Can Russia (or Iran) survive without China?

[this analysis was written for the Unz Review]

In a recent article entitled “China, Bolivia and Venezuela are proof that social democracy cannot thrive in the global capitalist order” my China-based friend and correspondent Jeff J. Brown asked me an exceedingly interesting and important question. He wrote:

Russia is a social democracy, with a large, successful people owned industrial sector and many social services for the 99% from the Soviet era. But, unlike Bolivia and Ukraine, it is avoiding the West’s color revolution poison pill, because since 1999, Russia has gone from strength to strength, under the inspired leadership of patriotic President Vladimir Putin. But like all social democracies, the problem is what happens if another Western whore Boris Yeltsin succeeds Putin, and returns Russia to its dystopian Wall Street rape of the 1990s? Then what? It only took Macri four short years to bring Argentina back onto its groveling knees. Without a 100% nationalized media, Russians had better be demanding that Putin & Russian Patriots Inc. work overtime to censor all the Western overthrow garbage that is put in Cyrillic ink and on the airwaves. I would love to hear what my good friend Andrei Raevsky thinks about this at The Saker (http://10.16.86.131/), because let’s be honest: without China’s, Russia’s and Iran’s continued anti-imperial independence and socialist success into the 21^st century, humanity can kiss its ass goodbye!

Let’s begin by deconstructing the assumptions and implications of Jeff’s question.
China and Russia *could* be separated
The first assumptions Jeff makes are the following ones:

Russia is a social democracy
The Russian media is not 100% state controlled
A new Eltsin might succeed Putin
The West is saturating the Russian information space with garbage
That western propaganda can still strongly impact Russia
China and Russia *could* be separated (hence the need to prevent that as the central thesis of Jeff)

And, finally, considering the above, Jeff offers the following compelling implication for the China-Russia-Iran triangle:

Considering the above, China’s independence and support for Russia and Iran are vital for the sovereignty and freedom, if not survival, of Russia and Iran

Now let’s begin by looking into Jeff’s assumptions:

Russia is a social democracy:

Yes and no. If we define a social democracy as being a specific polity and system of laws, then Russia is a social democracy. However, if we define social democracy as a specific polity, system of laws and social culture, then I would argue that to the extent that Russia is, indeed, a social democracy, she is a rather weird one. What do I mean by that?

By that I mean that thanks to the nightmare of “democracy” under Eltsin and his US curators, and thanks to the recent explosion of “democracy” in the Ukraine, the Russian people have by and large come to consider the words “liberal” and “democracy” as four letter words. For example, the word “либерал” (liberal) has now given birth to a derived word либераст which takes the first letters of the word “liberal” and adds the last letters of the word педераст (pederast – a rude word for homosexual [yes, in Russian homosexuality and pederasty are not separated!]) which results in the new word “liberast” the closest to which in English would be something like “libfag”, hardly a compliment. In some interpretations, a “liberast” is also somebody who has been “f**ked by democracy“. Not much better… As for the word “демократия” (democracy) for years it has already been called “дерьмократия” (using the first letters of дерьмо (der’mo or shit) and the last letter of democracy to create der’mokratia or “shitocracy”. Finally, there is also the saying that “демократия, это власть демократов” (democracy is the rule of the democrats), which for a country which has undergone the 1990s and seen the Ukraine being comprehensively FUBARed is ominous; not funny at all. All this is simply to show that culturally the Russian society is not at all your typical social democracy. It is a sort of democracy in which the majority of the people do not believe in democracy. This is very important, crucial even, and I will address this issue later.

The Russian media is not 100% state controlled:

That is absolutely true! However, it misses an important point: the real profile of the Russian media which is much more complex than “state controlled” vs “free media”. To make a long story short, the main TV channels, while not really “controlled” by the state at all, are mostly pro-Kremlin. But here we need to get the cause and effect right: these channels are not pro-Kremlin only because they get state funds or because of the political power of the Kremlin, the main reason why they are pro-Kremlin is the terrible rating of those media outlets who took a strong anti-Kremlin position.

To make my point, I want to mention the rabidly anti-Kremlin TV station which is very well known in Russia (Dozhd’ – see here for the (predictably complimentary) entry in Wikipedia for this TV channel). In fact, Dozhd’ is just the best known of a fairly extensive anti-Kremlin media but, in reality, there are many more outlets which hold an anti-Kremlin pro-Empire line. However, as I explained in a 2016 article entitled “Counter-Propaganda, Russian Style” and then, again, in 2017, in the article “Revisiting Russian Counter-Propaganda Methods” the Kremlin has developed a very effective counter-propaganda strategy: instead of suppressing the Empire’s propaganda (like the Soviets did, most unsuccessfully), the Kremlin now directly funds that same propaganda! Not only does the (state-owned) Gazprom finance Dozd’ – the western and Russian liberal guests which ridicule themselves on Russian TV are also generously paid for each of their appearances. Even hardcore Ukronazi nutcases get invited regularly (when they truly overdo it they also get into fights, or get kicked out of the studios, which is all very much fin to watch and is therefore watched by millions). The truth is that at this point the AngloZionist propaganda in Russia has much more of a very healthy “vaccination” effect then the ability to convince anybody beyond the “traditional” 2-4% of folks in Russia who still think that the West is some kind of heaven on earth and Russia an ugly, vicious and freedom crushing “Mordor”.

This being said, there is one channel through which the worst of the western consumer-society propaganda still permeates Russia: commercials. Russian commercials are mostly absolutely disgusting; they basically vehiculate one crude and simple message “Russians must become US Americans”. That propaganda via commercials is, I think the single most toxic and insidious form of de-russification I can think of and it is far more dangerous than any other means of “defacing” Russia.

Finally, and to my great regret, media outlets like RT and Sputnik have decided to “go native” I suppose and they now cater to western tastes much more than to Russian ones. The quasi constant “reporting” about MMA fights, minimally clad ladies, sex in all its shapes and forms and Hollywood gossip – all of this just goes to show that the folks in charge of these media outlets have decided that catering the the lowest possible social common denominator is the way to promote Russia abroad. I am not so sure. What began with “Question More” and “Telling the Untold” now seems more preoccupied with trying to copy the yellow press in the UK than to challenge the Empire. I very much regret that state of affairs.

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of 5th columnists and russophobes in these media outlets (especially in their online, Internet-based, websites; the actual radio/TV shows are mostly better).

So all is not rosy in the Russian media scene, but its not all bad either.

A new Eltsin might succeed Putin

Here I can only completely agree, and that is very scary. Due to the lack of space, I will present my arguments in a short, bullet-point, list:

“Russia” is still very much a “one man show” meaning that Putin himself, as a person, is still absolutely vital to the current functioning of Russia. Not only are most Russians still strongly supportive of him personally, but there are no credible candidates to replace him. Yes, there are a few potential candidates out there (in no special order: Ivanov, Shoigu and Rogozin would be the best known, but there are others, of course), but what makes it all worse is that historically, Russia, unlike China, has a very bad record of successions.
The 5th column is still there and while it keeps a very low profile (current events favor the Eurasian Sovereignists), it is still there, literally in all branches of power and very much inside the Moscow elites who hate Putin for putting an end to what they saw as the “Bonanza of the 1990s”.
There *is* a patriotic Russian opposition to Putin, and it is slowly growing, but it is poorly organized, has a lot of clueless nostalgics of the Soviet era and a lot of its criticisms are, frankly, naive or plain silly (along with very valid points too!). I don’t see this opposition capable of producing a strong and credible leader. But that might change in the future.
Thus the cornerstone of “Putinism” is Putin himself. With him gone, for whatever reason, Putinism could very rapidly fade too. This might be a good or a bad thing depending on the specific circumstances, but the chances that this might be a very bad thing are higher than the opposite being true.

“Putin The Man”, urgently needs to be replaced by “Putin The System”, but that is truly a herculean task because that means reforming/purging most of the immense and powerful Russian bureaucracy and find somewhere a new generation of men and women who could be both effective and trusted. The problem is that in most cases when one man goes against a system, the system wins. Putin is the proverbial case of a very good man in a very bad system. True, he has successfully reformed the two branches of government which were most needed to make it possible for both him and Russia to survive the war the Empire was waging on Russia: the armed forces and the intelligence/security forces. Other parts of the Russian state are still in a terrible shape (the entire legal system for starters!).

I think that the risk of an Eltsin-like prostitute coming to power is real, even if the bulk of the population would not necessarily approve of it (or be divided about it). Long-term historical stability of a huge country like Russia cannot come from a man. It can only come from institutions. And just as Peter I destroyed the traditional Russian monarchy, so can one man destroy the current “new Russia” (for lack of a better descriptor), especially if this “new Russia” has only one man as its cornerstone.

Finally, history teaches us that every time that Russia is weak or disunited, the western powers immediately pounce and intervene, including with military means. The Poles are still dreaming about yet another chance to prove Churchill’s diagnosis about Poland true and pounce on both the Ukraine and Russia if given the chance.

The West is saturating the Russian information space with garbage and western propaganda can still strongly impact Russia

As we have seen above, these are both at least partially true, but they are also not that much of a big deal. This is clearly a source of potential concern, a danger, but not a threat (a danger being vague, a threat specific). To the extend that this is a bad thing, this is mostly due to the hyper-materialistic consumer culture which currently competes against a much more traditional, Russian culture. It is hard to say which one will win. The former has much, much bigger financial means, the latter one has a strong ‘home turf advantage”. Only time will show which will prevail. So long as many Russians will think “western propaganda lies” (which most understand) AND are attracted to western-style commercials (which are, in so many ways, an even much more effective and insidious form of propaganda), the jury will remain out on who will prevail should instability return to Russia.

China and Russia *could* be separated

This is probably the most important assumption made by Jeff. First, since this is completely hypothetical, and since we are not future-seeing prophets let’s first agree to never say never and not dismiss this possibility out of hand. This being said, I would like to remind everybody that Russia and China have gradually changed the labels which they applied to the other side. The latest (as far as I know, Chinese speakers please correct me if needed!) expression used by Xi and other Chinese officials is “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era“. There is a lot to unpack here, but let’s just say that this does not sound like the Chinese came up with that concept lightly or that they have many misgivings about the future of the relationship with Russia. As for the Russians, they have now openly used the term “ally” on many occasions, including Putin. In Russian that word “ally” (союзник) is a very strong one and contrasts sharply with the cynical and disgusted way the Russians always speak about their western “partners” (which often shocks those who don’t speak Russian).

And it is not all sweet talk either. The Russians and the Chinese have had many and major joint military maneuvers, they have practiced the Russian equivalent of the US/NATO “Combined Joint Task Force” concept (see here for details). Thus, while not formal allies, Russia and China do all the things which close allies do. I would even argue that the “informal symbiosis” between Russia and China is far stronger than the NATO alliance.

It is my opinion that what Putin and Xi have done is something which has no previous equivalent in history, at least as far as I know. Even though both Russia and China have been empires in the past, I strongly believe that both of these countries have entered a “post-imperial phase” in which the trappings of empire have been replaced by an acute sense that empires are extremely bad not only for the nations which it oppresses, but also for the nation which hosts it. Both Russia and China have paid a horrendous price for their imperial years and both Russia and China completely understand that the people of the USA are also amongst the prime victims of the (transnational) Anglo-Zionist Empire, even if that is all too often forgotten. Not only do they not want to repeat their own mistakes, they see the USA dying in the quicksands of imperialism and the last thing they want is to jump in and join the US.

I believe that the relationship between Russia and China is a symbiosis, which is much stronger than any alliances because while the latter can be broken, the former typically cannot (at least not without extremely severe consequences). I also believe that Putin and Xi both understand that the fact that Russia and China are so completely different is not a problem, but a tremendous asset: they fit perfectly, like Lego or puzzle pieces. What Russia has China does not and vice-versa. And, just to clarify for the logically challenged: both sides also understand that they will never get from the other side by war what they could get by peaceful exchange. Yes, the silly Polish dream of having Russia invaded by China several times (an old Polish joke of sorts) is only a reflection of the ancient Polish inferiority complex, not of geostrategic realities :-)

Of course, in theory, anything could happen. But I personally see no chain of events which could be sufficient to threaten the Sino-Russian symbiotic relationship, not even a collapse of “New Russia Putinism” (not elegant, but functional for our purposes) or the kind of chaos which a Eltsin type of comprador regime could try to reimpose on Russia. At the end of the day, if Russia collapses then China will hold truly immense financial and economic power over Russia and will therefore be able to impose at least a China-friendly regime. In that extremely unlikely case, Russia would, of course, lose her sovereignty, but not to the West, but to China. That is not quite what Jeff had in mind.

Conclusion:

Yes, Russia and China need each other. I would argue that they need each other. Vitally. And yes, the “loss” of one would threaten the other. But that is not just true for Russia, it is also very true of China (which desperately needs Russian energy, high-tech, natural resources, weapons systems but most of all, Russian experience: for most of her existence Russia was threatened, invaded, attacked, sanctioned, boycotted and disparaged by a long succession of western states, and she defeated them all. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but each time Russia prevailed. The determination and ability to resist the West is something which is deeply embedded in the Russian cultural DNA (this in sharp contrast with the rest of the so-called “East European” countries). Finally, and for all their very real recent advances, the Chinese armed forces are still far behind the Russian (or the USA for that matter) and in a one-on-one war against the USA China would definitely lose, especially if the USA goes “all out”. Russia, on the other hand, has the means to turn the US and Europe into a post-industrial nuclear wasteland (using nuclear and, most importantly, non-nuclear munitions!).

I would also add something Jeff did not address: Iran. I believe that both Russia and China also very much need Iran. Okay, that is not a vital need, both Russia and China could survive without an allied Iran, but Iran offers immense advantages to both countries, if only because thanks to the truly phenomenal stupidity of the Neocons the USA’s breathtakingly stupid policies in the Middle-East (here is just the latest example) have turned Iran into a regional super-power eclipsing both Israel and the KSA. Furthermore, if Russia has shown much more political and moral courage than China (which, lets be honest, has been pretty happy to have Russia taking the brunt of the Empire’s attacks), Iran has shown much more political and moral courage than Russia, especially concerning the slow-motion genocide perpetrated by the Zionist Entity in Palestine.

And this brings us full circle to the discussion of what kind of country Russia currently really is. Russia is not the Soviet Union. Neither is she pre-1917 Russia. But what is she really?

Nobody really knows, I think.

It is a moving target, a process. This process might lead to a new and stable “new Russia”, but that is by no means certain. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article 13 of the Russian Constitution say:

In the Russian Federation ideological diversity shall be recognized
No ideology may be established as state or obligatory one.
In the Russian Federation political diversity and multi-party system shall be recognized.

In other words, not only is there no “no official ideology” in Russia, there is an explicit recognition for a multi-party political system (itself an ideological statement, by the way). These are all potentially very dangerous and toxic items in the Russian Constitution which already are hindering a true national, cultural, psychological and spiritual rebirth of Russia. Iran, in contrast, has succeeded in creating an Islamic Republic which is both truly and unapologetically Islamic and truly democratic, at least in the sense that, unlike western democracies which are mostly run by minorities and for minorities (or a coalition of minorities), in Iran the majority supports the system in place.

And since the vast majority of the Russian people do not want a single-party-system or a return to Soviet times yet don’t believe in (western style) democracy, Russian intellectuals would be well advised to take a very close and careful look at what I would call the “Iranian model”, not to simply copy it, but to see what aspects of this model could be adapted to Russian realities. Historical Russia was an Orthodox monarchy. That time is gone and will never return. Soviet Russia was a Marxist atheistic state. That time is also forever gone. Modern Russia can only find references, lessons and implications in her past, but she cannot simply resurrect Czarist or Communist Russia. Of course, neither can she reject her entire history and declare it all “bad” (which is what Russian “liberals” always do, which explains why they are so hated).

I don’t know what the future Russia will look like. I am not even totally sure that this new Russia will ever really happen (though my gut feeling is that it will). I hope that it will, but whether that happens or not will not be decided in China or by China (or any other country). To conclude on a famous quote by Karl Marx “the emancipation of the workers must be the work of the workers themselves” (in Russian: “Освобождение рабочих должно быть делом самих рабочих”) which a famous Russian 1928 book turned into “the salvation of those who are drowning has to be the action of those drowning” (in Russian: “Спасение утопающих — дело рук самих утопающих”). Whatever version you prefer (I prefer the 2nd one), the meaning is clear: you need to solve your problems by yourself or with those who share that problem with you. In other words, Russians are the only ones who can save or destroy the Russian nation (I mean “Russian” in the traditional, Russian, multi-ethnic and multi-religious meaning of the words руссий and российский which in traditional Russian are both interchangeable or different depending on the context).

The Saker

PS: I leave you with a photo which, imho, speaks a thousand words

One Tribe on November 24, 2019 · at 1:59 pm EST/EDT

Ahh…..
….the intellectual (minimally distorted by objectivity-killing ego) discussion of a very (actually) relevant topic is so refreshing to the mind and soul;
thank you so much!

There are a lot of vectors into this complex discussion, many have been discussed by the usual… deplorables (meant, of course, as a strong endorsement of their well-reasoned, heretical, positions and descriptions, brought in seeming good-faith to the community, thank you so much; I believe you likely know who you are); so I will narrow the focus of this discussion appropriately.

In-Process – State of Flux – may be appropriate for this epoch in this Anthropocene era
I must admit to not fully getting the supposed toxicity in:
1. In the Russian Federation ideological diversity shall be recognized
2. No ideology may be established as state or obligatory one.
3. In the Russian Federation political diversity and multi-party system shall be recognized.

… perhaps somebody could help me out.
I see that these provisions leave the the political unit somewhat rudderless, in terms of an aligned value-set.
But it is interesting that Russia, for all its geographic size, and inherent ethno-cultural (read values-set) diversity, is yet in a different, better, condition than the (supposedly sovereign) nation-states existing under the auspices of the empire.
Non, mes amis?!

We enter a transitional period of an order of magnitude greater than the industrial revolution, (initial phase of carbon-liberation mechanical chemistry, as a power source), in the information-accessibility capability that we are now into.
This information-accessibility capability also enables previously inaccessible capability to control the perception of humans in a Matrix-like level.
While the agricultural-revolution and transition to permanent residency was a necessary precursor, the current change is at least as significant for individual humans and human societies… all humans, and human societies, on the planet.

So, this diatribe is intended to support a flexible approach to official sanctioned ideology, though I full-well acknowledge the risks of not having at least somewhat normalized values-sets across an humanity administrative base, especially in the case of known, virulent value-set pathologies, which some here may be more accustomed to referring to as parasitic.

Here’s where I want to dig in to expose an underlying issue…

Cultural antigens
Possibly the greatest threat to humanity, are the existing value-set pathogies, which are patently unsustainable, or, possibly worse, ultimately result in a universal malevolence, caused by socio-economic environmental forces driving human evolution; the resulting compound life-form would be unappealing to many (individual freedom-loving) people today, yet the adoption of the seminal forms of these pathologies yields a decisive advantage in upward social-mobility to their adherents.

Quite a conundrum, those who can follow will likely agree.

To concretize this theory, I refer you to the so-called “fifth column, specifically the mentality of affiliates within this fifth-column, who have tighter adherence to an extra-national ideological association, than to the community in their own geographic location/nation-state entity (supposedly champion of the people in the given geography-defined administrative structure).
Behaving as a collective, to re-inforce the upward-mobility advantage of affiliates of the collective, by systemic, enforced discrimination against all non-affiliates, the success of this ideology fundamentally undermines the integrity of the nation-state institution, and sustainability in all it’s definitions, thus leading ultimately to universal homicide, ultimately univeral genocide, which is suicide!

So, fighting this …infection currently requires a policy of ideological flexibility.

There is no denying the risky course, but we face new forms of threat, not really acknowledged before, whether they existed or not.

The true ultimate success of a benevolent dictatorship (considered the second most effective form of governance by Plato, far above democracy, which Plato considered the second worse, since, according to him, it would always be superseded/defected by the worst form of governance, tyranny), is it’s ability to establish infrastructures continuing the success of the nation, after the dictator has left.

To be clear
The current antagonism in global affairs boils down to a coalition of sovereign benevolent dictatorships versus former democracies now corrupted to new forms of distributed tyrannies, aka “the empire“.

I hope all yuz’ deplorables can decipher and benefit from this somewhat complex discussion, inscribed in good faith.

thanks for all the chuckles….

152 Comments

Anonymous on November 21, 2019 · at 6:22 pm EST/EDT

“I strongly believe that both of these countries have entered a “post-imperial phase”

-And what the people of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet view on this “post-imperial phase”?
- phe on November 21, 2019 · at 6:50 pm EST/EDT
  
  Don’t forget over a thousand Palestinian civilians killed by Israel military in the last decade. Oh and Madeline Albright’s ‘The death of 500,000 Iraqi children is worth it.’ The Democratic Jewish secretary of state in the administration of Hilary Clinton’s husband.
  - Rightiswrong on November 22, 2019 · at 6:03 pm EST/EDT
    
    The people of Taiwan didn’t get a say in their island being occupied by the Nationalist forces.
    - Mai Lai on November 24, 2019 · at 9:32 pm EST/EDT
      
      Long before the USA sent their boy sheng-kay-shek to Taiwan, it was a Chinese Whore House for USA soldiers, not unlike in S-Korea, or Phillipines, or Shanghai at that time, or hong-kong by the british. Not unlike how the USA mafia-mil used CUBA prior to 1950’s
      
      Air-Lifting pro USA forces to Taiwan was easy after Mao took over China, because the USA already owned the island.
- Larchmonter445 on November 21, 2019 · at 7:05 pm EST/EDT
  
  Why do you hide a persona but challenge so strongly with your inquiry?
  
  Shamed by carrying water for the Hegemon? Your bucket of water has leaks.
  
  Hong Kong was “returned” to China. It’s Chinese.
  Taiwan is Chinese.
  Tibet was freed from Imperialism and vassalage, and the people of Tibet liberated from feudal slavery practiced by the Buddhist barbarity that treated the masses as animals.
  
  China is not imperialist. It suffered 150 years of Imperialism.
  
  Try again, with facts next time.
  - Anonymous on November 21, 2019 · at 8:13 pm EST/EDT
    
    “Hong Kong was “returned” to China. It’s Chinese.
    Taiwan is Chinese.
    Tibet was freed from Imperialism and vassalage, and the people of Tibet liberated from feudal slavery practiced by the Buddhist barbarity that treated the masses as animals.”
    
    -Oh, and the people of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet has no say in the matter I suppose? Please show me opinion polls that these people wish to live under a capitalist dictatorship.
    - jiri on November 21, 2019 · at 9:23 pm EST/EDT
      
      Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong have one thing in common.
      
      They are all used extensively by the CIA to harass China.
      - RMM on November 22, 2019 · at 8:04 am EST/EDT
        
        Most countries have “Tibetans” among them – a group that’d rather be on its own. Most of the time, ways are found to keep them relatively happy to live alongside the rest of the population. Enemies also like to use them against the central government. China will resolve this issue.
        Taiwan and HK are of course Chinese. When the US et al are no longer able to agitate them – which won’t be long, as the outcome of the current riots in HK will greatly reduce said enemies’ power over these people – they’ll happily rejoin the motherland.
      - Ugh... on November 22, 2019 · at 9:16 am EST/EDT
        
        Obviously, those who have different opinion than the “Protesters” get burnt, beaten, and killed. Very Liberal Democratic of them.
        
        Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:00 pm EST/EDT
        
        Precisely-little death-squad ‘lovers of democracy’, as with those other ‘Moral Equivalents of Our Founding Fathers’ the Contras, al-Qaeda, Daash, al-Nusra, Operation Condor, Operation Phoenix, the Ukronazis like Azov Battalion, and on and on it goes, in their hundreds. All dedicated to ‘Truth, Justice, the American Way’, and murder, torture, terror and disappearances.
    - Oriental Voice on November 22, 2019 · at 2:40 pm EST/EDT
      
      -Oh, and the people of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet has no say in the matter I suppose? Please show me opinion polls that these people wish to live under a capitalist dictatorship.
      
      You supposed wrongly. People of Hongkong, Taiwan, Tibet (add Xinjiang to that) have plenty to SAY in the matter. The territories are Chinese. For those who dislike living in Chinese territories, they can choose to LEAVE! There are no guns at their heads to drive them out. They are allowed plenty of time to make the arrangements necessary to leave on favorable terms financially and socially. Leaving would also be their right choice because, after all, they are living on someone (whom they dislike) else’s land and required to abide by the host’s rules. Abhorrence to such rules is enough reason to want to leave. But one simply doesn’t barge into someone’s home, found he/she likes it, and decides to claim the home for his/her own by kicking out the host. If that someone raised a child born in that home, that child doesn’t have the right to kick the original host out either. This is fairness in its primal form.
      
      For those in Hongkong, Taiwan, Tibet, et. al who like to stay, they would choose to adapt their own idiosyncrasy and integrate into the host land, to build and grow the host land like a family member would. They may even work towards modifying the rules to their liking. How can you claim that they have no say? Is inviting a noted hegemon bully to assist you in kicking out the host the only ‘say’ you have in mind as being just?
      
      There are plenty of polls that show people like to live in a capitalist ‘fantasy democracy’ where they are banned from using words considered offensive to Jews or Blacks, forced to deal with prevalent presence of guns, forced to embrace LGBT, come to terms with police brutalities and political corruptions, to live with discrimination or social injustices, etc. etc. I am sure you’ll find these enlightening realities and opinion polls without anyone’s help.
      - Janis on November 26, 2019 · at 9:45 pm EST/EDT
        
        Might also add that the USA enjoys the freedom for children to be introduced to normalized pedophilia at a young age via public-schools.
        
        Much to be enjoyed in the free world.
        
        “Freedom” – “Just another word for nothing left to lose” – janis joplin
        
        Or better yet the “Freedom in the west to have your children stolen by GOV”, and sent to ‘foster homes’ where they are raped and beaten, and softened to become easy targets for the pedophiles who run the GOV.
        
        Yes, rah-rah USA, why don’t the ASIANS just leave tomorrow? Run to the USA?
        
        Funny what I see is asians parking their “CASH” in the USA, because its the largest money laundering operation on earth, but they sure as well don’t want their children stolen by CSD ( child-services), or their children’s minds to be flooded with satanic sex fantasy’s.
    - Mulga Mumblebrain on November 22, 2019 · at 3:27 pm EST/EDT
      
      Anonytrot-why do you Trots hate China so much? That they are successful in ending poverty, while the Trots squabble ceaselessly, or end up as ‘neo-conservatives’?
- The Saker on November 21, 2019 · at 8:38 pm EST/EDT
  
  That is a pretty toxic comment as you don’t know (and neither do I) what the folks there think. The fact that SOME are protesting sure does not mean that MOST agree. Just see the Ukraine (or Syria).
  Also, it is funny that you would like Hong Kong since that used to be a British colony.
  As for Taiwan, that is a US creation.
  As for Tibet – there is ZERO evidence that China is in Tibet for some kind of imperialist reason. Your logic goes like that: if people riot, its against Empire. Except that in Paris or Santiago this is not true. So what you are presenting is a fallacy.
  Bottom line: that kind of comment is *totally* useless.
  Diagnostic: troll.
  The Saker
  - jiri on November 21, 2019 · at 9:27 pm EST/EDT
    
    “Diagnostic: troll.
    The Saker”
    
    Saker, you are being unkind.
    
    My diagnosis is that he is a victim who is badly infected by Imperial propaganda.
  - Anonymous on November 21, 2019 · at 11:14 pm EST/EDT
    
    Saker, I think your explanation of the Russian media strategy of not only allowing anti Kremlin media, but even funding it was very useful and illuminating’ it suddenly made me realize why the self-loathing English language media in India has had the opposite effect of what the West was hoping: instead of brainwashing the India masses, it has created contempt in the majority of their middle and lowr classes for “western” social values, in the Indian context this is referred to as “secular” or “sickular” liberalism, and caused a nationalist-sovereignist backlash. Until I read your article, I had not understood how letting in the stench of western oriented 5th column media would actually inoculate your society against its filth. So thank you for that epiphany.
    
    RT reported that one point almost 25% of Hong Kong’s population was involved in the protests against Beijing. Based on those numbers, it’s absurd to assume that the massive protests in Hong Kong are only supported by a minority.
    
    I’m no sympathizer of those irresponsible HK youth and protesters that are really going over the top into their behaviour, however, irrespective of my disdain for many of them (who can respect selfish spoiled brats, that have a sickening xenophobic-like contempt for ordinary mainland chinese workers and no sympathy for their mainland compatriots. I certainly don’t. That’s why avoided doing business with HK people and certainly would never trust them given their extreme selfish and calculated attitude). That said, the support for opposition in Beijing in HK is wide spread and likely the majority (I had personal dealings with HK people for many years and the majority of them have contempt and distrust for mainland China; something I find dishonorable, just on human level, and given how much they’ve been coddled by Beijing and how they’ve prospered off the backs of the common chinese in mainland China).
    
    Regarding Taiwan, it doesn’t matter that they were created by the USA, the fact is that the present day Taiwanese want to stay independent. If you don’t care about self determination, just say so, but don’t sweep it under the rug because it’s ethically inconvenient.
    
    As for the China and Russia so-called symbiosis, time will tell, I’m betting it will eventually implode (inherent contradictions between the 2 powers), you hold the view that it is a pillar of the new emerging order. We’ll see.
    
    China will surpass Russia in technology, they’ve got the brains, manpower, money and the single-minded focus to make it happen, then what would they need Russia for? Natural gas and oil? That can’t be enough.
    
    How long do you think your model will hold? 5 years, a decade?
    - Charles on November 22, 2019 · at 12:48 am EST/EDT
      
      The impressions of mainland Chinese people on the part of ordinary Russian people are not all that different from the similar impressions made on peoples of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, California, Australia. I suspect that all of you have not visited Russia recently, let alone observed closely the “real” new mainland Chinese people, since you all spend all your time on internet. You guys remind me of those poor Russian emigres since 1917 who had 20 years of disillusionment against the cluelessness and decadence of England and France who began to fantasize the national socialist Germany would constitute a good fit for Russia to resurrect some sort of mythic “soul” and to “ resist” banker Zionism of the West. Thank God Comrade Stalin understood the German race under Hitler better than all the deluded patriotic former white guards. And I rather suspect that Mr. Putin understands his brother in BJ rather more practically and sanguinely than you. Sadly but correctly, that’s a point one would not made openly in today’s Russia. Not yet.
      - Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 10:28 pm EST/EDT
        
        Dear Charles I’m genuinely interested in your apparent response to my posting to Saker. Unfortunately, I can’t understand many of the points you are attempting to make because they are too cryptic or assume inside knowledge that you possess that the rest of us do not. What exactly are you referring to with respect to (wrt) the impression of mainland Chinese by the various peoples you’ve listed.
        
        What exactly do you believe Putin understands about his brother in BJ (Beijing), I’m assuming, by “brother” you mean president Xi? What is it that Putin understands more practically and sanguinely than me regarding “his brother in BJ”? Can you be more explicit.
        
        It is my view that the general leadership in China is too aggressive and expansionist to not end up in conflict with Russia, or, at least, to attempt to dominate Russia at some point. Is this your view? Or were you alluding to something else, regarding Putin having a more sanguine understanding of president Xi?
        
        Charles on November 23, 2019 · at 12:23 am EST/EDT
        
        Yes friend, that is my view. My comments won’t sound so cryptic if you happen to hang out and talk with Russians in provincial areas of Russian Far East, in the most recent year or two. Or just rent a trip to Lake Bakail and rub shoulders with Swarms of mainland Chinese tourists there for a few days. Or read about their business plans, almost approved by the Russian authorities, to drain the water of Lake Baikal and divert all the water to northern China. That is not insider news. That is on the ground news outside the ideological bubble made by these other amateur designer of a new global order sitting all angry and lonely in the decayed West. The Russian alliance to China IS tactical. Necessary, I would say, for now. To suppose that Mr. Putin does not understand the above “insider news” I just shared with you, would be truly idiotic. One needs no spies to figure this one out. Maybe Nancy Peloci does.
        
        Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:05 pm EST/EDT
        
        ‘Drain Lake Baikal’??!! Ludicrous.
        
        Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:04 pm EST/EDT
        
        Seeing that China is definitely not ‘aggressive and expansionist’ your typically anonymous disinformation is worthless hate and fear-mongering.
        
        Anonymous on November 23, 2019 · at 8:18 pm EST/EDT
        
        I can understand your point of view mulga: compared to your reference points: compared to the genocidal, wasteful, planet consuming, corrupt, colonizing, locust-like, destructive, expansionist Anglo horde you are embedded in (albeit unwillingly), even the most maniacal land-grabbing CCP Warhawk is a paragon of peacefulness, equanimity, fairness, non-expansionism. No wonder you have such a dark and nihilist view of the future that ends in an environmental Armageddon in the next 10 years. It seems to me that you are deeply deeply disappointed in your own people and you seem to believe that it’s hopeless.
        
        Cheer-up! Anthropogenic climate change based on carbon emissions is a myth, the empire’s corrupt deep state’s ability to project its will on others is in inevitable and accelerating decline and the world will be fine under a multi-polar balance between the Russia, India, China, the USA and a loose coalition of independent states. Independent states like Indonesia, ASEAN, etc who will be keeping potential troublemaking governments, like Australia or the belligerent remnants of the EU under a tight leash.
        
        Energy will be clean and plentiful and the income and health of all peoples will keep improving past your wildest imagination. The biosphere will be healed of the damage it was subjected to by the destructive parasitical British Empire, and its inheritors. And the various peoples of the world will be free to preserve their religions, culture, distinctiveness while simultaneously be free to intermingle and dynamically create new cultures and peoples.
        
        There, isn’t that better than?
        
        Mulga Mumblebrain on November 26, 2019 · at 11:59 pm EST/EDT
        
        Anon, anthropogenic climate destabilisation caused by the emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels is about as much of a myth as the laws of gravity. In other words, it is settled science with a probability of being overthrown of c. 0.01%, give or take, but always able to be revised and improved by new theories and observations. If you think it a myth, and are under about fifty, you’re in for a nassty surprise, I fear.
    - mortimer on November 22, 2019 · at 1:27 am EST/EDT
      
      HK –
      
      Please I go to HK yearly, and have done so 30+ years, where-ever I go people want the “Chinese Money” the RMB, the YUAN.
      
      Up until recently Chinese mainland tourism was driving HK and Macao, and now its game over, the Tiffany shops along the main drag are now down some 80% in sales.
      
      Guess what it ain’t coming back.
      
      The kids are easy to manipulate. There life is screwed. Yes, they’re spoiled but ma&pa live in $1M USD apartments that can only go down in value. There is NOTHING in HK, that you can’t find in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hainan, or even Beijing. The day of HK being the ‘gateway to china’ is OVER. The kids know it, they thought be support the COUP they could be 55th state of the USA.
      
      The money for the HK ‘riot’ for six months came from the HK-Tycoons, this is well documented in HK, mostly HK-Apple ( no relation to apple-computer ), the majority of MSM in HK went along with the coup, as almost all have this common owner. Most of the tycoons are real estate developers, but lots of them are major stock holders, so when their accounts to get frozen/seized by CCP the stocks held implode ( take a look at “ArtGo” today )
      
      When I hear people say that HK people don’t want mainland I think they have never been to either mainland or HK. Just because “Paid Thugs” attacked mainlanders in HK, doesn’t mean the silent majority feels this way.
      
      …
      China vs Russia
      
      Wow who is smarter China or Russia? Well at making ‘stuff’ I would say China, but at Math&Physics and pure research I would say Russia. So its a perfect fit, all the research is done in Russia, and the stuff is made in China.
      
      The USA is dead, no where else on earth do you find people laying in the streets on drugs covered in their own feces.
      
      TAIWAN –
      
      The USA will do the same thing to Taiwan they did to the Kurd’s, this is what they always do. Make promises, cause war’s and leave the losers high&dry.
      - Charles on November 22, 2019 · at 9:12 am EST/EDT
        
        You omit the human quality of whole народ. This understanding and way of thinking was closer the aristocratic scholars of old Russia and old Europe in 19th century — Spengler, Danylievskie…, and unfortunately lost to the present day culturally debased main population of the West. They are brain washed into thinking that every civilization is equal and the same in wanting money and sex and shelter and nothing else. I have awareness of what San Fran looks like now. But I suspect you are one of the arm chair geopolitical warriors who lacks on the street business dealings with the real mainland Chinese of today. Or you are yourself a mainland Chinese in denial about the real moral quality of your people after 30 years of successfully leeching off the stupidity of the whole world. For your info, only the crazy and totally deluded could believe that the Russians, Mongolians, Kazakhs, Koreans, Japs or whoever could love the mainland Chinese on a people level. Check again on the news of China Russian alliance six years from now.
        
        Mulga Mumblebrain on November 22, 2019 · at 3:36 pm EST/EDT
        
        What a fine example of the real hatred that drives Sinophobia. The Chinese have not ‘leeched’- they have worked hard to produce the low-cost goods that have kept hundreds of millions of Westerners in some material comfort as their wages and quality of living have stagnated for decades. And the sheer vileness of your attack on ‘…the mainland Chinese on a people level’, is simply despicable.
        
        Charles on November 23, 2019 · at 12:06 am EST/EDT
        
        Reality does not care whether you find them despicable or not. The old black bum in SF knows more about geopolitics from watching mainland Chinese old ladies steal church free food and resell them at $5.00 per bag five blocks away. The Russian people knows more about your great multicultural Marxist global future whatever if they take a walk around Lake Baikal beach and watch the piles of garbage and rows of old Chinese ladies singing “Long Live President Xi” and “This land Is our land”. But your types are not short of company, American hippies who cheered Cultural Revolution and Chatman Mao back in the 1960s… British brat private school lefties who cheered the human rights guaranteed by 1936 Stalin Constitution. Move in with old white bums in the tent city of San Francisco. You do deserve the Great Chinese California. Surely the nut case American red neck farmers will never elect a globalist lefties President again. I do not recommend you to move to Russia. Wages here are low. The wage for working for Chinese traders would be even lower, not that there is anything you can do for them.
        
        Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:08 pm EST/EDT
        
        So you double down on your racist, hate-filled, stereotyping of the Chinese-you White supremacists really cannot abide the fact that your reign of terror over the ‘lesser breeds’ is over, and China has risen to its ancient status. It’s fear that drives the hatred.
    - Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 3:06 am EST/EDT
      
      “…RT reported that one point almost 25% of Hong Kong’s population was involved in the protests against Beijing…”
      
      population of Hong Kong 7.524.100 * 0,25 = 1.881.025
      
      I do not think there is that many people in the Streets…
      also what do you mean with “involved” sympathizers? or sufferers?
      also how can RT said that? under which premises?
      anyway IF 25% are Protesting that means 75% are not, so what? are 25% going to force the other 75% with something? that is quite undemocratic. dont you think so, (removed insult,MOD)?
      - Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 9:59 pm EST/EDT
        
        @anonymous 3:06 am nov. 22, 2019.
        
        It is irrelevant whether you do or don’t think that 1.8 million people were actively involved in the protests at some point as reported by RT, what is relevant is that RT reported it (and I assume did the research) and if you have any objection to it please direct your insults towards them and not to me for posting that info.
        
        HK polls show 73% of HK citizens are against the extradition law (now withdrawn in a humiliating climb down by Carrie Lam). In addition HK news papers report that Carrie Lam’s support has dropped 20%, meaning a majority want her fired.
        
        This info supports what RT has reported as well.
        
        Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 10:47 pm EST/EDT
        
        Sorry I meant to write that support for Carrie lam has dropped to 20%, meaning 80% are against her. The typo made was significant.
        
        ? on November 23, 2019 · at 2:22 am EST/EDT
        
        to date, 22.11.19, Day 6…
        there are only 30 black terror left in the university refusing to surrender…
        say if they, as they claimed, started with MMMmmmmillions, right?
        The HK police must need alot more bigger hard drive to store all those MMMmmmmillions of ‘personal data’ and footage… pending for future court…
        
        sigh…. how do you fight a standing army of multi-millions w “nuk insurance” with few hundreds of home-made fire bombs? dumb f beyond a no brain cell ameaba!!!
        The worst thing one can do to challenge CCP is to fight fire w fire… not even USSA or rising sun Japan or even Putin’s russia take that lightly… now some black terro want to ‘reclaim HK’ and bring back the old ‘glory’? and that is ‘freedom’?
        
        What now? fire bomb beijing?
        
        Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:09 pm EST/EDT
        
        HK polls, run by Jimmy Lai or the NED once assumes.
    - Rhisiart Gwilym on November 22, 2019 · at 11:58 am EST/EDT
      
      Oh, has 25% become a majority by some mathematical magic, then?
      - Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 9:39 pm EST/EDT
        
        For ever person that is willing to go out in the streets to protest, there at 1-2 persons share the sentiment but are too scared to do it, or are compelled by economic reality to go to work and keep the lights on at home. So therefore, the 25% translates to over 50%; 50-75% support for the protesters goals especially the stripping of the extradition law and the firing of Carrie Lam. I thought such a point would be obvious.
        
        Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:13 pm EST/EDT
        
        If only those poor Chinese had produced a Trotsky, or one of his latter-day, fair weather followers, like Perle, or Wolfowitz, or one of the other neo-conservatives who saw the light, eh anonytrot, unlike that hideous creature, Mao. Not even 10% Westernised, therefore quite ‘sub-human’.
      - Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:11 pm EST/EDT
        
        It’s a ‘landslide’ in the UK Zombieland.
        
        Chappayrd2Rundee on November 25, 2019 · at 7:31 pm EST/EDT
        
        The anti Beijing candidates have won in a landslide. So despite the fact we’re not happy with the results, we have to accept that the majority were against the extradition law and they definitely don’t seem to be against the young anti mainland protesters or they would have punished the pro western candidates at the polls.
        
        It looks like the anonymous commenter who started this thread was right: the large size of the protesters indicated that the majority were with the protesters.
        
        It’s usually better to accept the truth we don’t like instead being in denial of facts that we find unfortunate. Otherwise in the long run we can end up looking uncredible.
    - Sense101 on November 24, 2019 · at 1:31 pm EST/EDT
      
      China has brain powers only powerful enough to shamefully copy or steal patented technologies from other nations. A thief never gets to be a doctor or engineer, he/she can only act like one for x amount of time. Name one thing that China has invented in its last 100 years of history so groundbreaking or inspiring for other nations to talk about. When it comes to brain power Germany is no 1, no 2 is Russia, and the 3rd place has too many candidates (US, England, France and Japan). China and India can barely invent affordable toilets for their masses.
      - Geneva observer on November 25, 2019 · at 7:21 pm EST/EDT
        
        How about landing a vehicle on the back side of the moon?
        
        No one else ever did it before…
        
        That technology existed first in China.
        
        TalAstra on November 26, 2019 · at 8:56 pm EST/EDT
        
        Well said Geneva Observer, also, the chinese developed 5G over a year before anyone else including the bureaucratic and inefficient ziemans/Siemens. I’d like someone to explain to me how the chinese copied a technology a full year before anyone else developed it? If do believe that, then you’ll have concede the Chinese have developed and used a time machine to steal technology from the West.
        
        Try explaining this simple point to logically challenged self deluded racists that live in a fantasy created by their own insecurities.
      - Mulga Mumblebrain on November 27, 2019 · at 12:03 am EST/EDT
        
        Attacking a fellow poster.ZZ
        
        Really seriously nassty racist nonsense. It does give us a good indication of what lies behind the frenzy of Sinophobia, however. Ignorance, arrogance and fear that twists the psyche.
      - freedom on November 29, 2019 · at 7:52 pm EST/EDT
        
        China has replied to you
        https://www.sptace.com/china-new-spacecraft-crewed-moon-missions.html
  - Elten on November 23, 2019 · at 11:08 am EST/EDT
    
    Agreed… right from the start this troll has diverted the discussion completely away from the main thesis and Brown’s question in a way only a ‘professional’ troll can do. Let’s get back to the main thesis and questions and leave the three bases of the Company out of this. Except perhaps to suggest that the Company is actually supporting the ambitions of places like Shanghai and Zhengzhou as respectively, finance centre and goods transit point, by wrecking the futures of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
- doe dimble on November 21, 2019 · at 8:58 pm EST/EDT
  
  There is no post imperial phase of anything. The Hegemon ( zio-nazi-anglo-israel ) is just fine, having bought into AIIB, and SCO, and all the clubs that USA hates. Zio has all its bets covered.
  
  Now let’s see..
  
  1.) 1920’s Shanghai was an occupied by USA whore-house
  2.) Hong-Kong for +100 years was a british whore-house, that shipped opium
  3.) Taiwan was a whore-house for US soldiers just like they have/had in Okinawa, and Phillipines.
  4.) CIA has been in Tibet trying to Divide&Conquer forever.
  
  [ 5.) CUBA – a whorehouse for the mob (zio) from 1920’s to 1950’s, the reason Castro has/had 100% support is because he freed his people from being just sex toys for USA tourists ]
  
  Just the past six months Hong-Kong has been completely destroyed by CIA-MI6 ( US State Dept ).
  
  This deal is very complicated. Let’s do a timeline.
  
  1.) Last wednesday, say Nov 15, CCP had all HSBC accounts tied to the hk-protests frozen. This why the protests went into panic and weekend, and burn’t this themselves out by monday ( no more free money )
  
  2.) Now the people who funded these accounts are about 1/2 a dozen HK tycoons, associated with these stocks mentioned. This week their accounts ( personal ) were frozen by CCP.
  
  3.) Now the SHTF in HK, because the tycoons are in a panic ‘The Kids’ ain’t getting anymore pay-days ( this went on for almost 6 months ), the CCP just watched and learned who was funding who was training ( USA State Dept )
  
  So, now we have what we have, in time the CCP will go to the UN and show proof of USA training ( molotov cocktails and how throw them ). The HK tycoons if they didn’t already make it to Singapore ( door not shut yet, but will be soon ), are going to be re-educated, probably in the war west of China.
  
  Expect in the coming weeks lots of HK stocks to implode, as founders and CEOS, … just dissapear, but remember its not the people its the complete FREEZING of all their accounts that hurts.
  
  …
  
  Much of current show is about Bolivian Coup, just like HK, just like they wanted in HK, but it didn’t work out as planned. Blowback is a bitch.
  - Bianca on November 22, 2019 · at 3:21 pm EST/EDT
    
    Smart and scary. Thank you.
  - Den Lille Abe on November 23, 2019 · at 2:17 am EST/EDT
    
    That is probably a correct assessment.
    Trup has shot himself in the foot again….
- Mulga Mumblebrain on November 22, 2019 · at 1:39 am EST/EDT
  
  Anonytrot, the Tibetans are doing just fine, having been liberated from theocratic barbarity and serfdom, most of Hong Kong, not the fascist detritus rioting in the streets, just want to get on with their lives, and at least 17,000 Taiwanese work in Shenzhen, and the gradual, peaceful, return of Taiwan to China will occur-no amount of Western racist lies will stop that.
George N. on November 21, 2019 · at 6:36 pm EST/EDT

Question? Is there a possibility that Russia, China, and Iran are the antithesis and the Anglozionists the thesis in the Hegelian dialect to get a New World Order synthesis?
- ababush on November 21, 2019 · at 8:23 pm EST/EDT
  
  My answer: when the thesis is a bucket filled with of old sh.t, then the antithesis (whether it be made of roses, buffaloes or spacecrafts) fully prevails.
- The Saker on November 21, 2019 · at 8:40 pm EST/EDT
  
  The short answer is ‘no’. Yes, the AngloZionist Empire contained its own contradiction (all empires do), but the current empire will play no role in the shaping of the future multi-lateral order. Simply put: the Empire is not all that relevant any more.
  Cheers
  The Saker
  - jiri on November 21, 2019 · at 9:40 pm EST/EDT
    
    The Empire has enough nuclear weapons to destroy much of the planet and human civilisation and also a track record of using it. And using it egregiously too.
- Mulga Mumblebrain on November 22, 2019 · at 1:44 am EST/EDT
  
  An infinitesimal possibility, yes, on par with Xi and Putin being alien reptiles.
- Tor Quinn-Darke on November 22, 2019 · at 8:26 am EST/EDT
  
  The question is surely a joke. Thesis/antithesis/synthesis are terms of art in the Hegelian theory of history, and they are needed to explain why things (namely change) happen in a (his, philosophical) world in which the Absolute is Perfect, seeing that – as David Byrne pointed out – heaven is a place where nothing ever happens. Perhaps you could be schooled by the great Yogi Berra, who pointed out the obvious: that in theory (I invite you to read Hegelianism) there is no difference between theory and practise, but in practise there is.
Larchmonter445 on November 21, 2019 · at 6:56 pm EST/EDT

The way to look at the duration of the strategic relationship between Russia and China is the Chinese phrase “New Era”. This tells you they are thinking in terms of 20+ years. The key is we are at 2020’s arrival and the Chinese anniversary of 2049 is the centennial of the New China. The hopes they have is the success of BRI and a fully functioning new multipolar system of nations will arrive in the 2040s in time for celebrating the uplifting of billions of poor humans around the world, a fully developed middle class of medium income in China, with no rural or urban poor, and all continents connected by belts and roads, with a major Chinese presence in Space (moon, its own space station, or one with Russia).

So the New Era depends on Russia and China coordinating in all sectors of international activity, as well as bilaterally continuing their interdependent trade, commerce, banking, Internet retailing, investments, tourism, military development, mutual defense integration, and educational, scientific, technological research and development and media messaging.

China simply cannot achieve its global goals (BRI and multilateralism) alone. It cannot defend itself without Russian military alliance. Even if China had total free access to all the natural resources of Russia, China could not accomplish its most fundamental need–to resist hegemony from the US and have access to all the world via oceans and land. Russia is China’s wingman and technological resource for weapons and systems the Chinese cannot match. During the next 20+ years, China can accomplish so much in sectors of technology, scientific development and global integration. But only because Russia has and will have the next generations of vital products even the US cannot match.

There are also soft attributes that Russia possesses that the Chinese do not have. The most important is diplomacy. The rise of Russia is upon its economic stability and military weapons development, but its global status is built on its first class diplomatic work (led by Sergey Lavrov and brilliant ambassadors in key capitals). Also, the tools of its Intel Special Services provide more soft power. Brilliant Putin allies fill the leadership roles of the Federal Security Council, FSB and SVR. The Ministry of Defense, led by Sergey Shoigu, and its Intel arm, the GRU, enable Russia to work with India and Pakistan, North Korea and South Korean, Afghanistan and Iran which smooth things for China in ways China cannot achieve positive results by itself. The Chinese Ministry of State Security simply is decades behind in external Intel operations.

Thus, its not just that Russia is tough against the USA and NATO. Much more subtle are Russian ways of geopolitics and strategic moves, none of which the Chinese can emulate much less originate for itself.

We see a major problem financed and managed by the US CIA in Hong Kong which the Chinese look hapless to deal with. Imagine when the US turns up the flame for the Taiwanese to follow suit. Going alone is very difficult. China has and will have a big need for many years to be shoulder to shoulder with Russia. They worked in tandem on North Korea vs USA. Russia has already indicated the South China Sea will not be US vs China. Russia (in behalf of Vietnam and Philippines) will help modulate the Chinese insistences in the vast sea region. And thereby, get in the way of the USA vs China.

The entire Asia Pacific region now has the dynamic duo of Russian and China to face down the Hegemon’s naval and financial containment. We saw not only naval exercises of the two navies, but a bold aerial display of fighter jets with Russian bombers flying close to the Korean Peninsula. Together, there is no timidity. The Japanese and Americans were stunned by that display of geopolitical intention in support of North Korea, a united Korean Peninsula, and Russia’s and China’s own freedom of navigation rights in air space thought previously the Hegemon’s.

The Double Helix will continue to develop deeper, wider, more subtly and more sophisticated under the pressure from the containment strategy and projection of full global dominance (wishful) of the USA.

Russia students are learning Mandarin. Chinese students are learning Russian. Tourists are visiting places they never thought of traveling to but a few years ago. The common threat they see is a binding force. The accomplishments of these two nations are real and are profoundly changing regions on several continents.
- Alabama on November 21, 2019 · at 7:46 pm EST/EDT
  
  I do wonder some times why we throw time and achievements around as if accomplishments means everything debt doesn’t matter. The world debt today stands at $259 trillion dollars, that’s $37,000 for every man woman and child on the planet. Now just how many of these 7 billion people are able to comfortably service their share of the world debt? I’ll bet the percentage is low, but we are determined to grow during the most expensive times in known history. Somehow I have to believe the consequence have to paid, and possibly in the near future, putting a slowdown in the pace of futuristic hopes of achievement, if caused by nothing more than the debt alone and the worlds ability to service it.
  - jiri on November 21, 2019 · at 9:47 pm EST/EDT
    
    “The world debt today stands at $259 trillion dollars, that’s $37,000 for every man woman and child on the planet.”
    
    The world owes this debt to the world- i.e. to itself
    
    These are just numbers on a ledger.
    
    Once the ideological basis of these debts are removed, they will be gone.
    
    And you will be wondering why you were worried at all.
    - Dr. NG Maroudas on November 22, 2019 · at 4:56 am EST/EDT
      
      Jiri, you saved me the trouble of answering Alabama. Perhaps he worries because he has not heard this joke:
      
      Sadie: Abie, why can’t you get to sleep?
      Abie: I’m worried, Joe lent me all that money and now I can’t pay it back.
      Sadie (picks up the phone): Hello, Joe, remember the money you lent? Well, Abie can’t pay it back. (To Abie) Now you go to sleep and let him worry.
      
      Let Rothschild worry.
    - Alabama on November 22, 2019 · at 7:58 am EST/EDT
      
      I didnt say anything about being worried, I am more concerned about the ability of this debt to be serviced and at the same time continue the growth that so many economists depend on for their credibility. To project 30 years into the future w/o looking 30 years into the past and do the math to see where the worlds citizens stand today seems naive to me.
      
      The U.S. and China hold a majority of this debt, and as the cost of living rises as it surely is and has been, the ability to service this debt will be strained, more people will be one illness away from bankruptcy which then lowers ones standard of living as the debt bombs ledgers affect ever more people. As the modernized world sinks deeper into denial about so many more things, the shock of ideological reality not only wont go away, it soon could sink a whole class of denialists and then it wont be me worrying, it will be you.
      - Den Lille Abe on November 23, 2019 · at 2:29 am EST/EDT
        
        “The U.S. and China hold a majority of this debt, and as the cost of living rises as it surely is and has been, the ability to service this debt will be strained, more people will be one illness away from bankruptcy which then lowers ones standard of living as the debt bombs ledgers affect ever more people.”
        
        This is tosh, Both Rusiia and China have been selling huge amounts of US bonds, and Russia in itself is virtually debt free, China would be hurt more, but can produce and sell.
        No it is us suckers in Europe , and the Evil Empire that will pay, and the bankers will get off again.
    - MC on November 24, 2019 · at 1:49 pm EST/EDT
      
      Terrific answer!! Thank, jiri. Why should the world pay to the usurers, after all. In fact, our strength lies exactly there: we CAN break them by NOT paying back what they are lending to us – and they do so to keep their system going on and on… They know there is NO exit. And we will NOT pay back – even if it is because we can’t pay… And we will also act together because we are all together on this! Isn’t this great?! The system is destroying itself because of its filthy lack of restraint…
  - Ed Walsh on November 22, 2019 · at 12:44 am EST/EDT
    
    Alabama, I am surprised at this unbelievably naive comment; especially in light of excellent contributions you have made. Maybe you, too, are dazzled by the magic of money. Guiding principle: do not put on the magician’s green glasses to view Wonderland. Current world “money” is a negation of reality. Certainly, the negation of money. It is created as debt, denominated in its own units — a self-referential merry-go-round. “The bearer is owed so many of these very same things” (created at no cost and signifying nothing).
    
    How can it matter how many of these fanciful things are said to exist? Or who owns them, or to whom they are owed? It is a criminal con job. The rubes in the circus tent believe that the woman has actually been sawed in half.
    
    If nothing else, focus on this: the people who want to destroy us have conned us into believing that they can create unlimited quantities of these things at no cost to themselves, and that these things are the most valuable things in life.
    
    If you want to go on believing in this nonsense, I am going to do you a great favor. You can take on ALL of my portion of the “world debt”. There. Feel richer already? Wonderful.
  - amarynth on November 22, 2019 · at 6:45 am EST/EDT
    
    Alabama, if we look at debt as just debt, we get a false picture that makes a snappy headline. Applying those debt figures to every man, woman and child look really scary but is really wrong. Debt is one measure, but now we have to also apply *real* assets to every man, women and child.
    
    Note who is buying gold, how much they are buying and how incredibly fast they are buying. Then there are other hard assets which in our world are necessary, like infrastructure and other minerals outside of gold. Would you consider the Russian defense complex, materiels and know-how an asset? I surely would. Would you consider the Belt and Road infrastructure (which is not even formally opened) an asset? I surely would. Then, there are softer assets, i.e., an educated workforce, internal production, food production sufficient for inhabitants of a country, and relative level of peace and ability to put the internal workforce and assets of a country to work to the benefit of a country.
    
    Debt is never a single metric. The few that I mentioned should tell us quite clearly where the major debt is situated. I’m one of those that believe the debt chickens always come home to roost, as one cannot live on what you have not produced. In the big scheme of things people can tell me that money is unicorn thinking, but money, debt and asset is also hard metric and while we are in our world, we will be using those.
    - Alabama on November 22, 2019 · at 8:17 am EST/EDT
      
      The problem here in lies that the debt figures never go away unless paid off, they always grow. And even though many people have no debt nor assets, they too can be negatively affected by suppliers who are, or can be, affected by an unsustainable debt load during an economic crisis.
      
      Where as your assets to balance off the debt #’s can quickly reduce in value with something as simple as a crisis of confidence, or the military hardware likewise should peace break out which it theoretically could.
      
      No, there are too many straws waiting to break the camels back here and I think they are mostly overlooked or ignored as long as the growth model bucket is still holding water. The growth model only grows b/c it is based on a debt fueled economic balance sheet, once the boat leaks and needs to be bailed, people wont have as much time to fish for the food they need to feed their family’s.
      - amarynth on November 22, 2019 · at 8:52 am EST/EDT
        
        Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating for the current debt based model. I would like to see an asset based model which China is chasing seriously and consider Catherine Austin Fitts and her Red Button story. All I am saying is that to take current world debt and divide that into the number of people in the world is a false and misleading metric.
        
        Alabama on November 22, 2019 · at 1:09 pm EST/EDT
        
        Its not misleading, I only did that to show the enormity of the problem, for each person you eliminate as having debt, and there are many, you add that same amt of debt to a different person who does have debt obligations and the inability to pay back that debt in the future. If you knew about the banking system and how fragile it is with reality verses the stable perception that is today, you’d know we are just one stock buy back away from total chaos once the backstop for these debtors is gone.
        
        And I dont see China chasing any such asset model, I see debt from ghosts cities waiting to be occupied and growth of (bri) based on debt (to bri countries).
        
        JohnTB on November 23, 2019 · at 12:46 pm EST/EDT
        
        Interesting that people tend to see only half of the problem. The other half is money (in the current system). If the current debt disappears, so does all of the money.
        
        Erasing or defaulting on debt will result in a redistribution of wealth and a reset of social structure. Who knows how it would actually unfold.
    - Kapricorn4 on November 25, 2019 · at 5:39 pm EST/EDT
      
      The world debt in dollars and Euros was created by private banks waving their magic wand to produce money out of thin air, that they then have the effrontery to charge interest for. The Chinese central bank that is government owned, creates the Chinese domestic currency, the yuan without incurring debt of any kind. This money then puts Chinese people to work building infrastructure.
- Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 10:41 am EST/EDT
  
  You give me hope Larchmonter 445
- Elten on November 23, 2019 · at 11:25 am EST/EDT
  
  “There are also soft attributes that Russia possesses that the Chinese do not have. The most important is diplomacy.” Do you imply that the Chinese are not having such an attribute? I doubt that, especcially since you mention their long term (20 year outlook) which they would not jeopardise by short term diplomatic rows with the hegemon.
  
  Besides, let’s not overlook the hard attribute of Russia’s 15 000 miles arctic coast line which is becoming increasingly navigable and thus contributes immensly to the symbiosis argued by the Saker.
  - Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:17 pm EST/EDT
    
    The Arctic Sea coasts becoming ice-free is merely the prelude to the melting of the submarine clathrates releasing methane, and the End Game of rapid climate destabilisation. That’s what I call a Pyrrhic Opportunity.
- MC on November 25, 2019 · at 7:38 am EST/EDT
  
  Larchmonter445, your comment, very well written (it is actually an article!), gives us hope in the future. You are well informed and articulate your thoughts in a very skilled way. The world needs more writers like you. And we all need patience because changes will take time to come. Regards.
eyegore on November 21, 2019 · at 7:40 pm EST/EDT

The image of Putin, Xi and Rouhani holding hands may be inspiring, but it looks like a fabrication. That image is not found on DuckDuckGo(Bing) or Google.

Xi is fuzzier that the others, and not lit by the same bright lights. Rouhani’s turban has a distinct line from top to the right. Putin’s has a line around his head. The background behind the flags was changed, Xi and the flag of China inserted in the middle.

However, there are multiple similar images found with Erdogan, instead of Xi, holding hands with Putin and Rouhani discussing peace in Syria. [ex Assad. Assad now seems to be a non-person in the Soviet tradition.]

One very close image here: http://thelondonpost.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Erdogan-putin-rohani.jpg

Article: https://thelondonpost.net/russia-turkey-iran-seek-lasting-ceasefire-syria/

Qwant search did return one image with Xi, Putin, and Rouhani together.

https://theiranproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Rouhani-Putin-Xi-Jinping-600×360.jpg

No flags or hand holding though, and in direct sunlight.
- The Saker on November 21, 2019 · at 8:41 pm EST/EDT
  
  The image was clearly created artificially. Probably took a known event, then changed the background.
  That does not mean that it is fake or misrepresents the reality
  Cheers
  The Saker
Anonymous on November 21, 2019 · at 8:35 pm EST/EDT

Let’s say that Russia is a social-democracy with…”Russian characteristics”. An amalgam of autocracy and powerful streaks of anarchism (of the ‘liberal’ or cossack-raskolnik types). Of staunch Orthodoxy with virulent atheism and renovationist-‘sophianic’ pseudo-Orthodoxy. Of Realpolitik with utopianism.
But I think that we must recognize that what always saved Russia from the anti-Christian assaults on her was here ‘default’ ideology, before being formulated as the ‘Official Nationality’ doctrine, by the ministers of the bugbear of all ‘anarcho-liberals’, the much hated ‘reactionary’ Tsar Nicholas I: Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality (Правосла́вие, самодержа́вие, наро́дность). If Russia is to be ‘inspired’ by Iran, she should be ‘unapologetically’ Orthodox (avoiding of course the repressive aspects of the Mullahs ‘democracy’). It would entail restoration of monarchy as the guarantor of stability and continuity. That was the ‘ideology’ of the other hate-figures of Russian history, Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great (the supposedly ‘Slavophile’ Dostoevski did not share their loathing of Peter, he understood that the reforms of Peter actually saved Russia from the ‘Western’ conquest and from its ‘5th column’, the pseudo-traditionalist ‘raskolnik’ boyars).
BTW, it was under their reigns that the movement of ‘convergence’ with China started to develop. The Transsiberian Railway and the Chinese Eastern Railway were step into ‘Eurasian’ integration, which was a policy of the hated Tsars and their ‘reactionary’ ministers. A sign of deepening ‘symbiosis’ (albeit timid) is that from 2018 Orthodox students from the People’s Republic of China can begin to prepare for their future ministries in China in the theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church.
doe dimblebrain on November 21, 2019 · at 8:38 pm EST/EDT

A lot here are obsessed with politics, I would like to throw this up into the air, so you can see which way the wind is blow. As you all know here, USA has almost all but destroyed the Hong-Kong financial district, all the University’s have been destroyed, and still many trains and routes are not running.

Well yesterday two major Chinese companys imploded that is their stock value went to zero in a day. One company called “ArtGo”, but more are to follow.

So here’s the background story for those who wish to follow, this is the current throw-back effects of the USA staged COUP in Hong-Kong, in order to Divide&Conquer China.

…

This deal is very complicated. Let’s do a timeline.

1.) Last wednesday, say Nov 15, CCP had all HSBC accounts tied to the hk-protests frozen. This why the protests went into panic and weekend, and burn’t this themselves out by monday ( no more free money )

2.) Now the people who funded these accounts are about 1/2 a dozen HK tycoons, associated with these stocks mentioned. This week their accounts ( personal ) were frozen by CCP.

3.) Now the SHTF in HK, because the tycoons are in a panic ‘The Kids’ ain’t getting anymore pay-days ( this went on for almost 6 months ), the CCP just watched and learned who was funding who was training ( USA State Dept )

So, now we have what we have, in time the CCP will go to the UN and show proof of USA training ( molotov cocktails and how throw them ). The HK tycoons if they didn’t already make it to Singapore ( door not shut yet, but will be soon ), are going to be re-educated, probably in the war west of China.

Expect in the coming weeks lots of HK stocks to implode, as founders and CEOS, … just dissapear, but remember its not the people its the complete FREEZING of all their accounts that hurts.

…

Some here might ask “But why would HK tycoons, support a USA takeover of HK?”

1.) Well here’s the answer the tycoon’s want to expand development on remaining empty land, but have it frozen, they hoped the riots would force the Politicians to open all land to developments, making tycoon’s richer.

2.) The second thing is the tycoon’s are well aware of CCP take-over, and they know that the CCP will re-shuffle the money-power of HK, once they come in, the tycoon’s would prefer the UK-USA balkanization of China, and the tycoon’s would very much like to be little dictators in their area, and they have complete cooperation with US-UK govs, win-win for all.

So the problem now of course is the CCP has frozen all accounts of the tycoons, and defunded all the riot college kid accounts ( last week ). So the entire HK take-over has collapsed.

