February 15-16
- Gaza’s “reverse displacement”
- Christie’s AI art auction backlash
- A strawberry-growing robot
- … and much more.
⬇️ STARTER
How will Trump’s “madman” diplomacy work in the Arab world?
Donald Trump is back in the White House for four more years. His return has once again raised the question of whether the "madman theory” of diplomacy can function in contemporary foreign policy and statecraft.
The debate centers on the consequences of world rulers who intentionally pose, pretend or threaten to be veritably insane and irrational in governance and negotiating processes. In the West, the view is that Trump’s second term will fully test the success of this madman approach to achieving the American leader’s goals. And it is above all the Arab world where this theory will play out.
The Florentine diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) famously wrote that: “It is a very wise thing to simulate madness.” Machiavelli suggested that leaders can exploit the method of simulating madness or unexpected behavior to confuse opponents and achieve strategic gains.
Fast forward to the 1960s during the movement in the U.S. opposed to the Vietnam war. The opposition gained momentum when defense analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times in 1971, which revealed the deception and lies of successive administrations about the results of the war.
Ellsberg has often discussed in his writings the connection between the "madman theory" and American foreign policy of the President Richard Nixon administration: leaders who act unexpectedly or appear crazy have greater opportunities to pressure their opponents to make concessions, thus achieving gains, due to fear of their unexpected reactions.
In his book Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War, Canadian journalist Michael Maclear cited one of Nixon's White House aides as saying that National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger was putting the "theory" into practice during his negotiations with the Vietnamese in Paris. Whenever negotiations got tough, he would threaten that he couldn't be sure what the "madman in the White House" would do, and that he could resume bombing Vietnam at any moment and level it to the ground. [...]
— Read the full article by Hisham Younis for Al-Manassa, translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
1. King Abdullah has rejected Donald Trump's plan to force Jordan to do what?
2. The U.S. and UK refused to sign a joint declaration following a landmark summit in Paris on what topic?
3. Facing impeachment threat, Klaus Iohannis announced he would resign as president of which European country?
4. What rare musical instrument sold for $11.25 million at a Sotheby’s auction?
a 1714 Stradivarius violin / a guitar Jimi Hendrix once set on fire / an aboriginal didgeridoo / a gold-plated trombone
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
LEGO’s upcoming “Evolution of Science” set has sparked controversy over its naming choices, particularly regarding Maria Skłodowska-Curie, referred to as Marie Curie. Critics argue that the omission of her maiden name (she was born in Warsaw in 1867 and naturalized French in 1895 after marrying French physicist Pierre Curie) in the English-language version of the set erases an important aspect of her identity, despite its inclusion in the Polish and French descriptions. The decision has led to widespread backlash, with social media users and journalists calling for LEGO to rectify the oversight.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Christie’s AI art auction faces backlash from artists. An open letter that gathered nearly 5,000 signatures from artists is calling for Christie’s New York to cancel its upcoming sale dedicated solely to art created with artificial intelligence, over concerns that the models used “exploit human artists” and use their work “without permission or payment.” The sale, which will be held from Feb. 20 to March 5, will include NTFs as well as sculptures, paintings and prints.
• Women achieve parity with men in U.S. top-grossing films of 2024. Out of the 100 top-grossing films of last year, 42% had female protagonists, the same percentage as their male counterparts — a first for Hollywood in recent history, according to a pair of annual studies. Stacy L. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, said this was “due to a number of different constituencies and efforts — at advocacy groups, at studios, through DEI initiatives — to assert the need for equality on screen.” Recent major hits led by women included Wicked, Inside Out 2 and The Substance.
• Salman Rushdie recounts 2022 stabbing attack at trial. The Indian-born British and American novelist took the stand in the trial of the man accused of attempting to kill him, which opened this week in New York, describing the shocking attack that left him blind in one eye. “It occurred to me quite clearly I was dying,” The Satanic Verses author said, as he described the attack. Hadi Matar, a dual U.S.-Lebanese citizen, is accused of assaulting Rushdie with a knife at a literary gathering in western New York in August 2022. The trial is set to last up to two weeks, lawyers said.
• Salvador Dalí art comes to India in first ever exhibition. A collection of more than 200 original sketches, etchings and watercolor paintings of the Spanish surrealist artist are on display for the first time in an exhibition at the Bruno Art Group gallery in New Delhi, starting on Feb. 14. Although Dalí never visited India, he was “fascinated” by the country, said the collection’s curator Christine Argillet, daughter of Pierre Argillet, a French collector who was also Dalí's friend and publisher.
