I think that it is time for me to directly address the issue of today’s Europe role in world affairs. In this blog I have often voiced very harsh criticisms of both “old Europe” and “new Europe” – to use Rumsfeld’s classification – but I have never addressed this issue head-on, and this is what I propose to do now.
Let me begin by a little disclaimer and say that while I am ethnically and culturally Russian, I was born in the heart of Western Europe from in a family of refugees. I spent most of my life in Europe, and I have become especially close to what I call my “2nd homeland” – the northern Mediterranean from Spain to Greece (which I consider as one coherent – if diverse – cultural zone). So for all my criticisms of Europe, part of me is most definitely European. Furthermore, and regular readers of this blog know that, I have spent a good part of my life in an absolute opposition to the Soviet regime and then the AngloZionist colonial regime of Eltsin which followed it. So while I am ethnically and culturally Russian, I am hardly an automatic supporter of everything “Russian”. In fact, I repeatedly have to pinch myself to check if I am dreaming every time I say something positive about the Kremlin or Putin (who is, after all, an ex-KGB officer). I am so used to be disgusted, outraged and even ashamed by everything which comes out of the Kremlin that, if anything, I have to struggle with my kneejerk suspicion, if not hostility, towards anything “Kremlin”. And yet, here I am, in 2014, a longtime Cold War participant (on many levels – private, corporate and even professional) catching myself in the undeniable fact that I am becoming a “Putin groupie”. I can hardly convey how weird this still feels to me.
I wanted to begin by clarifying all this because what I will write next I do not write as “a Russian bashing Europe” but as a European disgusted with his own birthplace. So here we go:
First, for all its rights and wrongs, and even though we have been more or less a US colony since 1945, I still believe that Western Europe was the “good guy” during the Cold War. Yes, I know, Churchill and the rest of the Anglosphere created that Cold War much more than the Soviets and, yes, the Soviets were not nearly as bad as our propaganda said, nor were we nearly as good as we fancied ourselves to be. And yet, Europe, Western Europe was a continent, a society, which was free, especially compared to Eastern Europe. Anyone doubting this today should watch the beautiful German movie “Das Leben der Anderen” (“The lives of the others”) of director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (preferable in the original German language – with subtitles if needed). Here are a few links to this remarkable movie:
This movie shows, without any exaggerations, what life was like in the last years of the former GDR and I think that for those who might be tempted to forget what daily life was under Soviet rule, this is a very good refresher.
I feel that I want to mention this because I then felt – and still do today – that in those years one could be if not proud, then maybe at least grateful to live in a society which was comparatively wealthy and comparatively free.
This being said, anybody with a little bit of political maturity understood that if Eastern Europe was occupied and controlled by the Soviets, Western Europe was occupied and controlled by the USA. So most of us, at least as I recall, were dreaming for the day when the Cold War would finally be over (it was not pleasant at all to live with a bullseye painted on your head) and when both the USSR and the USA would pack and finally go home. For simple and basic reasons of geography, we all understood that we could built a “fortress Europe” which would be basically immune from any outside military attack, probably for the first time in European history. If NATO and the WTO (yes, it was called the “Warsaw Treaty Organization” and not the Warsaw “Pact” – that is a US propaganda term) would dissolve and the USA and the USSR would leave a united Europe would be simply unconquerable from the outside. As for notion of another internal European war – my generation (I am 50 now) found it utterly ridiculous and basically unthinkable: would the Netherlands invade Belgium? Or France invade Spain? As for the East Europeans, we simply assumed (mistakenly as it turned out) that after decades of rather heavy Soviet occupation they would yearn for peace and freedom as much as we did.