The funny thing is US senate & congress just 100% voted for sanctions on HK for the kids “Human Rights”, Trump will most likely sign, then the next day the CCP will release to the UN PROOF, that the US-State-Department trained all the kids to make Molotov’s, its all on videos its recorded, its going to look real funny for the entire world that all USA politicians voted in concert to destroy a sovereign nation.
- subhuti37 on November 22, 2019 · at 7:04 am EST/EDT
  
  Thanks for your perspective. I actually have financial accounts in HK and worry about HSBC. Fortunately own no HK stocks but see the big ones like Hutchison and HSBC are down steadily since last year. A lot of foreign businesses are registered in HK, and wonder what would happen to them if the SHTF.
Nate on November 21, 2019 · at 9:02 pm EST/EDT

In defense of Sputnik and RT, I think they are doing quite a good job countering Western imperialist propaganda, which is why Western governments are so terrified of them. In addition, having some non-political material (e.g. sports, animal stories, gaming, movies, pretty girls, etc) is important to attract readers/viewers who are less political or even totally non-political. Without this type of content, Sputnik/RT would be more like the English language version of TASS, which only a few of us actually read.

I have been an avid reader of what is now called “the alternative press” since 2001. I have also been totally boycotting Western MSM since March 2003. I am very thankful that we now have RT/Sputnik to help in our opposition work.
- Menace2Sobriety on December 01, 2019 · at 1:23 pm EST/EDT
  
  I concur. When the donkeys and elephants really start going at it U.S. news channels throw anything worthwhile out the window and blanket everything with it and a healthy dose of their ideological slant. RT is my sanctuary from that. If they mention liberals/dems or conservatives/rep it’s usually just a short segment taking the piss at the chaos. That’s bliss compared to our channels going full partisan prop b.s. CNN/Fox/MSNBC also love to tell you how to feel on any worthwhile news that does briefly make it through the cracks.
  
  The problem RT faces is having to try to toe several lines. It used to frustrate me too. Realistically though, having to balance getting out their news in a way that leaves existing fans happy, won’t turn people away that are starting to tune in, and if you’re trying to grow viewership you dont want to hit them with something that just makes new people shut it off. Which, if you’ve ever hit an American with some honestly that inconviences their idea of how things are, then you’ll know they take it really poorly. I imagine the U.S. having already showed their displeasure with RT also factors in in somewhat with how they tread.
  
  Kind of hurt my feelings with MMA fans being put squarely in the lowest common denominator category…ok many for sure are…but amongst the “bros” and Affliction shirts there’s a proud few of us who rise ever so slightly above that lowly title.
Outlaw Historian on November 21, 2019 · at 9:03 pm EST/EDT

I’ll comment by simply pointing readers to two recent works by Glenn Diesen where they can read previews at the links provided: Russia’s Geoeconomic Strategy for a Greater Eurasia (Rethinking Asia and International Relations) and The Decay of Western Civilisation and Resurgence of Russia: Between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft.

IMO, there’s no question that the trio of Russia, Iran and China will survive, but the more important question is that posed by the second work–will the West survive and if so in what form? There’s a Paradigm Shift occurring under our feet. And for some proof of that reality, here’s a look at real GDP for the Evil Outlaw US Empire that’s essentially been negative since the dot.com bust at the end of Slick Willie’s reign.
- Plain Mudd on November 21, 2019 · at 9:21 pm EST/EDT
  
  It was all documented almost 20 years ago by the deagel-report, a -80% collapse in USA population by 2025. All because there are no jobs, mission is almost completed, the only thing holding the USA together today is that a majority of the population are on drugs, the other 1/2 are on EBT and live paycheck to paycheck, in the meantime CHINA has risen a poor nation to middle class in 30 years.
  
  http://www.deagel.com/country/forecast.aspx
  
  Background “Deagel Report” is Janes ( #1 weapon catalogue on earth ) for weapons analysis people, its dedicated to John Deagel 1950’s mentor to Rockefeller for the NWO order planning. These are NOT people to be ignored, once again zio-anglo-nazi, always tells you what they’re going to do, just like YINION PLAN, just like “Greater Israel”,… they always tell you ahead of time your future.
  
  I’m just posting because you ask the rhetorical question “What of the USA future?”
  
  Well if you read the Deagel-Report carefully in the foot-notes, you’ll learn that the old all die because they can’t find affordable health-care, and the young move to find jobs in another country, sort of reverse from what we saw post WW2. Original Y2K plan/projection in 2000 was that USA population drop from 330M to 80M by 2025, that’s a 80% drop.
  
  My guess is that the plowing of meth, fenytal, cocaine, crack, and legalization of pot, just advances & insures the goal. Lastly, Trump’s wall is to keep the remaining zombies ( tax cows ) contained. Some here say NADA because of 2nd amendment, but nobody fears a nation of druggies living on the streets covered in feces. Just like the zio’s did to China ( Opium ) in the 1800’s, they’re doing to the USA today.
Bosnian Croat on November 21, 2019 · at 10:16 pm EST/EDT

Saker, this is very good text. And I will quote the most important thing

“Putin The Man”, urgently needs to be replaced by “Putin The System”, but that is truly a herculean task because that means reforming/purging most of the immense and powerful Russian bureaucracy and find somewhere a new generation of men and women who could be both effective and trusted.”

Everything else is not that big problem. Russia can have answer and countermeasure to western propaganda attacks, to sanctions and to all kind of brutal attacks, but the most crucial issue is succession of power after Putin.

I believe that Putin will not go away in 2024. Russia is now in process of implementing crucially important colossal NATIONAL PROJECTS. So, he will stay till 2030 if he is alive and well, and this give him enough time to prepare transition into system that does not depend on ONE MAN. DUMA is going to change constitution to make this possible after 2024.

But the main question is how to do that. In my opinion the only way is to do something Americans have, and it is a sort of DEEP STATE IN RUSSIA, a sort of SHADOW GOVERNMENT. So you have elections and elected officials with somewhat limited power and in the shadow to have several mighty patriotic people who will take care that elected ones do not sell Russia to foreign interests.

Yes, I know, in that case who can control that DEEP STATE and how to trust them. Probably they have to be some people from Army, Security and Intelligence Services.

And elected ones have to be aware of existence of Shadow ones.

I know, such system opens some other huge concerns as we can see problems in America now, but I do not see any other ways to protect Russia from possible 1990s scenario.

West is waiting for Putin’s departure, it is very obvious. They know that they cannot destroy Russia while he is in Kremlin. But they are waiting and we do not need to have any doubt what will they try and what will they do when Putin leaves.

And next time they get a chance to destroy Russia they are not going to repeat the same mistakes again. West and America are very well aware that they missed great chance because of their arrogance and too much self confidence. But if Russia ever go back to 1990s, Empire will finish with Russia. They will not miss another chance.
Russia does not have right to repeat the same mistakes again. They simply cannot trust West and they have to neutralize 5th column everywhere, in media, in politics in government, in business.

I do not understand why they have not done that so far.

Otherwise, Russia will not survive. After that China would be strangled by Empire and its vassals.

And destruction of Russia would be grave and epic disaster for entire world.
- Elten on November 23, 2019 · at 12:02 pm EST/EDT
  
  “So you have elections and elected officials with somewhat limited power and in the shadow to have several mighty patriotic people who will take care that elected ones do not sell Russia to foreign interests.”
  Are you suggesting that there is some sort of Russian ‘Deep State’ of ‘mighty patriotic people’, just like those ‘mighty patriotic’ deep state people in the US?
  
  Just check https://mises.org/wire/deep-state-headless-fourth-branch-government before calling this force ‘mighty patriotic’.
mortimer on November 22, 2019 · at 1:32 am EST/EDT

Yes, of course Russia can survive without China, but why ask this question?

They’re partners now and doing just fine.

Only zio-anglo-nazism (USA) wants Russia & China to break-up friendships.

The entire old UK British means of controlling the colonys is all about ‘Divide & Conquer’ this UK ( anglo-nazi-zionsim ) will do everything possible to engineer a war between all party’s.

Iran has something that China needs OIL, a perfect fit. It’s easier to ship Russian oil to European market.

IMHO Iran, China, & Russian are some of the best people on earth. They’re always caring, and thoughtful. They sure as hell don’t live on the street covered in feces drugged out of their minds.

Same here with Iran, Israel can’t stand the thought of the BEST people on the planet protecting/supporting Iran.
Mulga Mumblebrain on November 22, 2019 · at 1:36 am EST/EDT

When you listen to the likes of Fiona (Mrs Danvers) Hill, in the impeachment farce, with the Harpie’s deranged Russophobic hatred and outright, impertinent, lying, emerging from her sneering, reptilian, gash of a mouth, and see her praised everywhere in the Imperial fakestream media (save Fox) as a ‘heroine’, you witness deep, deep, hatred that will never be slaked. At the same time the West is fabricating new lies to ban Russia from all International sport, on the lunatic presumption that Russians are such innate, dare one say ‘genetic’, drug cheats, that they cannot stop doing it. The Western elites, facing their self-destruction through moral, spiritual and intellectual corruption of absolutely unprecedented depth, have gone barking mad. Putin will definitely be succeeded, eventually, by another Yeltsin, and this time Russia herself will be broken up. Under ‘democracy’ with capitalist economics, there can be no other result. However, by then we will probably all be dead, from thermo-nuclear war caused by Western aggression, or the ecological Holocaust, now accelerating in all parameters with ferocious impetus.
- Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 7:00 pm EST/EDT
  
  Apparently it came to your country ahead of time. Maybe it has something to do with the Ozone hole above Oz. Or maybe Folau was right?
  - Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:21 pm EST/EDT
    
    It’s been predicted for decades that Australia, already the driest populated continent, would be severely affected by climate destabilisation. As usual the science is being confirmed by reality. Is that what annoys you?
    - Anonymous on November 23, 2019 · at 11:56 pm EST/EDT
      
      Apparently it annoys you more than me. If there is an agreement between all traditions in the world, is that droughts and other calamities are consequences of transgressions of God’s Righteousness (Dharma), by humans, of course. Folau is right. Sodom and Gomorrah did really happen. They that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.
mortimer on November 22, 2019 · at 4:43 am EST/EDT

What if there was no China to protect Russia & Iran? This is what the plan is right now to destroy China.

Paul Wolfowitz has declared war on China by being the master mind of the current six month COUP in HK. You thought Donald Rumfeld had gone away?? NOT – Remember Wolfowitz was supposed to have been the CIA director, it appears that he still is, but for the more private deep-state version of the CIA.

Financed by Jimmy Lai Hong-Kong Billionaire, real-estate & media.

…
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/10/article/behind-hong-kongs-black-terror/
…

Here the possibilities are far too numerous to list, but one popular name would be Guo Wengui, aka Miles Kwok. The billionaire fell out with the CCP and, in 2014, fled to the United States to pursue a career as a long-distance political operative.

Even more popular would be name of Jimmy Lai, mentioned above. Confirming another of my key meetings, when Mr. E points to the usual funding suspects, the name of Jimmy Lai inevitably comes up. In fact, a US-Taiwan-Jimmy Lai combination may be number one on the hit parade when it comes to the common wisdom.

But when I tried that combination on for size I encountered problems. For one big thing, Jimmy Lai has made no effort to hide his aid to pro-democracy groups but in his public remarks has invariably encouraged nonviolent agendas.

As South China Morning Post columnist Alex Lo wrote not long ago, “What’s wrong with making massive donations to political parties and anti-government groups? Nothing! So I am puzzled by the media brouhaha over Apple Daily boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s alleged donations worth more than HK$40 million to his pals in the pan-democratic camp over a two-year period.”

Let’s not give up so easily, though. I believe that some things are best hidden right out in the open in bright daylight.

Yes, Lai’s public voice happens to be Mark Simon, who worked for four years as a US naval intelligence analyst.

…

Yes, Lai has been good friends with neo-con guru Paul Wolfowitz since the latter became chairman of the US Taiwan Business Council in 2008, according to a Lai aide.

Wolfowitz served as deputy secretary of defense from 2001 to 2005 under Donald Rumsfeld, sort of by accident: He was supposed to become George W Bush’s head of CIA. But, alas, that didn’t work out because his wife got wind of an affair Paul, a member of the board of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED, had with a staffer, who was married at the time … and so it goes.

And, yes, according to Wikileaks documentation, in 2013 Lai paid US$75,000 to Wolfowitz for an introduction to Myanmar government bigwigs.

Say what? The guy paying for protests in HK, is also paying Wolfowitz to do the same in Myanmar?
- Mulga Mumblebrain on November 22, 2019 · at 3:48 pm EST/EDT
  
  The terrorists are not ‘pro-democracy’. They are anti-China, anti-communist, compradores, fascists, sub-fascists, self-hating Sinophobes who wish they were ‘Western’ and the usual narcissistic psychopath spawn of fallen elites. We were almost White, then those effing commies took it all away! And Wolfowitz means Zionazism, and they hate and fear China with a particularly virulent strain of Talmudic hatred, because the Chinese will never worship the Jews as is de rigeur in the West, and suffered a Holocaust far worse than did the Jews during WW2, so, while sympathising with fellow victims because that is the decent thing to do, will not raise Jewish suffering to the status of a quasi-religion, far more important than the sufferings of other lesser breeds, as is also required in the West.
Harry_Red on November 22, 2019 · at 5:01 am EST/EDT

This is where the Saker really shines ! …..on his expert topic “Russia”.

And the reason why everyone is looking at Russia is because it is a battle-ground country if you will. It has it all: super-power status, huge land-mass and natural resources, transition between monarchism, communism, Western-rapage and now sovereignty, pro-Western group vs pro-Sovereign group, and its reemergence as a distinguished world power, etc., etc.

The “Russia after Putin” issue is a very interesting one. For me personally, this piece of text was one of the most important in the article:

“Putin is the proverbial case of a very good man in a very bad system. True, he has successfully reformed the two branches of government which were most needed to make it possible for both him and Russia to survive the war the Empire was waging on Russia: the armed forces and the intelligence/security forces. Other parts of the Russian state are still in a terrible shape (the entire legal system for starters!).”

I cannot imagine that these very important branches of government (Military and Intelligence) are not preparing for “Russia after Putin”. These branches and their governmental allies need to prepare competent managers to spread out to other branches of government.
- Kevin Frost on November 23, 2019 · at 5:19 am EST/EDT
  
  I think the most important relationship between Russia and China is quite overt and obvious. They are essentially primary partners, real partners, in a new world order. That’s a big deal although it’s not really very new. The European sovereign states system arose to fight and replace the imperial/papal dual power held by the Habsburg’s and the pontiffs of Rome. Since the mid 17th century ambitious monarchs have arisen to grasp after empire. First came Louis XIV, subsequently Napoleon and finally Hitler. The allies of the Second World War combined to do what had previously been done to oppose Louis and Bonaparte. But no sooner had the Third Reich been defeated than America established Nato effectively as a Fourth Reich which finally showed it’s hand after the demise of the Soviet Union. What China and Russia have done has been to reassert the principle of the sovereign states system centred on the United Nations as the legitimate source of international law. I would guess that the likely successor of the UN, presently located in NYC, might establish itself in a place like Astana some day. But in these institutions lay the real lessons of history. The political leadership of the Asiatic civilisations all support the essential principles that now form the basis of a (not so) new world order: sovereign self determination and non interference in the affairs of other states.
  
  Do Russia and China need Iran? Yes. Like China, India, and Russia to, Iran is an ancient civilisation and an empire in it’s own right. It must form an essential element in the new Eurasian states system that is now taking shape. The great threat to the West is not just Russian military capabilities or Chinese economic might but rather the world system now being created as a joint endeavour by all three former empires. But most threatening of all is the fact that Europe has a place in this system as well (for better or worse). The Europeans know this. They know at some level that they are being blackmailed by an insanely jealous and impotent Anglo-American alliance which threatens to devastate the financial system it controls if the Europeans start to stray beyond their Nato leading strings. Yet is it as clear as can be that the Belt and Road agenda is aimed squarely at Europe (and everywhere else). Eurasia is their future. The Chinese leadership along with their Russian partners have thought these things through and this thinking is reflected in all of what I hear coming from President Putin and Minister Lavrov. China needs to maintain it’s good relations with Russia not least for it’s diplomatic efforts aimed at renovating the world order back to a condition where sovereignty is respected. Russia is China’s bridge to Europe and a vital source of security in the Middle East and other places as well. What serves China’s long term interests is stability. This is very favourable for Russia’s future. Last point: I think a substantial element of hegemonic hostility to Russia stems from the fact that Russia has strengthened it’s essential assets similarly to America when it was guided by Kissinger. Russia has become the major power in energy, agriculture, and weaponry/security. That used to be Americas forte. Even if an oligarchic fifth column were to gain the upper hand for a while, Russia, by virtue of it’s concentration of these strategic assets would still hold it’s own vis a vis it’s neighbours. My main point is that Russia’s long term stability is linked to it’s central position in the architecture of a new world order that is vital to China’s economic plans. I really have no fears for Russia ‘succumbing’ to China presently or in times to come. China can be expected to become the high tech leader in all manner of things but they will always require a stable and secure world order to enable them to thrive. I believe that the Russian leadership has already found it’s long term place within this emergent word order.
ВЕЛИКИ ВУУ on November 22, 2019 · at 7:14 am EST/EDT

When it comes to “putin the system”, maybe we should look to russias underrated souther neighbor – Kazakhstan. Nazarabyev did it successfully, perhaps Putin could look towards that?
Paul Schmutz Schaller on November 22, 2019 · at 8:02 am EST/EDT

„But what is she [Russia] really? Nobody really knows, I think.“

The often made differentiation into capitalist countries and socialist countries originates from Western Europe of the 19th century. It is not adapted to the situation of today where there are lot of different economical and political systems. Unfortunately, the theoretical (scientific) work on this question is not very advanced and – if such work exists – then it is not widely known. I think that it is a very important theoretical question classifying the actual systems of countries like Russia, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, to name just a few. I do not name China since the Chinese leadership has a quite clear idea of the Chinese system.

