Period: December, 2016. By: Anil Chelampath (a pseudonym) I just got back to Canada from a 30 day trip through China, and wrote a trip report for my friends here in the Toronto area. Since I am a friend of the Saker, I thought I would polish it up, and submit it to the Saker to see if he might consider it for his blog. I had always admired China
by Pepe Escobar The Trump era starts now – with geopolitics and geoeconomics set for a series of imminent, unpredictable cliffhangers. I have argued that Trump’s foreign policy guru Henry Kissinger’s strategy to deal with the formidable Eurasia integration trio – Russia, China and Iran – is a remixed Divide and Rule; seduce Russia away from its strategic partnership with China, while keep harassing the weakest link, Iran. In fact
by Peter Koenig A Financial genocide, if there was ever one. Death by demonetization, probably killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people, through famine, disease, even desperation and suicide – because most of India’s money was declared invalid. The official weak reason for this purposefully manufactured human disaster is fighting counterfeiting. What a flagrant lie! The real cause is of course – you guessed it – an order
In my recent article “Risks and Opportunities for 2017” I made a statement which shocked many readers. I wrote: Russia is now the most powerful country on the planet. (…) the Russian armed forces are probably the most powerful and capable ones on earth (albeit not the largest ones) (…) Russia is the most powerful country on earth because of two things: Russia openly rejects and denounces the worldwide political,
by Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times He did it, his way; Chinese President Xi Jinping descended on the Swiss Alps; profited from a geopolitical vacuum only three days before Donald Trump’s inauguration with the Atlanticist West mired in stagnation and/or protectionism; unleashed a charm offensive; and deftly positioned China in the lead of “inclusive” globalization. In a wide-ranging speech that went from global angst to China’s new normal, Xi
“What is this?” “This is no fish, neither meat, but Uncle Taras’ zalupa.” An insulting Ukrainian saying. The first time I heard the word “chalupa” I was standing with my back to the wall of a school hallway, surrounded by a group of students. One of them called me “moscal’ and offered me to “try his chalupa” after that they all laughed in anticipation. I had just arrived
Compare Dimiti Peskov to his US counterparts (Kriby, Psaki, etc.) and you will immediately see what the main problem and weakness of the USA is. I noted that the questions asked where less rabidly hostile than what most of what the western media used to ask over the past years. Could it be that NBC or US journalists in general “got the message” from Trump and are slowly changing their
by Ramin Mazaheri It is with great regret that I have to leave Havana after 1 month of special-assignment reporting for Press TV in order to return to Paris. That may surprise a lot of people, but think of what type of work I am returning to: Stories about unabashed capitalism, chauvinistic neo-imperialism, anti-Muslim xenophobia and the upcoming presidential contest in which the only 2 serious contenders are a right-wing
The wider scene “Maritime reconnaissance near Russian territorial waters has intensified by 50 percent.” Libya Last week, an unconfirmed report was circulated on social media, announcing a Russian navy missile firing exercise off the Libyan coast, between Benghazi and Tobruk, (08-11 Jan). If indeed there was really a NOTAM released on this, then it suggested activity by the “Admiral Kuznetsov” group, (whose last confirmed AIS location was SW of Crete).
Dear friends, All in all 2016 has been an excellent year for our community and we are entering 2017 with a great deal of hope, not only because 2017 could truly be a historical year, but also because in spite of some difficult moments (such as the hijacking and subsequent de-recognition of the German Saker blog) our community is doing exceptionally well: we are involved in all the levels of
This article was written for the Unz Review: http://www.unz.com/tsaker/risks-and-opportunities-for-2017/ Just a few days into 2017 and we can already say with a great degree of confidence that 2017 will be a historical year. Furthermore, I submit that 2017 will be the “Year of Trump” because one of roughly three things will happen: either Trump will fully deliver on his threats and promises, or Trump deliver on some, but far from
In the first ten days of the new year we see the conflicts from 2016 getting worse. Russian bloggers wish the Westerners a Happy New Year and… a happy Russophobia in 2017: An interesting essay by Sergey Vasiliev reflects the general mood. The following is a boiled-down version. An offer “Die!” is the only consistent offer that “civilized” Europe has ever formulated for its Eastern neighbor. It was formed in
by Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times So right in the heart of Bali, spellbound after a serious conversation with a dukun – a spiritual master – it struck me: this should be the new Yalta, the perfect setting for a Trump-Xi-Putin summit setting the parameters ahead in the ever-evolving New Great Game in Eurasia. Balinese culture makes no distinction between the secular and the supernatural – sekala and niskala.
After several rather lame false starts, the Neocons have now taken a step which can only be called a declaration of war against Donald Trump. It all began with CNN published an article entitled “Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him” which claimed that: Classified documents presented last week to President Obama and President-elect Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal
Russia In the first week of January the US Embassy in Russia began refusing to continue issuing visas citing some unidentified problems with plumbing. Moscow water authorities claim that they didn’t receive any complaints from the Embassy. It is unclear when the US Embassy will resume its work. The UK An Israeli diplomat called the British Foreign Minister an “idiot” Al-Jazeera released the first of four videos with the
by Peter Koenig Russian ‘Hacking’ and tilting the American elections in favor of Donald Trump’s is one of the most flagrant lies the White House has thrown around the world. Yet, Mr. Obama is desperate to make the American people and the word believe it did actually happen. As Goebbels, Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, said some 70 years ago, and many before and after him, “If you repeat a lie often
Russian navy – Syrian campaign Back in late December, the Russian MOD announced a drawdown (1) of the Russian military in Syria, including the naval presence. The “Admiral Kuznetsov” group, including the cruiser “Peter the Great”, have now left the Syrian shores, following a high level visit from General Ayyoub Chief of General Staff of the Syrian Army, (2) where medals were awarded to Russian personnel for their participation in the
I have to confess that my first reaction was to simply ignore this report as an irrelevant load of nonsense. Then I listened to a Ukrainian blogger, Anatoli Sharii, making fun of this report for over 10 minutes. Listening to him my first reaction was “can’t be – Sharii is in overkill mode”. But then Sharii began quoting the report at length and I simply could not believe my eyes
by Peter Koenig “Hacking” to influence election results? Ridiculous! That may have been a thing of the past. Or not even. It’s an evil invention of the evil losers of the evil Hillary camp, supported by a criminal departing President Obama, who will be leaving office, of course, not with a bang, not even with a whimper, but with a disgrace for his nation and for the truth loving people
Dear friends, I wanted to draw you attention to an interesting project looking for crowdfunding on Idiegogo: it is called “Misrepresenting Russia – This is a unique opportunity to be a part of a myth-busting, honest documentary series about Russia“. Take a look at all the details on the projects Indiegogo’s page: https://t.co/fmChCMtUol I spoke twice to the author of this series of documentaries and it looks to me that
