By Pepe Escobar – posted with permission The key merit of China’s National Defense in the New Era, a white paper released by the State Council in Beijing, is to clear any remaining doubts about where the Middle Kingdom is coming from, and where it’s going to by 2049, the mythical date to, theoretically, be restored as the foremost global power. Although not ultra-heavy on specifics, the white paper certainly should
by Eric Zuesse for The Saker Blog Joe Biden and Kamala Harris might as well be Israelis, though they’re both running for the Presidency of America. The PAC (officially a “lobbying organization”) called AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee, instead of “American Israel Political Action Committee”) represents some American Jews and Christian evangelicals — it represents the ones who place Israel’s Government above America’s Government, and who therefore lobby in
Description: In a recent extended interview marking 13 years after the major conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that based on “logic” and the “development of events in the region and the world”, he has great hope that he himself will “pray in the al-Aqsa Mosque in al-Quds (Jerusalem)”. Earlier in the interview, Nasrallah shared with viewers detailed war-time plans using maps of
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog (cross-posted with PressTV) There are many pieces of nonsense about Iran which are fervently believed in the West but which have zero credibility inside Iran. “Millionaire Mullahs” is a concept which has captivated the Western imagination, even though it has no basis in reality. The idea of “Millionaire Mullahs” was conceived in 2003 by the uber-capitalist magazine Forbes. What’s worse, it was created
by Ruslan Ostashko Translated and captioned by Leo. A series of high-profile statements broke out in Seoul after Russian and Chinese aircraft conducted joint patrols over the Sea of Japan. South Koreans, licking American boots, tried to pretend to be “tough guys,” but it didn’t work out very well. As the self-styled world hegemon weakens, the attempts of its vassals in depicting their geopolitical significance cause more
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with Consortium News – by special agreement with the author) All bets are off in the geopolitical insanity stakes when we have the President of the United States (POTUS) glibly announcing he could launch a nuclear first strike to end the war in Afghanistan and wipe it “off the face of the earth” in one week. But he’d rather not, so he doesn’t have to kill
by Michael Hudson, posted by special permission on the Saker blog * Keynote Paper delivered at the 14th Forum of the World Association for Political Economy, July 21, 2019. Today’s world is at war on many fronts. The rules of international law and order put in place toward the end of World War II are being broken by U.S. foreign policy escalating its confrontation with countries that refrain from giving
by Ollie Richardson for The Saker Blog Dear reader, if you enjoy my Yellow Vests reporting and want it to continue, then please consider becoming my Patron and helping me give the movement the fair English-language coverage it deserves. More information can be found here. (Photo taken by me on June 29th in Paris during a Yellow Vests demonstration) I think by now most people who are interested in geopolitics
[this analysis was written for the Unz Review] The recent elections to the Ukrainian Rada have yielded two most interesting results: First, almost all the nationalist parties failed to get even one representative elected to the Rada (Poroshenko’s and Timoshenko’s parties did get some seats, but only 25 each) Second, for the first time since the independence of the Ukraine, the country’s President will have an absolute majority in the
Yes, Tulsi Gabbard’s name was not found in the list of those members of Congress which voted “no” to the resolution condemning the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. This is the full list as reported by The Forward: Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), Andre Carson (D-Indiana), Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Illinois), Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), Barbara Lee (D-California), Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota), Gwen
by postfataresurgo for The Saker Blog Anyone watching from outside Italy the unfolding of the news about the Italian government this summer may be left a little puzzled. On one side, we have the government of Italy –namely, the Ministry of the Interior headed by Salvini – timidly enforcing the rule of law and acting like a sovereign country, therefore trying to prevent foreign vessels operated by foreign NGOs to
By Ulrich von Kafkanien for The Saker Blog I guess this mini-essay, a homage to the late Dave McGowan (1960–2015), needs some captatio benevolentiae as introduction. First: Rest assured, I am not going to question the veracity of the moon landings, of which the first one was broadcasted 50 years ago, July 20 1969. Second: I need to apologise for my poor command of the English language, which would be
by Pepe Escobar : Posted with permission “We’re like policemen. We’re not fighting a war. If we wanted to fight a war in Afghanistan and win it, I could win that war in a week. But I don’t want to kill 10 million people. Afghanistan could be wiped off the face of the Earth. I don’t want to go that route.” Even considering the rolling annals of demented Trumpism, bolstered
Dear friends, As you may be aware, during the first half of this year I have been reporting on the “Yellow Vests” movement in France whilst being in the center of it. Since February 2019 (after I watched in horror on a live feed as a Yellow Vest’s hand was blown off by a grenade the week prior) I have travelled into central Paris every Saturday and observed for myself the
by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker Blog (cross-posted with PressTV by permission) (Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea, and elsewhere. He is the author of “I’ll Ruin Everything You Are: Ending Western Propaganda on Red China.”) At a
by Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog The British-flagged tanker “Steno Impero”, heading for Saudi Arabia, was seized on Friday, 19 July 2019, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in the Strait of Hormuz, after it rammed an Iranian fishing boat, whose distress call it ignored. The tanker was taken to an Iranian port, because it was not complying with “international maritime laws and regulations,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said.
By Evgeny Damantsev Translated by Ollie Richardson and Angelina Siard Source: https://topwar.ru/160248-filigrannyj-udar-po-aravijskomu-pjetriotu-zasvetil-kriticheskie-nedostatki-radarov-an-mpq-65.html Recent information about the successful use of a kamikaze drone from the “Samad-1/3” family (and, perhaps, the tactical “Quds” cruise missiles too) against at least two M903 launchers of the Arabian surface-to-air missile system “Patriot PAC-3” covering the fortified area of the ground forces of Saudi Arabia and Sudanese hired paramilitary forces in the border province of Marib
by Nat South for The Saker Blog British flagged ship with only 23 seafarers onboard of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationality. UK flag, Swedish company. That’s a reflection today of commercial shipping industry for you. All but in name. Ship operators are already getting cold feet over Brexit, so these latest incidents are going to further undermine operators using the UK as a flag of convenience. Seizure of commercial
Description: Saudi political analyst and writer Abd al-Hamid al-Ghobn said recently on the Israeli TV channel i24 News Arabic that Saudi Arabia and Israel should form a military alliance to launch a crippling strike on Iran. Al-Ghobn added that the current situation cannot be left ‘unresolved’, as Iran continues to develop, and the 30-year long economic embargo has failed to ignite any ‘revolution’ within Iran. Source: i24 News Arabic (YouTube) Date: July
by Pepe Escobar : Posted with permission China is South America’s top trading partner. Together, China’s policy banks – the China Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of China – are the top source of development finance for the whole of Latin America. Over the past few decades, the Brazilian government, leading national companies and multinational corporations have configured what Fernando Mires, already in 1990, defined as the “Amazon mode of production”:
