World War III may not erupt all at once. Instead, multiple regional conflicts could escalate into full-blown wars—an alarming trend already unfolding from Ukraine to the Middle East.

In recent days, the Syrian proxy war, which never truly ended, has flared up again. Armed jihadist insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have captured central and northwestern parts of Aleppo, Syria’s largest northern city.

On Sunday morning, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO), which monitors Middle Eastern waterways, reported an “attack” on a vessel approximately 80 nautical miles south of Aden, Yemen.

UKMTO stated that government authorities are investigating the incident but did not specify whether Iran-backed Houthis were involved. Furthermore, no details were provided regarding the type of vessel attacked.

X accounts focused on open-source intelligence show several fixed-wing US or allied military assets operating in the skies near the incident area. Whether these aircraft are part of the investigation into the vessel incident or were coincidentally in the region conducting intelligence-gathering missions ahead of allied strikes in Yemen remains unclear.

US Navy MQ-4C Triton w/hex AE7815 as OVRLD02 is currently operating over the Gulf of Aden. @Dinlas3 @sipjack1776 pic.twitter.com/rLVbHtLlMV

— Johnny Gemini (@Borrowed7Time) December 1, 2024

OVERLORD02 #USNavy MQ4C TRITON #UAV active Gulf of Aden, returned to UAE 1237zhttps://t.co/sx9LUbeiif pic.twitter.com/sp35y9TQ0P

— nde (@5472_nde) December 1, 2024

P8 🇺🇲#AE6844
Over the Gulf of Aden @Borrowed7Time @HusseinSalmanQ @SR_Planespotter @N214WN pic.twitter.com/CzxsPU5tWq

— 1776Girl (@sipjack1776) December 1, 2024

In prediction markets, the rising risks of regional wars have sparked volatility in these Polymarket contracts.

*Developing… 

Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

We’re now almost a month since Donald Trump won the 2024 election in a landslide. While there are still daily headlines crossing the wire about his policy plans and appointees, the fever pitch of political rhetoric from both sides of the aisle that existed just one month ago has inconspicuously vanished for the most part.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article called “The Great Trump Exhale” where I talked about how I could finally sit back in my desk chair and worry less about the state of the nation. It wasn’t just about who won, it was about the fact that the election, and its associated volatility, had passed. I wrote about feeling a palpable relaxation and how rolling back many of the “new” Democrat policies of the last 4 years—many, in my view, akin to suffocation of liberty via a massive Orwellian government—had made much of the nation feel like it could breathe again.

In addition to this feeling about the election results, part of me also feels pleasantly catatonic as it relates to the media, on both sides of the aisle. For example, I had a discussion with Matt Taibbi last weekend about why mainstream media has lost the trust of the American public. Oddly, it no longer felt like a moment to be outraged—and I wasn’t. Instead, it felt like we were 11 year olds who had just beaten the final boss in a video game we’ve been playing for the last 4 years, and now we were collectively watching the end credits.

Over the last three weeks, I’ve taken a lot of time off social media, which has felt refreshing. Even though no headline or political analysis was going to single-handedly tip off who would win the election leading into November, I, like many other Americans, got caught up in an incessant, relentless, panicked news cycle of rhetoric and analysis. Like any other addiction, it affected my sleep cycles, dopamine levels, and mood more than I care to admit. Heading into election day, not only was I scrolling through social media during all waking hours, but I was also spending endless nights watching political analysis on cable news.

And on my almost-daily walk home from the laundromat today, I was listening to a podcast that unexpectedly drifted into political territory. While the guest on the podcast held stark ideological and political differences from me, I had no mental or physiological response at all to what they were saying. Weeks ago, prior to the election, I probably would have written an entire blog about it.

I’m sure part of this apathy comes from being at ease with how the election results turned out, but to be frank, I think I would feel similarly had Kamala Harris won the election. After all, I’m not just ignoring MSNBC or CNN these days—I’m also ignoring Fox News and all my usual right-wing touchpoints.

At the risk of sounding like a presidential concession speech writer, I think if Harris had won, I would have already resigned myself to the fact that the next four years are all but predetermined in their outcome. And, as corny as it sounds, we have to try to continue coming together as a nation to forge a path forward.