Russia has another particular asset, namely a very rich experience of different political and economical systems, in the last 120 years, say. This is a huge treasure and can be an important source of wisdom. And I would maintain that Putin is a kind of incarnation of this collective wisdom. In this sense, Putin is not just an individual. But I agree of course that this kind of collective wisdom should be much more systematized and formalized.
peter mcloughlin on November 22, 2019 · at 10:18 am EST/EDT

If Putin is replaced by another Yeltsin then that Yeltsin will be replaced by another Putin. The cycle will go until many Russians do not see a threat from the West. Constant attrition will only lead to Armageddon. The strength of any common cause is the threat of a common enemy.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
- MC on November 24, 2019 · at 2:37 pm EST/EDT
  
  Very dialectic explanation. Indeed, the waves of exploitation and impoverishment of the Latin American, African and South Eastern peoples is always followed by their struggle to improve their living conditions – in a dialectical way -, which will only be achieved when the imperialist exploitation ends.
Sourpuss on November 22, 2019 · at 10:31 am EST/EDT

Interesting how the rise of modern China was predicted more than 100 years ago by Jack London. That his exact take and timeline diverged from reality isn’t strange, but the essence, the crux of his idea has retained some striking validity, as well as certain other curious aspects to his tale. What was this idea?— that an imperialist Japan, in its merciless conquest of Asia, would spawn a great and fearsome ultra-modern Chinese empire, built from the ravages of war and destruction. This did occur, albeit with various twists and turns, but undeniably the PRC was born out of that war’s aftermath, and continued, from strength to strength until today. A similar situation is observed in Russia, where the USSR was born and then hardened, by the first and then second World Wars, except that the Soviet empire fell, and now is no longer an existing entity, but instead Russia is as the Saker describes, in a state of rebirth, with an unknown road ahead.
China’s conceptual path to the future is cemented, and theirs is a path to greater empire, and that it is taboo to discuss a Chinese empire, does not change the observable situation of various conquests and the ongoing battle for strengthening an imperial spine and the increase of firm ruling muscles. Because they have not fulfilled the Japanese model to the letter, is not an indication of altruism, but more likely an indicator of the vast superiority in potential, and thus the greater time required for fruition. And since the natural end of imperial Japan was predicted from the outset, whereas China is not limited by similar constraints, but has different limitations, the end of modern China is predicted not as defeat, but as a transformation from strength to strength: from chrysalis to great winged creature. Surely such a creature has never before been seen on earth.
- Rhisiart Gwilym on November 22, 2019 · at 2:07 pm EST/EDT
  
  No-one commenting here seems to factor in The Limits To Growth to their projections. Note that ‘TLTG’ and ‘TLTG – The 30 Year Update’ have been remarkably accurate in their projections. And in a nutshell they foreshadow a time of a world civilisation in irreversible decline away from its recent hitech industrial high-spring tide – around the turn of this century, say about 2005, when SLEG crude oil (Sweet, Light, Easy-Get) went through what looks more and more in hindsight to have been its all-time high point of production.
  
  Now, despite all the misleading fudging of the figures, net total energy-products availability is down – especially if you reckon energy content per barrel equivalent rather than raw numbers of barrel equivalents extracted – a key metric barely noticed by the economic-growthforever cornucopians. Also going down slowly but steadily is the even more crucial metric of the global mean EROEI (**net** Energy Returned On Energy Invested). These maxima, followed by long *fundamentally irreversible* tail-offs, apply also to a whole list of other utterly vital commodities for running a hitech industrial economy: Peak Everything, in two words.
  
  Do Saker’s commenters believe that the natural limits of a globe in crisis somehow won’t apply to Russia and China and their surrounding cloud of newly-industrialising smaller states leaping into BRI, as the Anglozionist empire goes down? I think we’ll find that they will.
  - Mulga Mumblebrain on November 22, 2019 · at 3:57 pm EST/EDT
    
    Thank God for some rationality. The manner in which the infinite growth imperative of capitalism has been so normalised that people find it easier to imagine the end of civilization than the end of capitalism is stupefying. And the other parameter of the Limits to Growth Report, the growth of pollution ending up choking the Life out of the biospheres, is often neglected as well. We stand on the precipice, if not already in free-fall, that ‘Seneca’s Cliff’ if I remember Ugo Bardi’s theorem correctly, where everything painfully constructed over millennia, unravels with ferocious acceleration, and down the hill we tumble into a New Oldawan Age.
    - Anonymous on November 23, 2019 · at 8:49 pm EST/EDT
      
      So Mulga, you’re against BRI, because of the waste and environmental destruction you believe it will cause.
      
      To the comment:
      “Do Saker’s commenters believe that the natural limits of a globe in crisis somehow won’t apply to Russia and China and their surrounding cloud of newly-industrialising smaller states leaping into BRI, as the Anglozionist empire goes down? I think we’ll find that they will.”
      
      You responded: “Thank God for some rationality. “
      - Mulga Mumblebrain on November 27, 2019 · at 12:11 am EST/EDT
        
        ‘Some’ rationality, I said. I remain a tiny bit hopeful, although God knows why, that the Chinese drive to construct an ‘ecological civilization’ will, somehow mean that the BRI will create wealth that will be used to decarbonise, reforest, restore biospheres and rewild the planet, and save humankind from imminent self-destruction. I hope that answer is not too slippery for you.
  - Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 5:27 pm EST/EDT
    
    Russia and China (and the more Russia with China) seem to be better prepared to weather the global crisis.
  - Anonymous on November 23, 2019 · at 1:50 am EST/EDT
    
    Perhaps not everyone is affected by apocalyptic nightmares.
    - Mulga Mumblebrain on November 23, 2019 · at 5:23 pm EST/EDT
      
      Yes-the ignorant, greedy, stupid and conscienceless, and those with no empathy for future generations.
joedoe on November 22, 2019 · at 11:59 am EST/EDT

“in a one-on-one war against the USA China would definitely lose”
Saker I love your blog and over the years I’ve read it enthusiastically,but here I disagree with you, not only because warfare is inherently uncertain for such a certain prediction to hold but because the historical record goes against that assumption.I’m not saying that china will definitely win against the US(uncertainty of war) but that it is not a sure thing the US will win. For one not only the US but also the other anlo-countries have really not preformed well agaisnt competent foes in the whole of the 20th century(including china in 1950) but also because anglos never really fight alone they always go in coalitions in which others(russia, France etc) do the heavy lifting.A REAL review of their record is appalling.They performed bad against germany in Both WWI and WWII,Britain and her empire performed poorly against the ottomans in WWI (even when the russians mopped the floor with the turks and the turks had far less resources than the Brits) they also did badly against the japanese ,indeed even when the US defeated the japanese navy and took peripheral islands, according to makhmut gareev the japanese army and air force had not been destroyed and it took the russian intervention in manchuria to get the japanese to surrender(not the atom bombs or the american army) we all know the Russians destroyed over 80% of the wehrmacht etc. The post WWII record of the anglosis not good even against materially weaker foes.Only they did defeat 3 incompetent foes italians, arabs and argentinians(predominantly italian population) that have been defeated by pretty much anyone who fought them anyway.The record of the PLA in the post wwII period is far more impressive given that it fought tougher opponents than america fought(including the US itself!!!) and except for the frontier skirmishes with the USSR it was successful.Even the americans are not confident they can defeat them.

And which powerful foes have the Chinese defeated?
The Saker
- joedoe on November 22, 2019 · at 2:12 pm EST/EDT
  
  “it fought tougher opponents than america fought(TOUGHER) countries than american after wwII”.
  
  who america fought after WWII
  1-NK-
  2-China-routed from NK fought to a standstill in SK
  3-North Vietnam-Strategic defeat and mostly tactical draws against NV regulars
  4-Iraq-arab posibly culture based or politically based tactical incompetence rather than american skill decided the result
  
  China Fought after WWII
  1-America and UN coalition(kicked them out of NK and fought them to a stand still in SK)
  2-India(possibly stronger than all of the american enemies combined)
  3-Unified Vietnam-minor tactical victories in 1979 and after a longer border war achieved her strategic aim which america couldn’t..
  4-Russia- in border skirmishes which china won a tactical victory in damanski-zhengbao island even if the russians kicked their rears in all others.Americans i’m sure you could agree with me have not even fought a skirmish with the armies of the russian state.
  
  America has fought weaker opponents than the PLA and done worst even with more resources and as I discussed american involvement before ww2 was mostly as a junior partner especially when it comes to the destruction of enemy armed forces.When you take than into account there indeed should be a question of whether the americans are really capable of defeating a competent foe on their own.Anglo-saxons have historically emphasized naval warfare at the expense of Land warfare(in which Russians have historically excelled BTW) as a result maybe they are really not that good at it, however they have built a military myth about themselves that is larger than their true accomplishments.China on the other hand might be somewhat underestimated.
  
  again ,love your blog keep up with your tremendous work.!!!
  
  Oh boy, there is too much here which I disagree with (almost every example) but I really cannot go into details due to my horrible lack of time, sorry!
  We will have to agree to disagree :-)
  Kind regards
  The Saker
  - joedoe on November 22, 2019 · at 5:57 pm EST/EDT
    
    “Oh boy, there is too much here which I disagree with (almost every example)”
    
    I really will love your take then even if its brief seriously since I am always open to different points of view. I Really would like your take,Love to have a stimulating conversation.
    
    Kind regards as well tovarish.
- Mulga Mumblebrain on November 22, 2019 · at 3:58 pm EST/EDT
  
  They’ve beaten the USA, by letting the USA destroy itself. Just as Sun Zi recommended.
- d dan on November 25, 2019 · at 2:31 pm EST/EDT
  
  “in a one-on-one war against the USA China would definitely lose”
  
  I too have quibble about this statement.
  
  Whether China will lose or win against USA in a one-on-one war depends on so many factors, for example, is it a land-based war or naval war, and if naval war, where? If it is it South China Sea, for example, I think China would have a high chance of winning.
  
  It is too sweeping a statement to say China would “definitely lose”.
Straight-Bat on November 22, 2019 · at 1:21 pm EST/EDT

It is a foregone conclusion that Russia-China cooperation will develop into a very well-entrenched mutually beneficial all-round relationship in the present century – there was no parallel in past history of 10,000 years civilization and possibly, there would be very few in this millennium that can match the depth and breadth of this socio-economic-political-military alliance. I am not inclined to spend time to think how this relationship will develop – isn’t it entirely the choice of two lovers in what steps they want to develop their relationship !

I am concerned with the most important part of Saker’s write-up where he mentions:

” In other words, not only is there no “no official ideology” in Russia, there is an explicit recognition for a multi-party political system (itself an ideological statement, by the way). These are all potentially very dangerous and toxic items in the Russian Constitution which already are hindering a true national, cultural, psychological and spiritual rebirth of Russia. ”

Like a die-hard optimist, i feel it is “the people” (90% common people excluding the 1% oligarchy and 9% agents like managers/technocrats) who have the power to rewrite constitution of any socio-political entity like country/nation – when common Russian people (all communities residing within Russia-Belarus-Novorossia irrespective of religion/ethnicity/sex) come forward to establish their collective ownership (and deny the ownership of ‘natural resources’, ‘wealth’ and ‘political power’ by 1% oligarchy) , ‘Peoples Federation of Russia’ will born. And it may be sooner than most of the pundits are inclined to think, may be before 2030.

Quite naturally question arises, how can this be expected with so much of optimism ? Well, my optimism is not just wish – if we look back into past 200 years of history of Russian people and society, it is crystal clear that this is a land, this is a community which love simple lifestyle and hardwork, who feel they are part of mother nature, who love literature and poetry, who equally love pure mathematics and science, who believe in morality and equality, who question injustice and inequality, and above all who like to be master of their fate ! Common people of Russian societies will soon conclude that 21st century imperialist-capitalist-zionist economy and culture is stinking and in essence, completely alien to their lifestyle and culture. The two categories of pundits (basically offshoots of same zionist-capitalist ideology) waiting in the sidelines – liberal democrats (aka conservatives) of Europe and North America as well as authoritarian nationalists (aka conservatives) of south Asia and east Asia – eager to claim ‘Russian ethos and heritage’ as their own,
will be crestfallen.

Am i sounding like a dreamer ? Why not think of the day when this dream will come true !
Roberto on November 22, 2019 · at 2:44 pm EST/EDT

Estimado camarada Saker, привет из москвы,
There is another play on words with the word democracy I have heard here: демокрадии as in жизнь зпохи демо-крадии, nudge to the word theft I think.
On RT I agree with you completely (gone native) and I would take your words on the topic in the article one step further. You wrote: “So all is not rosy in the Russian media scene, but its not all bad either.”
What I think is that: news is not bad, but opinion (also stuff like the shows on the website)… me saca de quicio”. Not because it is inherently bad, per se, but simply because it is not Russian opinion. It’s Anglo opinion in the English section, Franco opinion in the French and Spanish in the Spanish language section etc.
Wasn’t Russia Today supposed to showcase the Russian point of view? What happened to that?
Look… I like George Galloway he is as decent as much as a Brit can be, and he is the best on the English language shows, but… thing is, on Russia Today I want Russian opinion in languages I can understand. Am I the only one?
On the future of the country we love (remember sometimes ‘love is blind’), the poet would agree with you:
“Caminante no hay camino se hace camino al andar…. y al volver la vista atrás se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar”. Machado is with you.. let’s hope Russia keeps walking forwards without looking back.
Un abrazo
PS. I don’t know if you are still overloaded with emails but if I can get through to you I promise I will tell you privately some thoughts about the situation over here, the light and the darkness, the hope and the despair. Plus, also a funny story… on how the other day I went “on a mission” to tell Margherita Simonyan (the one), all of the above regarding opinion on RT, and how due to strict (lingering soviet-style) rules in q&a and the evil looks of security twice my stature and three times my weight… I miserably failed.
пока товариш
German expat on November 22, 2019 · at 2:46 pm EST/EDT

My pessimism is that, it’s not that difficult for Russia to transform, but the vacuum of a strong spiritual and secular will to change is the biggest burden on Russia. It really seems that the population is halfway brain dead. So many catastrophes in the past have taken its toll. The irony is that Russia has to change if it wants to survive, much less flourish. Maybe it’s better if Russia becomes a Chinese protectorate and gives away its Asian territory to it. This way Chinese independence and development will be insured – Russia is not much than a resource appendage to the EU and China anyway. I really hoped Russia would transform itself, but looking at the last 30 years, I don’t have much confidence left. The amount of corruption and malice in the Russian state is breathtaking: From the space port to the Crimean park skaska, to its liberal braindead economic government – those, who matter most are either apathetic or plainly thiefs.Putin has to correct his underlings almost every day by himself. Trillions upon trillions have been stolen and transferred to the West, the liberal government makes it possible through the policy of free capital flow. Ask Delyagin, Khazin, Katasonov, all agree that basic economic policies are completely missing to counter this bloodletting. And Putin trusts his liberals and is himself in part a economic liberal.

And yes Saker, the system depends on Putin, one more Yeltsin and Russia is finished. I don’t see any human or ideological potential, that will generate a person like that. That maybe not the biggest problem of all. The demographics isn’t looking good at all, high central Asian immigration has masked the problem. The fact is the Russian family institution is in big trouble. Abortion is rampant, Millions are aborted every year. The youth is Westernised.

I think Russia is in bigger trouble than in WW2.
- Anonymous on November 22, 2019 · at 5:44 pm EST/EDT
  
  Abortions are in decline in Russia, as is alcoholism. Demography is picking up.
  - German expat on November 22, 2019 · at 7:00 pm EST/EDT
    
    True, I checked the numbers, it’s about 800000 abortions in total, short of million, but I think its due to more use of contraception practices. Otherwise it will be in the millions. Last time Russia had great demographics is in the Russian empire.
    
    Alcoholism is down, which is definitely good news.
    