Then the Wall came down, Gorbachev betrayed his own country and Party, three Commie non-entities (Eltsin, Kravchuk and Shushkevich) destroyed the Soviet Union against the will of most of its people, and the previously demure and peace-loving West suddenly became overwhelmed with a new messianic mission: to conquer the eastern “Lebensraum” for NATO and the EU. As for the newly “freed” East Europeans, instead of finally enjoying some true freedom, they all decided that the highest they can hope for is to be colonized by the USA and NATO, lest those dangerous Russians show up again. I will come back to the West Europeans later, but let me say this about East Europeans here:
How did they forget this basic fact of history: Russia has never attacked the West. Not once. Unless, of course, you consider a counter-attack as a form of attack. The historical truth is that it is the West which attacked Russia over and over and over and over again. This is why there was a Crimean war with Russia and not, say, a “Corsican War”. Yes, Russia did counter-attack each time and, yes, Russian soldiers did end up camping on the Champs Elysees or under Brandenburg Gate, but this hardly happened because of some mysterious “Russian imperialism”. Sure, I will be the first to agree that 19th Russia had no business keeping western monarchs in power or chewing up Finland or Poland, but in all these instances you will see that what triggered these (nevertheless unjustifiable) interventions was a (mistaken) sense of assisting the legitimate rulers of Europe. Not saying it’s right (it’s not!). I am just saying that when the West invaded Russia it hardly had as a motive to assist the legitimate authorities. I would never blame the Chechens or the Persians for being fearful of Russia, but the Poles or Balts (who more than anybody tried to occupy, subjugate and partition Russia)? The Germans or French? Maybe the Brits or the Hungarians (who sure had their own little Empire going!)? This is beyond ridiculous…
And yet the East Europeans were so terrified of Russia that they decided to replace one occupation by another. Forgive me if I have no respect whatsoever for that kind of paranoia, ignorance of history or simply crass russophobia.
As for the West Europeans, probably motivated by their own inferiority complex (well, after all, Europe never freed itself from Hitler – it was freed by others!) and definitely egged on by the Anglosphere, they decided not only to turn what could have been a “Europe of fatherland” (as de Gaulle wanted) into a faceless meltingpot run by unelected EU bureaucrats but they also engaged in an “admission spree” for both the EU and NATO, sure as they were that “the more the better” which, of course, made both NATO and the EU much worse of than it was before.
So now we have the worst of “old Europe” mixed with the worst of “new Europe” and all of that ruled by the Anglosphere which, itself, has now been largely taken over by Zionists interests. I don’t know about you, but to me this so-called “united Europe” inspires only disgust and contempt. Especially that this was far from inevitable.
If Europe had taken the example of its own great leaders, people like de Gaulle or even Mitterrand, it would never have accepted the subservient role it now has in the AngloZionist Empire. One does not need to be wealthy or powerful to keep his dignity and self-esteem. So I categorically reject the argument that under the AngloZionist Empire the Europeans “could do nothing about it”.
Excuse me, but if Berlin could rise up in 1953, Hungary could rise up in 1956, Czechoslovakia could rise up in 1968 and Poland could rise up in 1980, I don’t see how you can make the case that today this is impossible. Even inside the Soviet Union there were numerous uprisings (Temirtau 1959, Murom 1961, Aleksandrov 1961, Krasnodar 1961, Novocherkassk 1962 – heck there were even uprisings inside the GULag, as in Ekibastuz in 1952). I would even argue that the real length of the Civil War which followed the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution was from 1917 until 1946, when the country was finally and truly pacified by the Communist leaders. So there was plenty of resistance to the Soviet regime.
But maybe good old uprisings are now “passé”? Okay – fair enough. But what prevents the people from, say, Poland, Germany or Bulgaria from following the example of Alain Soral in France and create their own version of Egalité et Réconciliation or, at least, the French National Front?! Nothing, of course.
I do see some signs of a growing revolt: George Galloway and Nigel Farage in the UK or Laurent Louis in Belgium are clearly beginning to show signs of doing more than opposing this or that policy – they are opposing the system itself. In France, Marine Le Pen unfortunately clearly turned out to be a “dud”, but Florian Philippot (currently in charge of strategy and communications) shows some potential. The big problem with these, shall we say, “sovereignist” parties is that they are still mostly stuck in a “conservative” or even outright reactionary position (though not Galloway!). What Europe completely lacks is a solid “sovereignist Left” similar to what the French Communists almost became in the late years of Georges Marchais.