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Rather than attributing my newfound peace of mind to my preferred candidate winning, I actually credit a self-fulfilling prophecy that began when I turned off the media and social media for the week after election day. Without the media or social media, there are fewer things held directly in front of my face that I’m told are causes for worry. With less to worry about, I don’t feel the need to get lost in thought or surrender the sovereignty of my mind to social media or mainstream media. And without surrendering my mind to these outlets, I have less to worry about — the pattern continues and time moves forward.

A couple of days ago, someone sent me a clip of Joy Reid talking on MSNBC about Thanksgiving—a clip I noted during my post on Thanksgiving morning. Normally, the clip would have infuriated me, perhaps because Reid would be viewed as one of the chief architects in forcing the country down an ideological path I don’t agree with (and an airhead, to boot). But when I watched the video on Thanksgiving morning, only the first 15 seconds “got in” to my head. The rest very quickly started to sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown: I could see her lips moving and hear words coming out of her mouth, but nothing registered and I couldn’t have cared less about what she was saying. Similarly, I felt the same when I flipped on Fox News a week after the election.

While I can’t say for sure where this newfound disconnection from the main nerve center of U.S. politics came from, what I can say is that I’m loving it. A couple of days ago, I listened to a podcast about bass fishing. I would have never done this a month ago. Hell, I don’t even like fishing! It just felt as though my mind was starving for input in any depository of my brain other than the one dedicated to political discourse—which at this point feels like Kobayashi’s stomach after the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Turning off the media and social media has given me clarity to see just how much of the political noise was (and is) unnecessary clutter. Right now, everything political feels like little more than white noise—a constant hum that no longer demands my attention or energy. And, to be honest, I hope it stays that way for a while. By stepping away, I’ve rediscovered the peace of mind that comes from focusing on what truly matters and allowing myself to engage with the world on my own terms, free from the relentless bombardment of outrage — from both sides of the aisle.

QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

Next year could be pivotal for both Democrats and Republicans, as the former will look to regain ground after an array of losses in 2024, while their opponents are eager to grow their existing electoral advantages.

Even though 2025 will lack the same decisive electoral landscape seen in general election years like 2024—where control for both Congress and the White House was hanging in the balance—there are key contests next year that could test both Republicans’ and Democrats’ viability moving forward.

These races will also determine the extent and strength of public support for President-elect Donald Trump and whether his victories across the Electoral College and national popular vote are indicative of a broader mandate, as he and his allies have suggested.

Here are some of the critical races to watch in 2025.

Virginia Governor and Legislature

Virginia is one of several states where Trump improved on his 2020 numbers. That year he secured 44 percent with roughly 1.96 million votes. But this year, Trump climbed to 46.6 percent, with 2.01 million votes.

Virginia governors are limited to a single term, which means Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin cannot run for reelection. When Youngkin won in 2021, he was the first Republican to win a statewide election in the Old Dominion since 2009.

While Virginia has voted for a Democrat presidential candidate in every election since 2008, Vice President Kamala Harris’s margin of victory was 5.2 percent, compared to then-candidate Joe Biden’s 10.1 percent margin of victory in 2020.

Virginia’s Republican attorney general Jason Miyares has decided not to run, leaving the field open for Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican who Younkin endorsed as his successor.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) launched her gubernatorial campaign in late 2023, which could create a scenario for Virginia to elect its first female governor if she wins the Democrat primary and runs against Earle-Sears, the first woman to serve as the state’s lieutenant governor.

Trump’s performance next year could be critical for the race, particularly among voters in Virginia’s Washington suburbs.

Two years ago, Democrats were able to flip control of Virginia’s House of Delegates, one-half of its state legislature, to give them a slim 51–49 majority.

After Trump halved Democrats’ White House margins between 2020 and 2024 in the Old Dominion, these races next year could be a critical test of whether that GOP performance will endure past 2024.

Democrats also hold a narrow majority in Virginia’s state Senate, 21–19. They will try to hold onto those advantages while Republicans will battle for potential upsets, which will be critical if Democrats win the governor’s race.

The GOP would need control of Virginia’s Legislature to check the agenda of a potential incoming Democrat governor if Republicans lose that race.

New Jersey Governor

Like Virginia, Trump’s numbers vastly improved in New Jersey in 2024. Four years ago, Biden carried the state by 15.94 percent, but Harris’s win this year was by a far smaller margin of 5.9 percent.

This was indicative of a broader trend in 2024, where Trump made considerable gains in multiple blue states compared with 2020.