    The problem still is the falsification of statistics, at least the fact that Rosstat was giving bad econonomic numbers and were put under authority of the finance ministry, if I recall correctly.
    
    You could say that some work is done on corruption (every month another governor, mayor etc. is under investigation), but the biggest problem in this regard, that you never know if this just an inter-elite war or if it is for real.
    - Anonymous on November 23, 2019 · at 12:09 am EST/EDT
      
      The biggest problem is your determination to never say anything good about Russia.
    - Bosnian Croat on November 23, 2019 · at 11:20 am EST/EDT
      
      Abortions, alcoholism and infant mortality, all have gone down significantly …
      
      And in my opinion it is very good fact that some officials are arrested because it means that security services are doing their job.
      If nobody is ever arrested it is a sign that something in political system is wrong
      
      Or you maybe want to say that western political system is so perfect and people are so honest that there is NEVER any theft, crime or wrongdoings. Which is ridiculous.
- Young patriot on November 22, 2019 · at 6:31 pm EST/EDT
  
  Русские – сильный и гордый народ, мы ни перед кем голову не склоним и на колени не встанем. Ни перед западом, ни перед Китаем. 90-е стали прекрасной прививкой от западной чумы. Молодёжь патриотична, армия сильна – ещё одного ельцина или навального русский народ к власти не допустит. Я в Москве живу, я в 18-ом за Путина голосовал, я своими глазами видел, как люди на выборы шли как на праздник. Россия во многом сильна, особенно в мирном атоме, так что либерасты с их дешевым западным мифом о стране-бензоколонке могут идти лесом. Коррупция есть везде, а не только в одной России, как пытаются показать проплаченные всепропальщики и диванные эксперты. А что до Путина, то он человек мудрый, и о преемнике своём раньше времени трубить не станет. Всему своё время.
  
  “Russians are a strong and proud people, we will not bow our heads to anyone and will not kneel. Not to the West, not to China. 90’s have become perfect inoculation from Western plague. The youth is Patriotic, the army is strong-another Yeltsin or Navalny Russian people to power will not allow. I live in Moscow, I voted for Putin in the 18th, I saw with my own eyes how people went to the elections as a holiday. Russia is strong in many ways, especially in the peaceful atom, so the liberals with their cheap Western myth of a gas station country can go wild. Corruption is everywhere, and not only in Russia alone, as the paid-for all-taxpayers and couch experts try to show. As for Putin, he is a wise man, and he will not trumpet his successor ahead of time. There is a time for everything.”
  - Bosnian Croat on November 23, 2019 · at 7:23 am EST/EDT
    
    It is beautiful to hear, but Putin will not live forever or stay in power forever.
    
    So Russian political system must be prepared for transition in several years.
    
    And transition after one strong leader can be huge problem. Very known lesson of history.
    - Anonymous on November 24, 2019 · at 12:16 am EST/EDT
      
      Russia neither begins with Putin, nor will end when he will disappear. Lessons of history show that Russia went through many “Times of trouble’ and she’s still there alive and kicking. Russia will disappear only when her soul will wither and die, but there are no signs that it will happen soon.
  - gT on November 30, 2019 · at 9:50 am EST/EDT
    
    That’s the spirit, Russia never kowtowed to Napoleon, Russia never kowtowed to Hitler, so no reason why Russia should kowtow to China.
    
    Some seem to think that China is the salvation of humanity, that is their right to think that way. I think that Globalization initiated by the USA was unacceptable to too many, so now it is hoped that Globalization initiated by China will be more acceptable.
Bosnian Croat on November 22, 2019 · at 8:43 pm EST/EDT

The Russian government must raise wages and achieve a better standard of living, and that is a priority.
It is the best cure for Western influence. Until it reaches a standard of living at least approximately the average Western standard of living, Russia will be vulnerable because a large part of the population will always view the West as paradise on Earth. And especially the younger generation.
That is why Putin also spoke about this in this latest economic forum. I hope that the Russian government will focus on this task in the coming years.
Mikhail on November 22, 2019 · at 10:38 pm EST/EDT

The last pic resumes EVERYTHING, imho.
Many thanks by your clarity, “Noble Bird”…
Regards and a tight hug from Baires, Argentina.
Anonymous on November 23, 2019 · at 12:53 am EST/EDT

David Stockman on Russia, Ukraine and USA (part 1 and 2):

https://original.antiwar.com/david_stockman/2019/11/12/the-ukrainian-influence-peddling-rings-a-microcosm-of-how-imperial-washington-rolls/

https://original.antiwar.com/david_stockman/2019/11/21/democrats-empower-a-pack-of-paranoid-neocon-morons/
- pogohere on November 25, 2019 · at 12:09 am EST/EDT
  
  The parts of the 2nd article regarding Russia read as if written for The Onion.
Merlin2 on November 23, 2019 · at 1:05 am EST/EDT

Just to add another note not mentioned by others:

Russia was extremely lucky to have over 1 Million Jewish and jewish related Russians to leave the USSR, when the leaving was good.

Yes, I know many pointed out that it was a massive brain drain, and on some levels it was. Numerous great scientists, engineers and other professionals left Russia for greener pastured in Israel and the US. Which has no doubt caused disruption in certain sectors.

However, witnessing the relative dysfunction of the Russian community in israel, it’s extreme right leaning politics (mirrored in the US too, where most Russian origin people identify with the right), it’s almost fascist like tendencies with regard to human rights and the wholesale adoption of extreme materialism (par for the course in Israel) , I’d say that perhaps this mass migration was a blessing in disguise. This before even pointing out the ruthlessness of the Russian mafias which have now taken over the drug and prostitution business in Israel and are instrumental in money laundering and other shenanigans in Europe (just look at who’s in charge in the Frankfurt mafia). Imagine how beneficial for Russian society it was to, almost overnight, rid themselves of a large fraction of potential toxic pool of malfeasance.

So on this front alone I’d say that the loss of good scientists was more than balanced by the riddance of a larger section of the criminally minded. I am sure somewhere, someone must have a score sheet. Wish I had access to it.

Not only that but Russia has mercifully disposed of a very large potential lobby that would have over time followed in the footsteps of AIPAC, and also penetrated all the security and financial interests of the emerging Russian state. many who left for the west were the most corrupt oligarchs and oligarch lackies. Sure, they still exert some influence, as they travel and make deals and have their Russian contacts, but their actual numbers have greatly diminished.

Which is one thing I believe played in Putin’s favor as he set out on the course of ridding the country of the most egregious corruption and the subservience to western and global interests. His fifth column, while still alive and well, is not as strong and powerful as it likely would have been, have not all those people left.

Finally, one more point: I also maintain that it is the absence of a strong jewish lobby in Russia, that makes Israel so wary of of it, and is the reason that the thinking part of the Israeli Deep State (yes, they exist…) has a while back identified Russia as the ultimate adversary Israel will have to face on the way to executing its great Israel and Middle east dominance plan. This is the reasons I think so many of the ones we saw testifying in the senate impeachment hearings, and so many of the players in the Russiagte and then Ukraingate hoax are jewish or related. They have a dog in the fight that is a shadow dog, because it isn’t the US, as a nation, but the Empire which israel desperately needs to remain standing for a while longer. Since Trump is seen as hastening the demise of the Empire, Trump, despite his many ‘gifts’ to israel, is, in fact, viewed as “bad for israel’s long term prospects”.

I assume the Russian Deep state thinkers (of which it has plenty) have taken note of what has happened and how it is being played oout.
- Anonymous on November 23, 2019 · at 5:39 am EST/EDT
  
  I am permanently amazed how people cannot see the relation between the elder Schiff (Jacob), the younger Schiff (Adam), the Jews fleeing Russia, the ‘Ukrainian’ oligarchs (Kolomoyski/Zhidobandera) and can’t understand why Russia always was/is the ‘ultimate adversary’ of Judaism.
Ilya G Poimandres on November 23, 2019 · at 2:33 am EST/EDT

The answer is simple: Russia is a representative democracy, so the electorate has no power, none, to check representatives with their creation and destruction of law. In such a system, representatives have 0 need to create laws to suit the public. Putin is simply a lucky break, and for the most part the people in power are the type to bend the law to their own profit. If not 24, then 30, or 36.

This is why semi-direct democracy is a much better idea. People can check the government system directly. We won’t get there without a revolution though – elite power would be seriously wounded in a system where the people are part of government de jure and de facto.
- German expat on November 23, 2019 · at 4:18 am EST/EDT
  
  Yes rep. dem. is the best theater out of all plays that are selected by oligarchs. If the system is to complex and if there are many power players, this will be their favorite choice, for the moder era at least.
  
  I concur, people would also be happy with a monarch, who would be groomed to be a ‘wise’ decision maker (supported by an advisory board concentrating all available info etc.) if they could directly vote on laws. “Independent” courts with an people’s supreme court through referenda could also add to more flexibility of this system.
Makedonia on November 23, 2019 · at 2:54 am EST/EDT

On top of the list to save Russia after Putin is the return of the hammer and sickle. Don’t worry, I don’t mean the return of communism or even the Soviet Union (although I wish it would come back). What I mean is that like with sport, people need to and want to follow a team. Like any team people want a symbol that they can associate with. Let’s face it, nothing united the workers of the world like the hammer and sickle. What I am also trying to say is that a new Soviet Union can re-emerge through the outstanding efforts of Putin’s creation of the Eurasian Union. This Eurasian Union can be what the old USSR should have become – modern, progressive and technologically advanced where all its peoples can live in genuine prosperity while at the same time ensuring their sovereignty, customs and traditions. At the moment the Eurasian Union doesn’t even have a flag. The red flag with the hammer and sickle and star is due to return. It doesn’t mean the re-emergence of a communist entity but its original representation of industry, agriculture and the blood and sweat of the ordinary man. Of course it can be updated like one I saw recently with the hammer and sickle in the middle of the flag enclosed by two olive leaf branches to signify peace. I greatly believe this powerful symbol will unite all the people of the EAU. And there is no reason why the Tsarist tricolor with the double headed eagle cannot fly together side by side with the hammer and sickle.
Additionally, people need an ideology. Build on what capitalism offers and on what communism offers – basically a blend of Chinese state controlled capitalism and Yugoslav socialism together with Putin’s expression of conservatism and traditional religious values. We’ve had a 100 years to work out what works and what doesn’t. Maybe it is “Putinism”. I don’t know but it must survive way after he leaves and must be able to attract the people of the world.
Also, the Russian mindset needs to change in regard to so-called European superiority. Russians need to see themselves as Eurasian rather than European. Yes a lot of them are European by ethnicity but the land mass of Russia also includes the indigenous Asian ethnicities of the east. This concept of Eurasia must be encouraged and exploited at its very best. Nothing connects people more than the land they occupy and in this case it’s Eurasia – the bridge between Europe and Asia. Back to the EAU, make it a “luxury brand” – something people want and desire. Russia needs to pick up its marketing skills and embark on a massive PR campaign to achieve this. Imagine if China, Vietnam, North Korea or even Japan joined as well as some of the Balkan states (please keep Macedonia in mind when they finally throw out the puppets). Referendums should be encouraged in the former USSR as well as other friendly nations in whether their people want to be part of this new super entity. Make Esperanto the official language of the EAU in addition to Russian. This would avoid cries of linguistic domination. As far as I am concerned the greatest cultural crime of the 20th century was making English the world language.
I think that this is the most important article ever written by the Saker and I hope this will encourage more suggestions and ideas that will hopefully make it to the Kremlin for them to take note. The enemy never sleeps. Russia needs to create a super state that goes beyond the personality of one man but build on the good that he has done and make it even better. It will need to work together with China. Russia needs allies. Together they can bring hope to the world and ensure their continued existence.
Oscar The Red Cat on November 23, 2019 · at 5:32 am EST/EDT

“The quasi constant “reporting” about MMA fights, minimally clad ladies, sex in all its shapes and forms and Hollywood gossip – all of this just goes to show that the folks in charge of these media outlets have decided that catering the the lowest possible social common denominator is the way to promote Russia abroad.”

Very true. Disgusting.
Margarita Simonjan should be given the boot.
Same as approx. 15 years ago when Germany was given “Klitschko-mania” … all only to let the average dumb German know that there is a country called Ukraine … who needs Merkels help.
amarynth on November 23, 2019 · at 7:57 am EST/EDT

“Yes, Russia and China need each other. I would argue that they need each other. Vitally. And yes, the “loss” of one would threaten the other.”

Overall that is probably the most correct statement. But that statement is only valid for now and probably some time into the future. As Russia and China both fight against the “axis of kindness”, this relationship is bound to change and to morph with both parties getting stronger in the areas where one or the other now may be weaker. My (hopeful) expectation is that it will morph into a kinda of a new deal and the complete humankind will be somewhat changed because of this relationship and the massive overall technology advances that the one country affords the other country. I wonder if any of us can even see the size of the world change upon us. Let’s hope for a multi polarity in our world and a little respect. I’m weary of the insults, the blame and the underhanded fight.

The Hong Kong riots are coming to an end, China having denied the western backers their most fervent wish to recreate a Tienanmen style incident, which would have led to further Western sanctions and derision towards China. The western backers were sitting on the edge of their seats and salivating for the incident that they could use to win Trump’s trade war with illegal sanctions and tariffs and whatever else financial instruments. Well, they were denied this opportunity and they lost yet again. Moonofalabama has a good write-up on the situation now. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/11/why-the-hong-kong-riots-are-coming-to-an-end.html#more

From the various threads on the coup in Bolivia it became clear that this was mainly about denying China the business of Lithium, I said that China will solve this asymmetrically. Seems that they did just that and again asymmetrically simply by refusing to play. It seems that the subsidies in China that supported the young electric vehicle industry and batteries of course, was simply reduced sharply, thereby affecting the market price of Lithium as well as electric vehicles stocks, nicely downwards. So, those Western industrialists that early bought in, certainly having had pre-knowledge about the coup, made nothing on this Lithium trade. Well done China. We will see what the future holds here.

And then this morning we have Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi saying: ” US is the biggest source of instability in the world.”

So, I would say the knives are out, Kissinger is visiting Beijing at the moment probably to smooth ruffled feathers and to try to get the trade negotiations on track again. Russia is contributing massive weapons technology to this China-Russia partnership, but China is contributing quite devastating and pinpoint accuracy economic moves in the overall war on the hegemon.

It is actually quite an edge of the seat ballet if one likes to watch geopolitical moves.
- jimmy lai ( aka owner of HK Riot, Inc ) on November 23, 2019 · at 9:53 am EST/EDT
  
  MoonofAlambama is the worst censor around if your post isn’t pro anglo-zion, they delete you, so I can be sure that the ‘why hk protests ended’ from them is really fair & balanced.
  
  I can tell you this, this site is far less censored, as this site doesn’t fear a debate.
  
  How do you solve something ‘asymetrically’, I mean Bolivia has +70% of reserve, if that is now 100% allocated to MUSK(TESLA), then all the symmetry in the world isn’t going to help china. Who writes this stuff?
  
  Take Einsteins quote at face value “Making stuff over-complicated, and using big-words is the sign of a weak mind”, “Any fool can make something complicated, only a genius can simplify”
  
  No, if then, or butt about it, you either are getting 100% of the Bolivian Lithium or your not.
  - amarynth on November 23, 2019 · at 11:33 am EST/EDT
    
    We thank you for your genius. Yes, debate is possible here, but only because we smell rats very quickly.
    I wrote that and I smell a genius rat.
- Anonymous on November 23, 2019 · at 10:52 pm EST/EDT
  
  No amarythn, Russia is not contributing massive tech know how on weapons to China. Cite your source sources for that.
  
  Firstly, people need to get over the racist/patronizing stereotype that China cannot develop their own technology: clearly the chinese are far ahead of Russia in quantum computing, AI, and the highly complex field of digital radio multiple access mechanisms, high bit/symbol density modulation techniques (ie the basis of 5G, 6G and so on), quantum communications. In addition to their accelerating lead in microelectronics, consumer electronics, systems integration, etc. As well as power cell technology and energy systems.
  
  Secondly the absurd supposition, by others here that the chinese some how lack ability in physics is astonishingly ignorant. One trip to Los Alamos will cure you of that misconception or similar trips to China’s nuclear research complexes north of Lop Nor.
  - amarynth on November 24, 2019 · at 6:51 am EST/EDT
    
    Well, would Putin the man himself be a good source for you? Or Peskov whose job it is to channel Putin?
    
    Putin himself announced that Russia had been helping China develop at least missile defense technology and then also further weapons technology. Putin quote : “ …. this is a very serious thing that will radically enhance China’s defense capability”.
    
    And Peskov continued on that theme : “Russia has special relations with China of advanced partnership…. including [in] the most sensitive [areas] linked to military-technical cooperation and security and defense capabilities,” Peskov said at a press conference on Oct. 4.
    
