by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) The tariff tussle that began today is linked to Beijing’s ambitious ‘Made in China 2025’ and Belt and Road strategies, which will transform the global economic and geopolitical landscape; this rivalry could last for decades, some experts have said Way beyond the first midnight shot in what could possibly turn into a vicious trade war, the
by Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog In June 2018 alone, more than 500 refugees drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Their boats were refused access to land in either Malta, or Italy. They were force-driven back by gun-boats to the North African shores they came from, mostly Libya, but many boats capsized and countless refugees didn’t make it. These are de facto murders, high crimes against humanity, committed by the
On July 3rd, the Republic of Belarus once again celebrated an anniversary of its independence. Or rather, given an economic situation, would it be justifiable to put the word “independence” in quotation marks? We already talked about this in June, let’s continue the topic. On July 2nd, on the eve of the holiday celebrating Belarusian statehood, Alexander Lukashenko spoke at a solemn meeting on this very occasion. This is what
by Peter Koenig for The Saker blog During the recent meeting in Caracas of the Venezuelan Presidential Economic Advisory Commission, in mid-June 2018, President Maduro said something extremely interesting, but also extremely disturbing – nonetheless highly important for the region to be aware of. Mr. Maduro mentioned Yugoslavia, the foreign induced local conflicts, the breakup and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, starting with the “Ten Days War” on Slovenia in 1991, the
[This article was written for the Unz Review] The fact that the USA is facing a profound crisis, possibly the worst one in its history, is accepted by most observers, except maybe the most delusional ones. Most Americans definitely know that. In fact, if there is one thing upon which both those who supported Trump and those who hate him with a passion can agree on, it would be that
By Saker Latinamerican Community for the Saker blog A few days ago, we had access to the video we share below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=8WLIunFd3vE The video is self-explanatory, and it makes it hard to avoid seeing what’s undeniable. There is a fifth column within the revolutionary government that threatens the Revolution from within. This phenomenon, certainly not exclusive to Venezuela, has been taking shape and expanding dramatically in recent years, since the
By Rostislav Ishchenko Translated by Ollie Richardson and Angelina Siard cross posted with http://www.stalkerzone.org/rostislav-ishchenko-kiev-will-abolish-the-ukrainian-army-just-to-spite-putin/ source: https://ukraina.ru/opinion/20180704/1020558385.html Kiev Will “Abolish” the Ukrainian Army Just to Spite Putin The army is not just soldiers (summoned, mobilised or employed under contract), not only officers and generals who graduated from schools and academies, not only weapons and equipment, and not only rear services and HQs. The army, first of all, is a tradition. It’s
By Rostislav Ishchenko Translated by Ollie Richardson and Angelina Siard cross posted with http://www.stalkerzone.org/ishchenko-crimea-recognition-trump/ source: https://ukraina.ru/opinion/20180702/1020548537.html When in Ukraine people fall into hysterics because of Trump’s “we will see” concerning Crimea, it is understandable. The US President publicly stated his intention to reach an agreement with Russia discounting Ukraine and at the expense of Ukraine. The stake on “the whole world is with us” and “The West will help us”
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Major states buying oil from Iran are unlikely to heed the US call to drop imports; key allies want a waiver to avoid sanctions; OPEC, meanwhile, will have trouble boosting output in the short-term; the puzzle is not solved, but there are dark clouds History may have registered stranger geoeconomic bedfellows. But in the current OPEC-plus
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog As every journalist and critic knows, the laziest (and fastest) way to describe something is to present it in terms of something else. This is the “new that”, or this is similar to “that combined with this”. This article, which is part of an 11-part series on Iran written in response to the World Socialist Web Site’s “A reply to a proponent of
By Ruslan Khubiev Translated by Ollie Richardson and Angelina Siard cross posted with http://www.stalkerzone.org/german-writer-eugen-drewermann-if-only-we-had-listened-to-the-russians/ source: https://cont.ws/@barbera/990566 Here is a fragment of an extremely interesting interview of the German journalist and researcher Ken Jebsen with the German theologian, writer, and psychoanalyst Eugen Drewermann. A translation of the key theses: Ken: “Could you explain to our listeners why it is so difficult nowadays for peace-loving and the peace movement to stand at
by John Bull, England for The Saker Blog I’m an ordinary member of the British public concerned about the consequences of the Salisbury poisoning. My contribution to the debate is modest and mainly in the public domain, but I do have some personal snippets which may be relevant. Where I have indulged in conjecture, I have made this obvious. I am not a ‘conspiracy theorist’ nor a Kremlin stooge. I
by Paul Craig Roberts (cross-posted with PCR’s website with his special agreement) Among the ruling interests in the US, one interest even more powerful than the Israel Lobby—the Deep State of the military/security complex— there is enormous fear that an uncontrollable President Trump at the upcoming Putin/Trump summit will make an agreement that will bring to an end the demonizing of Russia that serves to protect the enormous budget and
Translated and subtitled by Scott Humor Life has once again confirmed the validity of assessment given by a former Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski. This long gone former minister once said that the Poles “gave the Americans a blowjob for nothing in return. Suckers. Total suckers.” This time Warsaw got on its knees in the matter of punishment for the accusations of Poles in participation in the Holocaust.
http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/3285972 Question: Foreign Minister, the summit is happening in Helsinki. Russian President V.Putin and US President D.Trump together. Is this the post-West world order that you have talked of in the past? Has it now arrived? S.Lavrov: Well, I think that we are in the post-West world order, but this order is being shaped and it will take a long time. It is a historical epoch, if you
[This analysis was written for the Unz Review] Following the re-appointment of Medvedev and his more or less reshuffled government, the public opinion in Russia and abroad was split on whether this was a good sign of continuity and unity amongst the Russian leadership or whether this was a confirmation that there was a 5th column inside the Kremlin working against President Putin and trying to impose neo-liberal and pro-western
by Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog The Government of Venezuela called an international Presidential Economic Advisory Commission, 14-16 June, 2018 – to debate the current foreign injected economic disturbances and seeking solutions to overcome them. I was privileged and honored to be part of this commission. Venezuela is literally being strangled by economic sanctions, by infiltrated elements of unrest, foreign trained opposition leaders, trained to disrupt distribution of food,
By Rostislav Ishchenko Translated by Ollie Richardson and Angelina Siard cross posted with: http://www.stalkerzone.org/ishchenko-preliminary-peace/ source: http://alternatio.org/articles/articles/item/60630-preliminarnyy-mir The world press is being filled with noise about a meeting on the 15th of July between Putin and Trump in Vienna. The Kremlin neither confirms nor denies whether there is a meeting [at the time of writing this was true, however the Kremlin has since confirmed the there will be a meeting on
Translated and subtitled by Scott Humor On June 25, Vladimir Putin signed a decree giving a green light to the creation of a new military innovative Technopolis in Anapa. (Anapa is a resort town on the Black Sea coast. S.H.) The object has been dubbed the “Era.” What kind of era awaits Russian military technology in the near future? A conversation on this topic might be interesting. Original
By Rostislav Ishchenko Translated by Ollie Richardson and Angelina Siard cross posted with http://www.stalkerzone.org/rostislav-ishchenko-why-the-operation-to-de-legitimise-ukraine-should-be-extended-to-2019/ source: https://ukraina.ru/opinion/20180626/1020526852.html What people were saying about 4 years ago concerning the probable (even desirable) future absolutely imperceptibly became the reality. The US, which staged the Ukrainian and Syrian crises for the sake of preserving their hegemony, lost the position of the sole world leader. They launched trade wars not only with China, India, Russia, but also