In New Jersey, Republicans are hoping to carry that success into 2025 by flipping the governor’s mansion.

Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited, and his margin of victory in 2021 was just 3 points, far smaller than his 13.5-point win in 2017.

State Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney are among Democrats mulling the gubernatorial primary.

Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who lost to Murphy in 2021, is considering next year’s GOP primary along with radio host Bill Spadea, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, and former state Sen. Ed Durr. Trump’s looming endorsement could impact who clinches the Republican primary in 2025.

New York City Mayor

In another historically blue state, there’s a critical test for New York City Major Eric Adams, a Democrat, who is up for reelection next year amid low approval ratings and federal corruption charges.

According to a Justice Department statement, prosecutors allege in September that Adams “has used his prominent positions in New York City government to obtain illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel” and “solicited and accepted these benefits from foreign nationals, businessmen, and others.”

“By allegedly taking improper and illegal benefits from foreign nationals—including to allow a Manhattan skyscraper to open without a fire inspection—Adams put the interests of his benefactors, including a foreign official, above those of his constituents,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in the statement.

Adams has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the charges. The federal trial is set to begin in April 2025.

Many Democrats have entered the race to challenge the incumbent, including New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, state senators Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos, former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, former Obama White House aide Michael Blake, and Democrat donor Whitney Tilson.

Attorney Jim Walden, an independent, will also run in the race.

Wisconsin Supreme Court

In 2025, partisan control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court will be on the ballot.

Currently at a 4–3 liberal majority, Wisconsin’s high court will split to 3–3 after Justice Ann Walsh Bradley’s retirement.

Those running for Bradley’s seat are Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, a liberal, and former state Attorney General Brad Schimel, a Republican.

In addition to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Crawford also represented the Madison teachers union during their lawsuit challenging former Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10, which restricted many public workers’ collective bargaining rights.

Schimel, who is now a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge, handled several prominent cases as attorney general, including an appeal to state legislative maps that were struck down as an unconstitutional gerrymander in 2016.

The case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and successfully appealed.

Schimel also appealed a case trying to revive a 2013 law that said physicians with admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles of an abortion procedure were the only doctors who could perform the procedure.

The case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case.

In 2023, the last time Wisconsin’s Supreme Court partisan control was on the ballot, groups broke records and spent tens of millions of dollars in advertising on the election cycle.

While the war-weary US and European populations have long ago lost their fascination with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, which was on display during his September trip to Washington—largely met with little enthusiasm even among Congressional leaders—it is less common for the mainstream media to admit his star power has completely faded.

However, a fresh assessment in Britain’s The Times newspaper details the extent to which there’s been a general “disenchantment” with him both at home and abroad as he’s clearly lost his “shine”.

Amid steady Russian military gains in the east, and under pressure by Washington drop the military enlistment age from 25 to 18 (which would be hugely unpopular among Ukrainians), if a presidential vote were held tomorrow Zelensky would very likely lose.

“Just 16 per cent would vote to re-elect him for a second term, according to an opinion poll of 1,200 Ukrainians published this week by the Social Monitoring Centre in Kyiv,” The Times writes. “The poll, the most comprehensive study of electoral preferences since the invasion began in 2022, also found that about 60 per cent would prefer Zelensky not to even stand for re-election.”

The publication comments bluntly that this shows “Zelensky’s popularity is fading” and the reality is “very few Ukrainians envision him as their next president.“

Perhaps he himself is fully aware of this, after having canceled scheduled elections last spring, and extending indefinitely the maintenance of martial law across the country which prevents a valid election from taking place.

On the inevitability of Zelensky’s popularity fading and plummeting, The Times observes further:

It was perhaps inevitable that Zelensky’s leadership would lose its shine. No Ukrainian president apart from Leonid Kuchma, whose 1999 re-election was marred by suspicions of vote fraud, has secured a second term since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union.

“Maintaining popularity in this country is incredibly challenging, particularly during a difficult war,” Ponomarenko said. “It is a pattern we’ve seen before. We elect a new ‘saviour of the nation’ as president with sky-high approval ratings, quickly grow disillusioned and, in the best case, ensure their landslide defeat in the next election.”

But the “next election” may be further away than ever, as Zelensky is unlikely to relinquish power so long as the war with Russia continues. If a full truce is eventually secured, he may actually step down soon afterward.