    So, as to this sentence: “No amarythn, Russia is not contributing massive tech know how on weapons to China. Cite your source sources for that.” Let me rewrite it for you.
    
    Yes Amarynth, Russia is contributing massive tech know how on weapons to China.
    
    There is a very deep integration between the two countries and if you think that this integration stops at the defense and weapons complexes, I would say the nature of the relationship escapes you. Read Peskov’s statement with great attention.
    
    So, you have the quotes and can follow the story from there. But if anyone thinks China is not availing itself of these advanced weapons technologies inside of their relationship with Russia, http://www.unz.com/article/the-implications-of-russias-new-weapons/ then I guess someone is not living in the real world.
    
    For the rest, I am watching the astonishing technology development in China and there are a few things that are truly groundbreaking … for me, one of those is quantum entanglement (almost applied Spooky action at a distance). https://gizadeathstar.com/2019/07/china-teleports-an-electron-from-ground-to-space/
    
    But I also watch where they are in a sense kinda a little weird, in terms of Crispr and other gmo and gene editing technologies, especially in the food chain – some of those are ‘hard to swallow’ civilizationally.
    
    DIY gene editing technologies are now available to basically every Chinese farmer and food producer.
    https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/china-s-crispr-push-animals-promises-better-meat-novel-therapies-and-pig-organs-people
    https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/23/559060166/crispr-bacon-chinese-scientists-create-genetically-modified-low-fat-pigs
    
    I see in the Chinese press that they growing the hugest big pigs that one can just imagine – as big as mountain ponies but with shorter legs.
    - ? on November 25, 2019 · at 2:02 am EST/EDT
      
      amarynth thought you may be one of the best person to ask here…
      was there EVER a major war btwn china and russia/su in the past 200 years? ever in ancient history?
      I dont think so from my limited memory source but I love to now more about that if there be…
      If you have some time and thank you in advance…
      - amarynth on November 25, 2019 · at 5:36 am EST/EDT
        
        Uhm, I don’t think I’m the best here – only skirmish that I know about, is the well documented Zhenbao Island border business where there was military conflict around 1970. Some people say though that this incident was as fraught with danger as say the Cuban Missile Crisis. I don’t have a good feel for the Russia / China old history – it feels quite tribal and racial and somehow as if it has to be read in the original languages to actually get the context. In English, there is such a bunch of propaganda that I truly do not know what to read. Remember in the 1990’s (I was in the US at the time), the many announcements by the then administration that China is the ‘most favored trading nation’ and the flowery propaganda around the trade situation at the time.
        
        Two views on Zhenbao series of border incidents. What caught my attention is the messages that the soldiers broadcasted at one another:
        
        March 15th, 1969, Chinese PLA troops broadcasted a message into Soviet occupied territory which stated ‘Abandon Revisionism’, whilst Soviet Red Army troops broadcasted the counter-message into Chinese occupied territory of ‘It’s not too late. Think about it, you are the children of those who liberated China from the Japanese aggressors.’
        
        https://thesanghakommune.org/2018/07/07/the-damansky-zhenbao-island-incident-1969/
        
        https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713999906
        
        The Chinese history is of course incredibly vast. This fellow (an American living in China) is now doing a slow series which Westerners can understand. For myself, I was as much a product of Western propaganda about China as anyone else, and had to overcome many prejudices before I could even be interested to actually start reading Chinese press, and this was only because I met an educated, interesting and very savvy Chinese project manager and I worked together with him and his team for 2 years. So, I figured out that the Chinese are also just fine people. But I do like what Nathan Rich is doing based on the first of his new series.
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DexC8tbKGok
        
        He says it is necessary to listen to the background of this, before getting into the first of the series.
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl1bPVn81Ok
    - Chappayrd2Rundee on November 25, 2019 · at 7:20 pm EST/EDT
      
      Amarynth, nowhere did Putin say what you claimed. Nowhere he mentions technology transfer. From what I can see, China is ahead of Russia in many areas and on a larger scale.
      
      From what I can see you haven’t proven your case.
      - amarynth on November 26, 2019 · at 5:46 pm EST/EDT
        
        Well, I don’t have a case to prove but you seem to be fighting windmills.
        
        Take this from about timemarker 3:20 – but you’re going to have to understand nuance.
        Putin Flexes at Valdai! Russia Helping China Develop Advanced Warning Missile Defense System!
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOejwzRlqBM
        
        And here is another, from Lavrov
        Lavrov Exclusive: Russia and China Now Very Close to De Facto Military Alliance!
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRHWrQO1aGo
        
        Anonymous on November 26, 2019 · at 9:01 pm EST/EDT
        
        So amarynth, where did Putin use the word massive with respect to technology transfer to China? It looks to me like you’re trying hopelessly backing an unsupportable point.
        
        amarynth on November 27, 2019 · at 7:11 am EST/EDT
        
        Anon, somehow I find myself in a cheap wordfight where I don’t want to be and have no case to prove. Those of us that are on this site to Stop the Empire’s war on Russia, understand these issues.
        
        I use the word massive. With China and Russia getting closer together militarily, I consider that massive, tremendous, colossal, enormous, unprecedented and astonishing. Lavrov calls that a defacto military alliance. If the trolling brigade here does not understand Putin by now, I suggest you go and listen to the man a few times more and listen to his words quite carefully. Then, go and search out Peskov’s statements and then the last link I gave you, is from Lavrov – a defacto military alliance. This is bigger than massive and is truly unprecendented. Now, if you don’t understand what that means practically and for technology, I cannot help you out. You will have to get that education by yourself.
        
        In certain technologies Russia is way ahead of China. And that does not mean that China is slouching at all. It just means that in military technologies (and I am not an expert, I just listen to Putin, Peskov, Lavrov, Gerasimov, Shoigu and other weapons analysists that are recommended right here. I also regularly read https://eng.mil.ru/ ) Russia clearly has advantage.
        
        Then I read The Saker’s analysis, the analysis of other analysts and commentators in the know here at The Saker like Larchmonter and many others.
        
        Again, Russia is miles ahead of China in some military technology. The announced pieces of this, i.e., the Advanced Missile Defense Systems is happening. I gave you all the links to study. Seemingly that is hard and you have a real problem with words or perhaps just difficulty in understanding, or perhaps we have a troll brigade functioning here.
        
        What do I think? There is massive technology transfer happening as we speak. Now, go and play word games somewhere else. But just before you do that, read the comment of a commentator that is actually clearly knowledgeable.
        /can-russia-or-iran-survive-without-china/#comment-724874
  - stefan on November 25, 2019 · at 4:15 pm EST/EDT
    
    China is ahead, and very good at advancing some tecnologies and catching up on many others, Russia is still ahead of some hardcore tecnologies like space, nuclear and military (e.g. jet engines, radars, rockets). I dare to say even robotics(military) and microchips ( The Elbrus goes back to 1952, is one of the few chips which nobody can claims patents as it precedes most – Huawei wants to license it’s use. Also read about the Russian CPU guru Pentovski which “baptised” the Pentium and essentially made the giant jump to allow Intel to dominate now.)
    It’s because of remnants of massive research of the Soviet Union, education system and “inbred” essence of Russians for science and arts.
    As a foreigner living in Moscow I was amazed of how many kids have tutors for math after school, Of my kids (international school) class there are at least 2/3 out of 10 Russian kids which i know of. My daughter’s best friend(12y.o) is about 8/9 years ahead, so university level maths/algebra. 2 years ago, one boy in my son’s class (8 y.o.) was doing university entry test for maths.
    I believe Russia is very advanced on many things, but also both crap but also constrained (sanctions, ressistance, small internal market) at doing commercially successful civilian use devices and gadgets.
Hunor on November 24, 2019 · at 3:19 am EST/EDT

None of this countries can survive alone , against the collective hate of hyenas who see
them as pray .
In this trio of countries , clearly Russia is the weakest link. Never mind the armaments ,
the hyenas have no intention to challenge those fancy missiles , that’s not how they hunt.
Russia is the least homogeneous country ethnically , culturally , and politically .
Iran and China are a “nation state” , Russia is a federation of states under Russian leadership.
Russia has a far more powerful fifth column then the other two.
Politically the question in Russia is ” to be or not to be ” is there Putin or is there not Putin.
It is wickedly unnerving if the whole country’s existence is depend on one person.
History will produce great leaders , but they come and go.
So where is the cohesion needed for the Russian Federation to survive the coming showdown ?
The Russians are incredible spirits , and they still have Putin and after Putin surely there
will remain for some time a ” Putin effect” . Will that be enough ?
Q on November 24, 2019 · at 4:16 am EST/EDT

Ai ‘Hel’

The danger I see is hardly that after Putin the liberals will take over Russia. The pendulum is in full swing and it swings the other way. That is the mechanics of republics and if the underlining social problems are not solved it swings higher in either way. As absurd and destructive as the present ‘trans’-liberalism has become as brutal will the other extreme be.

The man’s sin to replace the spirit of the thinking being with a ‘system’ (Putin or otherwise) make one shudder. Even if the ‘system’ is made of humans not electronic devices the final decision will not be made by a man but by a kind of artificial mechanics. I can only hope that Russia and the rest of earth has had enough of “which system” is better but I am not that sure.

In the end we will either convert into devices that serving machines or rebel against the modern world and its philosophy. All countries advance a live in an artificial dehumanized “scientific” way. Time to wake up and understand that a man like Putin has its limits and even if its only the limits of his earthly existence. There is no son that will follow him and like Alexander the great what he created will likely convert in something bad. Continuity is what man needs. All those modern “ideas” focus on the next day, making us mindless creatures seeking “fun”. For finding “a way out” you will need a man in flesh and blood and a woman that will love and care their children for one day the will carry on the fight. Focusing only on the man foregeting the other “half”. The result of to much fearing the next day and forgetting what lies beyond the horizon.

Q
One Tribe on November 24, 2019 · at 1:59 pm EST/EDT

Ahh…..
….the intellectual (minimally distorted by objectivity-killing ego) discussion of a very (actually) relevant topic is so refreshing to the mind and soul;
thank you so much!

There are a lot of vectors into this complex discussion, many have been discussed by the usual… deplorables (meant, of course, as a strong endorsement of their well-reasoned, heretical, positions and descriptions, brought in seeming good-faith to the community, thank you so much; I believe you likely know who you are); so I will narrow the focus of this discussion appropriately.

In-Process – State of Flux – may be appropriate for this epoch in this Anthropocene era
I must admit to not fully getting the supposed toxicity in:
1. In the Russian Federation ideological diversity shall be recognized
2. No ideology may be established as state or obligatory one.
3. In the Russian Federation political diversity and multi-party system shall be recognized.

… perhaps somebody could help me out.
I see that these provisions leave the the political unit somewhat rudderless, in terms of an aligned value-set.
But it is interesting that Russia, for all its geographic size, and inherent ethno-cultural (read values-set) diversity, is yet in a different, better, condition than the (supposedly sovereign) nation-states existing under the auspices of the empire.
Non, mes amis?!

We enter a transitional period of an order of magnitude greater than the industrial revolution, (initial phase of carbon-liberation mechanical chemistry, as a power source), in the information-accessibility capability that we are now into.
This information-accessibility capability also enables previously inaccessible capability to control the perception of humans in a Matrix-like level.
While the agricultural-revolution and transition to permanent residency was a necessary precursor, the current change is at least as significant for individual humans and human societies… all humans, and human societies, on the planet.

So, this diatribe is intended to support a flexible approach to official sanctioned ideology, though I full-well acknowledge the risks of not having at least somewhat normalized values-sets across an humanity administrative base, especially in the case of known, virulent value-set pathologies, which some here may be more accustomed to referring to as parasitic.

Here’s where I want to dig in to expose an underlying issue…

Cultural antigens
Possibly the greatest threat to humanity, are the existing value-set pathogies, which are patently unsustainable, or, possibly worse, ultimately result in a universal malevolence, caused by socio-economic environmental forces driving human evolution; the resulting compound life-form would be unappealing to many (individual freedom-loving) people today, yet the adoption of the seminal forms of these pathologies yields a decisive advantage in upward social-mobility to their adherents.

Quite a conundrum, those who can follow will likely agree.

To concretize this theory, I refer you to the so-called “fifth column, specifically the mentality of affiliates within this fifth-column, who have tighter adherence to an extra-national ideological association, than to the community in their own geographic location/nation-state entity (supposedly champion of the people in the given geography-defined administrative structure).
Behaving as a collective, to re-inforce the upward-mobility advantage of affiliates of the collective, by systemic, enforced discrimination against all non-affiliates, the success of this ideology fundamentally undermines the integrity of the nation-state institution, and sustainability in all it’s definitions, thus leading ultimately to universal homicide, ultimately univeral genocide, which is suicide!

So, fighting this …infection currently requires a policy of ideological flexibility.

There is no denying the risky course, but we face new forms of threat, not really acknowledged before, whether they existed or not.

The true ultimate success of a benevolent dictatorship (considered the second most effective form of governance by Plato, far above democracy, which Plato considered the second worse, since, according to him, it would always be superseded/defected by the worst form of governance, tyranny), is it’s ability to establish infrastructures continuing the success of the nation, after the dictator has left.

To be clear
The current antagonism in global affairs boils down to a coalition of sovereign benevolent dictatorships versus former democracies now corrupted to new forms of distributed tyrannies, aka “the empire“.

I hope all yuz’ deplorables can decipher and benefit from this somewhat complex discussion, inscribed in good faith.

thanks for all the chuckles….
Guest on November 24, 2019 · at 2:37 pm EST/EDT

Where China meets Russia (on the New Silk Road aka Belt & Road Initiative)
https://youtu.be/VkqFwJ-eBrA
ma gouyu on November 25, 2019 · at 11:01 am EST/EDT

I think China has been too mild and timid with the riots and violence in Hong Kong instigated by UK and the Deep State of the USA.. And now that the “pro-democracy” movement has swept almost two third of the local election seats, what is China goin to do about this. These young treasonous fanatics would bring in the CIA and FBI to freely operate in Hong Kong. The next piece of advice from the imperialist will be to hold an independence referendum but unlike Crimea, this one they will sanction it and call it a democratic move. If the majority wants independence, the Deep State and USA will safe guard it. So before this happens, in fact China needs to interfere even more and this time for real. They should really have blasted all those young terrorists away early during the protest. It was the weakness of Carrie Lam who may have half a heart for these criminals and thugs.
- Geneva observer on November 25, 2019 · at 9:11 pm EST/EDT
  
  You forget that in a matter of days, the bridge across the Amur river will be open for motor vehicle and rail traffic.
  
  Nord Stream 2 needs less than thirty days to string under-water pipes to complete.
  
  Oil shipments from Iran still need to deliver to China.
  
  Syria is still in flux.
  
  It looks to me China and Russia have been biding for time.
  
  I did laugh when China cut its electric vehicle subsidies (and subsequently lithium prices sank). So much for the sucessful coup-d`état by the empire.
Jon Hellevig on November 25, 2019 · at 6:27 pm EST/EDT

About China’s and Russia’s relation with Iran. I am very much worried why China has so dramatically cut oil purchases from Iran, on US orders. This has very much hurt Iran and put it on risk of regime change. Russia has not done much economically either to support Iran.
Bjørn Holmgaard on November 26, 2019 · at 9:54 pm EST/EDT

As to the question of a separation between China and Russia.

20 years ago studying at Uni I read International Political Theory.

Within the theory, in a unipolar system, one Hegemonic power will develop “Hegemonic” behaviour – eg. Might makes Right. It so happens that this seems an apt description of US behaviour since 1992.

The prediction within the theory is that the lesser powers recognizing the dangers of this unstable situation will adapt and join in an alliance of convenience.

Thus it doesn’t really matter if China and Russia, as it is – have a genuine symbiotic relationship. All that matter is if the powers realize the urgent need to tie down the hegemon.

Countries like France, Germany, and Japan fail to see the obvious, only because the elites of these countries have been corrupted by US “Kompromat” or by those sweet sweet US fiat Petro-$.

The only question is thus: Is the security apparatus of both China and Russia able to keep their respective elites uncompromised by the US?

It seems that FSB has succeded in this, as neither the nationalist nor the communist oppositions show signs of corruption in relation to the national interests.

Only reason Navalny isn’t in prison seems to be because of his beneficial role as a scarecrow.

Regarding the elite of China I don’t know enough about it….
Purple Library Guy on November 27, 2019 · at 3:53 pm EST/EDT

“unlike western democracies which are mostly run by minorities”
–Western democracies are run by only one minority: The wealthy. Other minorities are sometimes involved, but they are ultimately catspaws.
Jeff J. Brown on December 13, 2019 · at 10:53 pm EST/EDT

Andrei, so sorry, this went to my junk folder and I just saw it. Many thanks for the informative dialogue. I learned a lot.

Until the next time!

Sino-best, Jeff