• South Korea sees surge of documentaries amid political turmoil. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law in December and the political crisis it triggered have sparked a wave of political documentaries in the country. These include Himnaera, Daehanminguk (directly translated as “Cheer Up, Korea”), which examines South Korea’s modern history from a conservative perspective, and Junstone Year One, focusing on the rise of Rep. Lee Jun-seok, who recently launched his presidential bid. Experts have warned these documentaries could intensify the nation’s already deeply polarized political climate.
🦉 SMILE OF THE WEEK
Duo, the green cartoon owl mascot for language learning app Duolingo, is no longer! The company has announced on social media, in trademark tongue-in-cheek style, that authorities were “currently investigating his cause of death,” adding “Tbh, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know,” referring to the owl’s famous threatening ways of pronging users to do their homework. The mysterious mock murder of the internet-famous big green bird has sparked an online frenzy, with the World Health Organization and Netflix offering their condolences.
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇺🇦 Ukraine isn’t backing down after the Trump-Putin exchange. It’s fighting to ensure that any negotiated plan includes strong security guarantees to prevent another Russian attack — and that Europe, sidelined by Trump, has a seat at the table.
— FRANCE INTER
🇵🇸 Displaced Palestinians have been returning to northern Gaza following the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. But the poor conditions are pushing many to return to the South in a “reverse displacement.”
— DARAJ
📉 Tesla is struggling with a severe drop in sales. This is, of course, partly due to its CEO Elon Musk's cahooting with President Donald Trump. But there is something else going on.
— DIE ZEIT
🚨 While Colombian President Gustavo Petro is upset that the U.S. is handcuffing the Colombians it deports, he and many other South American presidents are not as upset by the mistreatment that makes people leave their home countries in the first place.
— EL ESPECTADOR
🦐 American crayfish, introduced to Spain in the 1970s, have decimated Iberian crayfish populations. However, experts debate reintroducing Iberian crayfish, as they too may not actually be native to the region.
— LA MAREA
🤖🍓 BRIGHT IDEA
Three farms in the Lot-et-Garonne area of southwestern France have been testing an autonomous robot that diffuses ultraviolet rays to prevent powdery mildew, a harmful fungus, from spreading among strawberries and raspberries. AOPn Fraises Framboises de France, an association of French strawberry and raspberry producers, which produced 30,000 tons of strawberries in 2024 — about 50% of the national total — sees this as a promising alternative to chemical treatments. After two months of trials, no fungus was detected. Xavier Mas, president of the association, believes this innovation affirms its commitment to sustainability and reinforces its role in tomorrow's agriculture.
👓 WORLDCRUNCH MAGAZINE
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⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• President Donald Trump announced that top officials from the U.S., Ukraine and Russia will meet “next week” for talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at ending the Ukraine-Russia war.
• NBA basketball stars gather in San Francisco for the 74th annual All-Star Weekend. While the three-day event will feature fan favorites like the Celebrity All-Star Game, Three-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest, the All-Star Game, on Feb. 16, will have a new tournament format, with four teams competing in three games on Sunday.
• The Berlin International Film Festival, which started on Feb. 13, will continue to Feb. 23, with 19 films competing for the prestigious Golden Bear award. U.S. filmmaker Todd Haynes is head of the jury at this 75th Berlinale, which is the first under the leadership of new Director Tricia Tuttle.
News quiz answers:
1. King Abdullah of Jordan has rejected Donald Trump's plan to resettle Palestinians in the kingdom. Following a meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday, Abdullah wrote on X that Jordan remained "steadfast" against "the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”
2. The U.S. and UK declined to sign the "Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence" that emanated from a major AI summit in Paris.
3. Klaus Iohannis resigned as president of Romania amid impending impeachment threats. The country was plunged into a constitutional crisis last year amid a court ruling that the presidential election had been tampered with by Russian groups, but legislative elections still gave the far right parties enough leverage to potentially oust the pro-EU Iohannis.
4. A violin handcrafted in 1714 by Antonio Stradivari, the famous Italian luthier, has been sold for $11.25 million by Boston’s New England Conservatory at a Sotheby’s auction. The music school will use the proceeds from the sale of the rare Stradivarius violin to create a new scholarship opportunity for students.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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*Photo: LEGO