As for the aforementioned poll and potential rivals to the presidency, the same publication notes that “ahead of Zelensky, with 27 per cent was Valery Zaluzhny, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces who has served as the ambassador to Britain since July.”

But again, all of this is reason enough to believe that Zelensky will keep pushing elections further and further down the road, and with no clear timeline of lifting martial law in the war-ravaged nation. Currently, he’s still going all-in with pressing Western allies for NATO membership.

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

House Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and James McGovern (D-MA) have sent a letter to President Biden urging him to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to send a message that Biden will “not target or investigate journalists and media outlets simply for doing their jobs.”

“We write, first, to express our appreciation for your administration’s decision last spring to facilitate a resolution of the criminal case against publisher Julian Assange and to withdraw the related extradition request that had been pending in the United Kingdom,” Massie and McGovern wrote in the letter dated November 1, which was first made public earlier this past week.

Assange was freed in a plea deal earlier this year after spending more than five years in London’s Belmarsh Prison while battling a US extradition request. He was indicted by the Trump administration in 2019 for exposing US war crimes by publishing classified documents leaked to WikiLeaks by former Army Private Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning in 2010.

Under the indictment, Assange could have faced up to 175 years in prison in the US for publishing the documents, a standard journalistic practice. While the plea deal set him free, it required him to plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act.

“The terms of Mr. Assange’s plea agreement have now set a precedent that greatly deepens our concern,” Massie and McGovern said. “A review of prosecutions under the Espionage Act makes clear that Mr. Assange’s case is the first time the Act has been deployed against a publisher.”

The lawmakers pointed to comments from Jodie Ginsberg, the CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who said, “While we welcome the end of his detention, the US’s pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers.”

Massie and McGovern concluded the letter by saying, “We therefore urge you to consider issuing a pardon for Mr. Assange. A pardon would remove the precedent set by the plea and send a clear message that the US government under your leadership will not target or investigate journalists and media outlets simply for doing their jobs.”

BREAKING: U.S. Lawmakers @RepMcGovern and @RepThomasMassie call on President Biden to pardon Julian Assange. #PardonAssange pic.twitter.com/qVvHZPuKhA

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 28, 2024

According to Fox News, Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, is heading to Washington in January to push for a pardon before Biden leaves office. Click here to add your name to an open letter calling on Biden to pardon the WikiLeaks founder.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

The disaster in Aleppo was avoidable and is just as bad as it looks…

The Turkish-backed terrorists’/“rebels’” advance on Aleppo, which was analyzed here, came as a shock to most observers.

There was almost half a decade of peace between the March 2020 ceasefire and now, yet practically nothing was done to prepare for this possibility.

This was in spite of the front line remaining roughly two dozen kilometers away from Aleppo, which should have reminded Assad of how vulnerable his country’s second city is.

Here are the five reasons why Syria was caught by surprise:

1. Complacency & Corruption

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) rested on its laurels because it took the Russian-brokered ceasefire for granted, after which the country’s infamous corruption kicked in to degrade its capabilities. There’s no excuse for why even basic drones weren’t used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) to detect the buildup that preceded this advance. A large part of why the SAA didn’t do anything is likely because it assumed that its Russian and Iranian allies would shoulder these responsibilities for them.

2. The Russian-Iranian Rivalry

Russia and Iran fought together against terrorism in Syria, but they’re also rivals who are competing with each other for premier influence over Damascus. So intense is their competition that Russia always does nothing other than occasionally complain whenever Israel bombs the IRGC there, never once giving Syria the means to intercept these attacks or retaliate afterwards. Had they not been rivals, then Russia and Iran could have jointly strengthened the SAA, carried out ISR in Idlib, and bolstered Aleppo’s defenses.

3. Distracted & Crippled Allies

To make matters even worse for Syria, the terrorists’/“rebels’” advance on Aleppo came precisely at the moment when Russia is distracted with the special military operation (SMO) and Iran has been crippled by its West Asian Wars with Israel. Without sufficient Russian airpower and Iranian manpower, including that which the latter could have called upon from Hezbollah, it’ll be extremely difficult for the SAA to push the attackers away from Aleppo. This factor, more than any other, might have even sealed its fate.