[Sidenote: The Europeans seem to have forgotten that capitalism is not a European tradition, but an Anglo ideology. They have forgotten that while the north of Europe fell under the influence of Reformed/Protestant Christianity with its emphasis on individual predestination and work, the culture and traditions of rest of Europe were shaped by Latin Christianity, with a much deeper sense of social justice, equality and community. Alain Soral is quite correct when he speaks of an “Old Testament world” which now blends Reformed/Protestant ideology on one side and the rabbinical Phariseic Judaic ideology on the other. It is no coincidence that we live in an AngloZionist Empire and not a, say, FrancoZionist or HispanoZionist one.]
When France had the Trente Glorieuses (30 glorious years of happiness) it was because de Gaulle knew how to balance both economic progress and social welfare rather than subjugate the entire country to Big Banks (which Pompidou did as soon as he came to power). Even the UK had a semblance of social solidarity inherited from the difficult war years.
But now, what do we see?
Most European economies are undergoing a deep crisis. I am not talking only about Greece or Cyprus here, I am talking about France, Spain, but also the Baltic States, Bulgaria and Ireland. Socially, Western Europe has simply added East European immigrants to its already massive amount of immigrants from Africa and the Balkans. It takes a blind person not to see that the EU is taking water from all sides and is basically sinking. And it is under such conditions that the EU now gets involved in the Ukrainian mess, as if it did not have enough problems without having a bona fide Nazi regime on its doorstep and yet another tsunami of economic immigrants about to join the Romanians, Latvians, Gypsies, Turks, Algerians, Kurds, Iraqis, Africans, Georgians or Albanians already sinking the European boat.
Seriously, how stupid and how blind can on become?!
As for NATO itself, it is a pathetic fighting force. This is rarely said openly, but everybody in the military knows that. And that is not a problem at all, because NATO’s *true* role is to maintain the US grip on the European continent. There is nothing new here, as early as in 1949 the first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, admitted that NATO’s true role was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down”. Now this has changed to only “the Americans in, and everybody else down”. Hardly a sign of progress. NATO also has a secondary role, to be used by European bureaucrats to foster their career and their power. So really the core purpose of NATO is to be NATO. And if that means inventing a non-existing threat such as Iranian missiles or “massed Russian forces at the Ukrainian border” – then so be it.
[Does anybody remember that NATO once seriously declared that Yugoslav MiG-29s could pose a threat to London (I cannot prove that, but I remember that hilarious claim vividly – the MiG-29 is a light and short-range fighter)?]
Truly, the new Cold War with Russia in Europe has exactly the same function as the Global War on terror worldwide and the War on Drugs inside the USA: to terrify the general public and to justify lavish spending for full-spectrum aggression on everybody, from the average American (War on Drugs), Russia or even Papua New Guinea (GWOT!).
Everybody in Europe knows and understand most of the above. Many, in fact, understand it all. And yet nobody does anything about it. Nothing. It’s like the entire continent is in some kind of catatonic stupor. Hence the absolutely disgraceful European vote recently at the UN when every single country in Europe (even Greece!!) voted in favor of the Banderastani regime in Kiev with the sole exception of Serbia (Bosnia-Herzegovina happened to have a Serbian president and Belarus is, for all practical purposes, not only part of Russia, but also threatened by the Ukie Nazis)! And did anybody in Europe protest against this?
How can Europeans make fun of the putative ignorance of history and geography of Americans when they themselves act in a manner so clearly in contradiction with even a basic understanding of these matters?!
Tell me, my fellow Europeans, if Americans are really so ignorant, then how is it that they are running the show in Europe? How is it that we are their colony and not the other way around? Might that have something to do with the fact that when they were our colony they rebelled and kicked us out while we seem unable to return them the favor?!
And if Europeans lack the courage of Americans, why can’t they at least speak up and protest, you know, like Soviet dissidents did? Like Alain Soral does today?
To me the answer is sadly obvious: Europeans have lost any sense of self-worth or dignity. They have become what Malcolm X used to call “house Negroes”. Listen to Malcolm X himself speak about this, listen carefully, and ask yourself this basic question: is there a single word spoken by X here, just one, which does not fully apply to modern Europeans? Just one?
