran, and North Korea from the financial infrastructure of the West, including the critical interbank SWIFT payments network. Banks, including Chinese ones, are wary of doing business with or within these marked territories. Increasingly these pariah countries are resorting to cryptocurrencies, alternative tenders such [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Shame-based Politics: Hezbollah, Iran, Russia, Trump</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/shame-based-politics-hezbollah-iran-russia-trump/53314/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Aug 2024 12:54:03 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=53314</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[As I survey the increasingly more dystopian international scene, the role of shame and reputational costs in political and geopolitical decision-making is becoming more evident by the day. Start with Hezbollah and Iran. Hezbollah is unlikely to cease its attacks on Israel even in the wake of a ceasefire in Gaza. The assassination of Fuad [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Post-modern Autocracy Made in USA</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/post-modern-autocracy-made-in-usa/52621/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Aug 2024 08:29:26 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=52621</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Autocracy is nothing new, but it has a post-modern version, replete with the following characteristics: (1) The trappings of a democracy (“elections”, institutional “checks and balances”, multi-“party” system, “media”); (2) Affiliation with a global network of authoritarian regimes which cross-promote the members’s agendas and interests; and (3) Vehement and hateful rejection of the values of [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Israel on the Path to the Nuclear Samson Option</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/israel-on-the-path-to-the-nuclear-samson-option/52341/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Jul 2024 10:59:03 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=52341</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Israel is in possession of about 300 nuclear warheads of varying yields and launchable from a variety of platforms. This gives it the option of a devastating second strike. For decades now, Israel has maintained opacity and ambiguity regarding its nuclear strategy. Twice, it came close to making use of its ever growing arsenal. Recently, [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Trump’s Insurance: Rogue SCOTUS</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/trumps-insurance-rogue-scotus/51752/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Jul 2024 10:50:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=51752</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Brussels  (Brussels Morning Newspaper) &#8211; Trump is now a weaker candidate than he was only a week ago: way older than Kamala Harris and a convicted felon to her ex-prosecutor. Money is flowing into Democratic coffers at an unprecedented pace. The party is newly energized. Should he be defeated at the polls, Trump’s only hope [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Narcissistic Mortifications: Netanyahu, Biden, Trump</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/narcissistic-mortifications-netanyahu-biden-trump/51312/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Jul 2024 14:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=51312</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Trump, Netanyahu, and Biden suffered egregious public humiliations: having lost the 2020 Presidential elections, having suffered the indignities of the October 7, and having been exposed as the hapless subject of the ravages of cognitive decline in a most widely watched public debate. These kinds of events are called “narcissistic mortifications”. Narcissistic mortification is “intense [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Psychology of Political Assassins</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/psychology-of-political-assassins/50819/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jul 2024 11:22:39 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=50819</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Would-be assassins of political figures engage in dichotomous thinking (splitting): evil vs. good. The politician is all evil, the assassin is on the side of good. It is a morality play. The assassin’s thinking is apocalyptic (catastrophizing): the world as we know it will come to its end should the wicked politician have his/her way. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Uvalde, Be’eri: Work Ethic is Dead</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/uvalde-beeri-work-ethic-is-dead/50755/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jul 2024 17:47:01 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=50755</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[On May 24, 2022, law enforcement officers amassed outside the Robb Elementary School as a gunman mowed down 19 kids and 2 teachers. They refused to confront him, fearing for their safety. On October 7, 2023, more than 700 soldiers and commandos gathered at the entrance to kibbutz Be’eri and refused to confront Hamas terrorists [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The 2nd American Revolution</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/the-2nd-american-revolution/50254/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Jul 2024 21:59:30 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=50254</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The USA is declining and decomposing and the Republican party have zoomed in on the sole agents and catalysts of these alarming processes: the Democrats and their democracy. The GOP also brandish a prescription for healing: the 2nd American Revolution. The Republicans – a party dedicated to the interests of the rich and mighty – [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Judges, Prosecutors Terrified of Vengeful Dictator Trump</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/judges-prosecutors-terrified-of-vengeful-dictator-trump/49990/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=49990</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Why would other judges indefinitely delay criminal cases against Donald Trump, or suddenly postpone his sentencing following his conviction by a jury of his peers, with the full consent of the prosecution? I want to propose an outrageous etiology: fear. They are all terrified of Donald Trump who promised to seek revenge once elected to [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>SCOTUS vs. USA: Unraveling the Union</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/scotus-vs-usa-unraveling-the-union/49858/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Jun 2024 18:51:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=49858</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Public trust in the Supreme Court of the USA is at an all-time low and for good reason: corrupt and partisan judges have been rendering inexplicable decisions, demolishing decades of precedent, and legitimizing manifestly criminal misconduct. Partisanship became rampant and unabashed: almost all the decisions were authored and promulgated by the Conservative, largely Trump-appointed majority [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Israel: Jewish Ghetto in a Roiled World</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/israel-jewish-ghetto-in-a-roiled-world/47164/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Jun 2024 11:41:15 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=47164</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Jerusalem (Brussels Morning) &#8211; The southern and northern regions of Israel have become uninhabitable, reducing the state to a confined area along the Mediterranean coast and west Jerusalem. Hizbullah and Hamas, though bruised, are still functional. Israel&#8217;s deterrence has weakened, especially after recent conflicts, leading to its diminished international reputation and isolation. The two-state solution [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The Growing Unease with New Technologies</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/the-growing-unease-with-new-technologies/46417/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 May 2024 20:31:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=46417</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Belgium (Brussels Morning) &#8211; Innovation has alternated between teamwork and individual genius, focusing on inputs and outputs rather than methods. We&#8217;re shifting from monetized attention to reality engineering, with cities being the first form of virtual reality. The rise of intellectual property and digital goods has commodified attention and led to new forms of reality [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Hamas Won This War Decisively</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/hamas-won-this-war-decisively/43065/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2024 08:56:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=43065</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[2. It stopped dead in its tracks emigration to Israel (Aliyah) and encouraged immigration by those who can from Israel, amounting to a debilitating brain drain.]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Nuclear Proliferation and World Peace</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/nuclear-proliferation-and-world-peace/42807/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2024 09:20:34 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=42807</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The limitations of the military-political might of any single polity are now painfully clear in multiple locations: the Middle East, Taiwan, and Ukraine, to name but a few.]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The Danse Macabre of Israel-Hamas Hostage Deal</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/the-danse-macabre-of-israel-hamas-hostage-deal/41833/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2024 21:45:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=41833</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Israel is committed to the unrealistic goal of eradicating Hamas and assassinating its top military leaders who are hiding in Rafah, surrounded by live hostages as human shields.]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Divestment: From South Africa to Israel?</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/divestment-from-south-africa-to-israel/41644/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 May 2024 22:06:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=41644</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “In 2004 the General Assembly (governing body) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved selective divestment from corporations doing business with Israel out of objection to the country’s perceived violation of the human rights of Palestinians. In 2014 the General Assembly voted in favour of divesting from three major U.S. corporations that conducted business in Israel.”]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The War Criminal’s Mind in a Just War</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/the-war-criminals-mind-in-a-just-war/41251/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Apr 2024 16:34:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=41251</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The solution is to objectify and dehumanize the enemy, leveraging a panoply of primate defense mechanisms: splitting (“We are all good, our opponents all bad”), projection followed by reaction formation (“Our adversaries are everything we detest and loathe about ourselves and this is why we hate them and they deserve to die”), and attribution errors (“we choose to do good, they are essentially evil”). ]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Personal Story with War Crime in Israeli Army</title>
		<link>https://brusselsmorning.com/personal-story-with-war-crime-in-israeli-army/39689/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam Vaknin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:13:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion section]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://brusselsmorning.com/?p=39689</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In 1979, with the first stirrings of peace between Israel and Egypt, my battalion was sent to Halhul, a city north of Hebron, notorious for its anti-Israel sentiments and actions, including terrorism against civilians. We were meant to restore order in the wake of unrest owing to the imminent rapprochement with Israel’s hitherto most substantial enemy.]]></description>
		
		
		
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