4. Ignoring The SMO’s Lessons

Even amidst the Russian-Iranian rivalry and its allies’ aforesaid problems, the SAA could have learned the SMO’s lessons on its own and correspondingly prepared much better for what ultimately came to pass. Masterful drone tactics and strategically dispersed units have characterized the attack thus far, both of which are hallmarks of the SMO, yet the SAA was totally unprepared for this. It must therefore take final responsibility for failing to do its duty in learning from that conflict and adapting its defenses accordingly.

5. Not Compromising For Peace

The last reason why Syria was caught by surprise is because it didn’t compromise for peace by accepting 2017’s Russian-written “draft constitution”, which was constructively critiqued in detail here. It’s chock-full of concessions so one can sympathize with Syria for rejecting it, but in hindsight, this could have finally resolved the conflict and thus averted the ongoing fiasco in Aleppo. For this reason, it could be revived during these desperate times, but the “opposition” might now demand even more concessions.

The disaster in Aleppo was avoidable and is just as bad as it looks.

It’s not part of a “5D chess master plan” to “trap the terrorists in a cauldron” like some members of the Alt-Media Community have implied or claimed.

Observers should reject the “insight” shared by those who already discredited themselves with their fantastical takes on the SMO and the West Asian Wars.

The “politically inconvenient” truth is that Syria was caught by surprise, the SAA is on the backfoot, and the worst might be yet to come.

Authored by Leslie Eastman via LegalInsurrection.com,

Asteroid Apophis, named after the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction, is a near-Earth asteroid that has garnered significant attention due to its close approach to our home planet.

Discovered in 2004, Apophis is classified as a potentially hazardous object. Due to swing close enough to the planet in 2029, the gravitational influence will be enough to cause tremors.

A recent study led by Ronald-Louis Ballouz from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory suggests that the asteroid 99942 Apophis may experience tremors—similar to earthquakes—due to Earth’s gravitational pull during its close flyby on April 13, 2029, with simulations indicating significant surface changes.

Apophis, approximately 340 meters in size, will pass within about 32,000 kilometers of Earth, closer than many satellites in orbit.

When Apophis was discovered on June 19, 2004, by Roy Tucker, David Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi during the University of Hawaii Asteroid Survey (UHAS), initial calculations indicated that it could approach Earth with a risk of collision, especially during its pass in 2029. It didn’t help that it is named after the Egyptian god of darkness and chaos.

The original estimates for collision were as high as 2.7%, and Apophis achieved the highest rating ever on the ‘Torino scale’ – a method used to evaluate the threat that an asteroid poses to Earth.

However, new calculations and observations have led scientists to conclude that there will be no impact….for at least 100 years.

….Using the data available at the time, astronomers believed that there was a chance that the flyby could alter the trajectory of Apophis in a way that would line it up for a collision with Earth in 2068.

However, radar observations of Apophis made by NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California and the Green Bank Observatory, West Virginia, in March 2021 greatly improved our knowledge of the asteroid’s current orbit and allowed astronomers to finally rule out any chance of Earth impact for at least 100 years.

And while it won’t strike Earth, Apophis will be bright enough in the skies to be visible to the unaided eye. So, the viewing parties could be fun!

As I mentioned, the viewing parties of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are currently making their own plans for up-close-and-personal observations.

The OSIRIS-APEX mission is slated to visit the asteroid. It continues the OSIRIS-REx mission, which successfully collected and returned samples from asteroid Bennu (which I reported on in a 2023 post).

OSIRIS-APEX is a mission to study the physical changes to asteroid Apophis that will result from its rare close encounter with Earth in April 2029. That year, Apophis’ orbit will bring it within 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) of Earth’s surface — closer to Earth than our highest-altitude satellites. Our planet’s gravitational pull is expected to alter the asteroid’s orbit, change how fast it spins on its axis, and possibly cause quakes or landslides that will alter its surface.

OSIRIS-APEX will allow scientists on Earth to observe these changes. Additionally, the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft will dip toward the surface of Apophis ­– a “stony” asteroid made of silicate (or rocky) material and a mixture of metallic nickel and iron ­ – and fire its engines to kick up loose rocks and dust. This maneuver will give scientists a peek at the composition of material just below the asteroid’s surface.

Other satellite projects, including those related to planetary defense, are also being planned.

Under the auspicious “NEAlight” project, a team from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) and led by space engineer Hakan Kayal has revealed three concepts for such spacecraft. Each of the suggested satellites will aim to exploit this asteroid passage because Earth experiences just once such event every millennium.