Don’t Europeans treat their AngloZionists masters *exactly* like the “house Negro” treated his masters?
So my question is this: where are the European “field Negroes”?
So yes, I am disgusted with Europe and its politicians. And I am disgusted with the deafening silence of the my fellow Europeans. I find no excuse for it. If African slaves could rise up against their masters, how is it that Europeans seem to have this special fondness for their current overlords?
There is one final question I need to address here: what about Russia? Is it part of Europe?
I did write about the history of Russia in past posts (see here, here and here) and I cannot repeat it all here. I will say that the only part of the Russian society which has had a deep attraction for western Europe has always been either the reactionary nobility or the liberal elites. For the vast majority of Russian people, even today, the people of the Caucasus or Central Asia are far closer culturally than western Europeans and their central European friends. The only exception to this are the Serbian people who have always been close to Russians (the Russian Tsar Alexander III once said to the Montenegrin Prince Nicholas he was “the only true, faithful and sincere ally Russia had in Europe“. Little has changed since). But for the rest of Europe? Forget it.
Are there still “wannabe Europeans” in Russia? Sure! First, the group which I call “Atlantic Integrationists”. Then the eternal bane of Russia: its liberals. Then most oligarchs (they love capitalism). Finally, the same kind of folks as we see in the Ukraine today: those who associate Europe with a high standard of living and halfway decent cops. Toss in a hodgepodge of homosexuals dreaming of living in Holland, potheads (also dreaming of Amsterdam), the many admirers of European architecture, entrepreneurs who are fed up with the dysfunctional and corrupt Russian legal system, members of West European branches of Christianity and a few others groups and you definitely get a pro-European constituency in Russia. But ask yourself – what do most of these groups and people have in common? What did reactionary aristocrats and liberal revolutionaries also have in common? The answer is simple: they simply don’t like Russia. Oh sure, they will deny that, but if you dig just a tad deeper you will see that they like “a Russia” which never existed and which they aspire to bring about. But they never liked the real Russia, the only one which really exists. This simple truth – that these liberal “reformers” actually always hate the real Russia – is one truism with many Russian intellectuals and leaders have repeated many times, from Dostoevsky, to Solzhenitsyn to Putin today. And over and over again, people like Dostoevsky, Solzhenitsyn and Putin are the type of people which inspired the Russian masses to support them, because these masses always felt, almost instinctively, that pro-Western folks are always deeply alienated from them while leaders like Putin are true Russians who love Russia for what it is, not what it should be.
This being said, history and geography have linked Russia to Europe and in that sense, Russia will always be part of Europe. This is what Putin – and others – mean when they say that Russia will always be part of Europe: they mean that because Europe has had a huge, and sometimes even positive, impact on Russia and because it is simply impossible to build a real “Iron Curtain” which would exclude Russia from the future of Europe. There are many in central Europe – Poles in particular – who would deny their own eastern and Slavic roots and who would love to see a huge wall cutting Poland forever off its eastern neighbors. I suppose that if these folks had magical scissors they would simply cut out Poland and move it to, say, southern France (there is a myth that France and Poland are particularly close whereas in reality the only thing binding these two countries together are their Masonic loges). Ditto for the Balts who would gladly move to somewhere along the Norwegian border. So when Putin says that “Russia will always be a part of Europe” he is trying to remind these folks that magic scissors do not exist and that no matter what, Russia will have influence and say in the future of Europe. I am sure that Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn would agree.
But it is one thing to be aware of history and geography and quite another to make fundamental civilizational and development decisions. The “Eurasian Sovereignists” are not dreaming of magic scissors to relocate Russia to the South Pacific or the Indian subcontinent, they simply believe that Russia has to invest its energy and efforts towards developing the immense human and natural resources of the Russian East and North and that for historical, cultural and religious reasons Russia can find much better friends and allies in Asia than in Europe. I have to say that I completely agree with this vision.
