Nonrival

March 18, 2026

Human experts + AI summaries - on public policy, economics, and technology.

Inside the Death of America's Voice: How Trump Killed VOA

the_point

• Trump gutted Voice of America in 2025, cutting staff by 85% after locking employees out of email accounts and denouncing the 80-year-old agency as radical leftist propaganda
• A former VOA journalist recounts the agency's paradoxical history of being simultaneously accused of communist sympathies and anti-communist propaganda throughout the Cold War
• The author, a leftist who joined VOA to counter Russian disinformation about Ukraine, found the work surprisingly ethical until Gaza coverage triggered the final Republican assault that led to the agency's destruction

Saudi Arabia's Iran Dilemma: Too Close for Comfort, Too Weak to Fight

csis

• Saudi Arabia faces Iranian missile attacks but remains reluctant to join a full military response, fearing it would invite devastating retaliation against its vulnerable economy and infrastructure
• Despite sharing Israel's goal of weakening Iran, the Saudis doubt this war will decisively eliminate the Iranian threat and worry the U.S. could abandon them after declaring victory
• The kingdom seeks a stronger defense treaty with America rather than ditching the relationship, though the ongoing conflict makes Israeli normalization politically harder despite strategic incentives

America's Tariff History Shows Trade Wars Are Bad for Growth

equitable_growth

• Researchers analyzed 184 years of U.S. tariff data and found that tariff increases consistently reduce economic output and manufacturing activity
• Higher tariffs cause both imports and exports to fall, with the export decline happening gradually as other countries retaliate
• Before WWII, tariffs drove up prices, but since then they've actually caused deflation due to their contractionary effects on the economy

In the News

Europe's Gulf Dilemma: Why Helping Trump Might Actually Help Themselves

atlantic_council

• Despite Trump's erratic demands and insults toward allies, European nations should consider military support in the Gulf because Iran's attacks are driving up oil prices that hurt European economies and fund Russia's war machine
• Rising energy costs threaten European political stability and could give Putin an extra $3-5 billion windfall just as Russia's position in Ukraine was weakening
• Europe could leverage its drone expertise (developed with Ukraine) to help Gulf defense while avoiding dependence on expensive U.S. interceptors, potentially shifting Gulf states away from fence-sitting on the Ukraine war

Analysis

When Unions Meet the Algorithmic Boss

equitable_growth

• Nearly 70% of U.S. workers face electronic monitoring at work through cameras, keystroke trackers, AI assistants, and automated scheduling systems that can affect pay, promotions, and discipline
• A new survey of 1,634 union members reveals that some unions are successfully negotiating contract protections against automated surveillance, with these provisions especially benefiting workers of color and those with less formal education
• However, most union members still lack contract protections from automated management tools, and nearly half don't know enough about their collective bargaining agreements to say whether such protections exist

Also Worth a Look

• Climate Policy Chaos Is Choking the Economy (equitable_growth)
• The Blood Test Revolution That Could Finally Catch Alzheimer's Early (think_global_health)
• America's Health Aid Experiment Leaves Poor Countries Holding the Bill (think_global_health)
• Wes Anderson and the Politics of Looking Backward (the_point)
• Italy's Governance Paradox: Strong Democracy, Weak Government (atlantic_council)
• America's War Machine Runs on a Rickety Power Grid (csis)
• The Remote Work Divide: Why Traffic Jams Only Hurt Working-Class Mothers (equitable_growth)