The goal? To collect data that could help scientists better understand the solar system, and perhaps even aid in the development of defense measures against dangerous asteroids.

America’s East and West Coasts together contribute about half of the country’s $27 trillion GDP. For context, these two regions are home to 17 states and 160 million people.

But how do they stack up against each other?

In this map, Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao takes a look at which states constitute both coasts and also measure their combined economic productivity.

Data is sourced from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau, as of 2023.

So, Which Coast is the Best Coast?

The Eastern Seaboard, where a third of Americans live, has a combined GDP of $9 trillion, also about a third of the U.S. economy.

Note: All figures rounded.

On the other hand, the West (figures listed below) comes in at about $5 trillion. And despite the smaller overall number, it’s punching above its weight, with less than half the population. This is better seen in how the GDP per capita shakes out for both: $98,000 for the West versus $84,000 for the East.

California leads the way for its coast, with its economy nearing $4 trillion, just by itself.

Note: All figures rounded.

Of course, the East has the pedigree, the history, and the people. It’s where the original 13 states declared independence in 1776 after all. On the other hand, California joined the union in 1850, followed by Oregon (1859) and Washington (1889).

But even before Silicon Valley changed California (and the West, and perhaps the world?), the Golden State has been central to America’s economic growth.

California King

The gold rush set off the largest inter-state migration in U.S. history and fueled wild dreams. After it ended, agriculture became California’s largest sector, followed by oil at the start of the 20th century. In fact, as recently as 2012, California was the third-largest oil producing state.

All of that has now been eclipsed now by California’s booming tech sector, home to four trillion-dollar companies—Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Nvidia. Further noth, Washington has another two: Amazon and Microsoft.

In stark contrast, the East Coast has none, though it is home to several finance giants: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley.

Looking for more comparison graphics? Take a look at How State Economies Compare to Entire Countries where five U.S. states could replace countries in the top 20 by GDP.

On Saturday as the new jihadist assault on Aleppo was unfolding, the Iranian government announced that “some terrorist elements” attacked the Iranian consulate located in the large northern Syrian city.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei in a statement said his country “strongly condemned the attack” by “some armed terrorist elements” on the consulate of the Islamic Republic, and noted that all its staff members are safe.

While few other details were given, Baghaei stressed further that Tehran plans to provide a “serious” response to the attack, “both legally and internationally.”

Iran has also branded the new offensive launched out of Al-Qaeda held Idlib as “an American-Zionist” plot. The past ten decades of proxy war in Syria did see Israel team up with the Sunni anti-Assad insurgency, which also had the support of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the US, Turkey, and some European countries.

This appears to be happening again, crucially at a moment Hezbollah is distracted and bogged down in the war with Israel. 

Broadly, the Syrian proxy war pit the Shia axis against hardline Sunnis supported by extremists Gulf clerics, who had Western guns. While part of the self-styled ‘resistance’ axis which includes Hezbollah, Damascus represents one of the last secular and nationalist states in the Middle East (under the Ba’ath party).

The radical group Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham or HTS (an offshoot of Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra) has launched a rapid surprise assault which has resulted in its militants reaching the center of Aleppo city.

Moscow has meanwhile blasted the “attack on Syria’s sovereignty in the region” and urged the Assad government to restore “order there as soon as possible.” Russian aircraft have reportedly been helping the Syrian Army do just that. But the insurgents now control key neighborhoods of Aleppo.

HTS/Nusra terrorists waiting the flag of jihad in historic central Aleppo:

Al-Nusra Front terrorists, a group which is effectively Al-Qaeda, wave their banner in front of Aleppo’s citadel.

Syria🇸🇾 is once again revisiting its darkest days, when NATO-backed Al Qaeda and ISIS took over Syria’s cities, imposing their barbaric rule over civilians.

Syria,… pic.twitter.com/cD7swPwIsP

— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) November 30, 2024

But what’s become clear to many is that the Syrian Army was caught on its backfoot in Aleppo, following years of grueling war and devastating Western sanctions, which has caused a drain on both manpower and resources, also amid runaway inflation.

The HTS jihadists are now threatening other parts of Syria, and may be eyeing the central Syrian city of Hama next. The war appears to have returned to northern and central Syria with a vengeance.