Europe has become a continent whose leaders can openly votes in support of a vicious and openly neo-Nazi regime in Kiev without any backlash at all. The EU will send the Banderists in Kiev money which it denies to the Greeks, and these same Greeks then vote in support of the Banderists. Judging by the amount of laws passed in EU countries to ban racism, revisionism, negationism and even Fascism or National-Socialism one could get the mistaken impression that racism is frowned upon in the EU. This is not so. That only applies to anti-Jewish racism. But anti-Russian racism is actually the official order of the day, and it enjoys a consensus support from the European elites.
So I sincerely ask you all, my friends and readers, what shall Russia do in response to that? Pretend like this is not happening? Try to shame Europeans into realizing what they have done (like Lavrov has been trying so many times)? Does it not make sense for Russia to follow a simple course: try to avoid as best can be any wars or confrontations with the West (and that will be decided by the USA anyway) and turn towards the South, East and North for its future?
Honestly, what is the very bust Russia can hope for on its western borders?
The Saker
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Saker your site is rightly named – you have a ‘bird’s eye view’.
From -in my teenage years- being an award winning reader of Time magazine I have myself gradually evolved into being a Russophile, in my case perhaps really beginning with the Viet Nam war (I am a Canadian, we suffering currently under what we often compare to Fascism). But the further US wars, and especially, the current dignified reactions of Putin and Lavrov to the lies of the West, have made me think and rewrite the history I previously learned. I think your last paragraph is most sensible. Ignore the US & EU as much as possible and develop the enormous potential of Eastern Russia, and be real friends with China would be my advice.
your quote “So now we have the worst of “old Europe” mixed with the worst of “new Europe” and all of that ruled by the Anglosphere which, itself, has now been largely taken over by Zionists interests. I don’t know about you, but to me this so-called “united Europe” inspires only disgust and contempt. Especially that this was far from inevitable.”
actually europe ahs bene infiltrated and destroyed by the english spies who made sure after deloreans departure that british agents be placed inside most policy making part of european commission.
eurpoe is rotten today because of english scumbags.itis not american slave but english slave.
good point.
Saker, this is an amazing piece and your query as to why Europeans are so strangely passive really resonates. I think I understand my fellow Americans fairly well but only have a few thoughts about where European passivity comes from. First, there is a generational effect of war, violence and oppression: traumatized parents don’t always parent well (PTSD is now thought by many to be carried on in children raised by parents subject to its torments, and who knows about that third generation, etc.), and a whole generation was immersed in a horrendous war beginning in 1914. Then, for all sorts of diabolical reasons, it happened again. So by the time the US imposed the peace on Western Europe that Russia had won, people were war-weary, and utterly demoralized. I am American and don’t know as much as I should about Eastern Europe but from what I have read, and learned from you, Mr. Saker, and your commenters, what went on in Ukraine and Poland in terms of Communist vs. Nazi vs. often-extreme nationalist was sort of typical with the net effect intensified and the hatreds perpetuated for the gain of one side or another. In both cases though, people were tired, hungry, just struggling to get by in a world where so much had been destroyed — and there was the US with all its greeds and goods and wonderful words and ideas. So I’m thinking European passivity is at least in part an effect of learned helplessness — no matter what people did for a nasty thirty year period, it didn’t work and they suffered anyhow, so why not just let it be and focus on putting a life together without war, and with gadgets and the money to buy them. And they’re only learning now that the fabled American Way is just an illusion, but too used to being demoralized and too busy just scrambling to get by to even try to figure out how to effectively do anything at all against the monolith this Godawful empire of ours has become.
Russis has and only one real enemy-england. destroy england and 99% of russian and world problem is gone.
4th June, 2007.
President putin is wrong when he says that russia should or will target the missile on europe if america goes with anti missile defence plan in Europe.
Russia must target (rather than should) the nuclear missiles with multiple war heads against all the cities, towns and big villages( including military instalations) of england because this cold war -like the one before- is being started by england for the benefit of english race only-.it is race war between the english parasite race versus the rest of the world-the sooner the rest of the world realizes that better it is for the world.
look how germany wes villified soon after fall of soviet union-look how russia is being vilified immediately after Putin made russia strong.
-such is the evil propaganda of britihs spies inside america. .
poland is nothing but a proxy for the british bastards.
itis no use targetting poland -target the main villain which is england and the english race which m ust be aniihilated fromt the face of the world.
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28th april,2007.
The foreign policy sections of Putin’s Message were relatively brief, but pointed. They continued what he began Feb. 10 in his speech to the Munich “Wehrkunde” Conference on Security. Putin zeroed in on the types of programs that go by the name of Project Democracy (since the founding of the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, in the 1980s):
“There are those who, making clever use of pseudodemocratic phraseology, would like to bring back the recent past: some, in order to be able to loot our national wealth with impunity, as in the past, to rob the people and the state; others, to strip our country of its economic and political independence. In addition, there is a growing influx of foreign money, used for direct interference in our internal affairs. If we look to more distant times in the past, we see that during the hey-day of colonialism, there was talk about an alleged civilizing role of the colonizing states. Today, ‘democraticizing’ slogans are used. But the goal is the same: to achieve unilateral advantage for one’s own benefit and interests.”
The worse fears of USA-UK-Saudi cabal is an economic alliance of Germany with Russia. It has a potential to change world order.
he other shoe would be alliance of China and India in Asia.
That is why anglos controlled English media in these countries encourage rift amongst these nations .
until england is destroyed the best bet for russia is alliance with china and india and iran and all those who can join russia agasitn not west but only agasint england and anglopshere.
This stupid bootlicker of the anglos ,lavrov has gone completely bonker that he compares the situation of Kiev coup with Crimea !
In crimea the people voted in a refrendrum while in kiev the anglosaxon evil empire of england and its side kick usa organised a violent coup. So this lavrov is pleading with the same anglo enemies to please equate both situations the same?
Instead of knowtowing to the anglos enmies this lavrov should have gone on a wide extensive tour in search of alliances which Russia will need badly if Russia has to survive the coming war being imposed on Russia by English plotters and their americans agents.
If Russia had not let Libya, iran and Syria being without adequate armamanet(for god’s sake it even refused delivery of paid for s-300 !) then Russia would not have enmies at her door.
This lavrov under whose tenure Russia has lowered herself as a third rate country without alliances and a simple camp follower of anglos controlled world , must be kicked out and a real man like Sergei Ivanov should be appointed as foreign minster NOW!
Dear Saker,
thanks a lot for the tasty and excellent daily mind food, as usual: I just started loving you:-)
The very best (not really a bust: good hilarious typos here…) is to keep on being, think and act better than AngloZionist colonies – not a difficult task, done the tragic drama with no glorious classical heritage imposed on this side of the wall.
It’ll be harder to skip the predictable massive provocations: creating solid and frank partnerships by turning towards the South, East and North for its future seems very reasonable to me, more countries (referring to the recent vote at the UN) will soon step in.
The hysterical way western media & self-appointed rulers & governments are acting denotes that they are running out of time, view and ideas, compelled to run always faster to stay at the same uncomfortable place: a sort of Alice’s in woundedland paradox, a colonized and mesmerized continent fascinated and manipulated by the kidnappers.
Truth will emerge anyway and one day, struggle after struggle, talk after talk, we’ll hopefully wake up on a different world, with a focussed mind and a clear direction: it just happened all around Russia…
Thanks again, Warm Regards
M.
PS: the hegemony is primarily cultural, an interesting article
Reaching For Our Revolvers: How a United Europe defused its culture and divided its people
http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2014/03/31/reaching-for-our-revolvers-how-a-united-europe-defused-its-culture-and-divided-its-people/#more-5319
Hey, The Life of others! I saw our files and I had an incredible pang of nostalgia. The transcripts of the telephone surveillance (in the house)reminded us of many forgotten friends from my youth and of many good moments!
Now, to more serious questions. To know more of the masters nothing is better than listen to His Master’s voice:
@voltairenet.org/article183129.
“The World Jewish Congress (WJC) held its biannaul board of directors meeting in Paris on March 31, 2014.
The Council consists of 49 members, plus the representative of the United States, Ambassador Ira Forman, in charge of the fight against anti-Semitism. It includes two French members, Roger Cukierman (CRIF president and vice-president of the World Jewish Congress) and David de Rothschild (President of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah and Board member of the World Jewish Congress).
In addition to its members, the Board heard a statement by French economist Jacques Attali.
The Council passed several motions:
– Support for Manuel Valls, the new French Prime Minister, for his action against the anti-Zionist comedian Dieudonné.
– Fight against anti-Semitism. In particular, approving the British sanctions against the footballer Nicolas Anelka (a friend of Dieudonné), urging the Australian government not to reform the Racial Discrimination Act, and supporting the Greek authorities in their fight against the Golden Dawn party.
– Situation in Ukraine. The Council called on governments not to exaggerate the situation of Jews in the country and not to use it to challenge the legitimacy of the new government.
– Israel and the peace process. Denunciation of the alleged apartheid character of the state of Israel and the BDS boycott campaign. Call for the recognition of Israel as a Jewish State.
– Argentina-Iran Protocol. Call for the repeal of the Memorandum of Understanding on the investigation into the 1994 bombings in Buenos Aires.
– Hungary. Condemnation of the celebration by the Hungarian authorities of Miklós Horthy, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the years between World Wars I and II, and support for the Jewish community in Hungary for their boycott of the Holocaust memorial events.
Finally, the Council adopted the Robin Shepherd report on the evolution of neo-Nazi groups in Europe.
It is to be noted that the World Jewish Congress does not defend Jews, but the interests of the State of Israel. Similarly, it does not oppose Nazis in general, but only those who threaten Israeli interests”.
C’est (presque) tout dire. Europeans have been for to long injected with such potent doses of ziodrugs, not to become ZioZombies.
WizOz
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No, I don’t think you are a “Russian bashing Europe.” And as an American living in Europe since 1990, I generally agree with your sketch of Europe (Old and New). And I fully share your profound disappointment with Europe’s present state – although nothing could ever entice me to return to America (and I’ve lived across the States: South, West, Northwest and East). Why could nothing entice me to return to America – and why do I prefer Europe? I simply don’t want to have to endure for the time which remains to me the country portrayed by Richard Hofstadter in his historical study “Anti-intellectualism in American Life”. Certainly, America has changed since Hofstader’s 1963 study – it’s now a totally different country from the one I left in 1990. However, the foundations of the structure Hofstadter described in 1963 remain basically untouched. My only point is: in spite of the fact that Europe has degenerated into a pathethic US colony – Europe will never BE America. How things develop in the future – whether, when and how Europe ever breaks with US dominance (not to mention what happens with America itself) … these are a topics far outside the scope of this comment.
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Good article and I agree with much of your analysis, europe is now what I call a ”geopolitical glacis”. The question facing much of Russia’s elites is can the eurasian camp institutionalize and win against the liberals who are roaming the halls of the Kremlin ? Segundo, to win the coming struggle on the world stage Russia needs to clearly articulate an economic, cultural and political worldview with broad appeal such as: respect of private property (curbing of monopolies and oligarchy), an emphasis on physical economy and large scale infrastructure projects as opposed to the financialization of the west, a repudiation of excessive usury, free speech (without the liberal excesses of the pussy riot types), A real dialogue of civilization opposed to the zionist fuelled clash. Such a program formalized and backed with a muscular diplomacy aimed at the non aligned world should get Russia a long way. Saker what say you ?
Good article and I agree with much of your analysis, europe is now what I call a ”geopolitical glacis”. The question facing much of Russia’s elites is can the eurasian camp institutionalize and win against the liberals who are roaming the halls of the Kremlin ? Segundo, to win the coming struggle on the world stage Russia needs to clearly articulate an economic, cultural and political worldview with broad appeal such as: respect of private property (curbing of monopolies and oligarchy), an emphasis on physical economy and large scale infrastructure projects as opposed to the financialization of the west, a repudiation of excessive usury, free speech (without the liberal excesses of the pussy riot types), A real dialogue of civilization opposed to the zionist fuelled clash. Such a program formalized and backed with a muscular diplomacy aimed at the non aligned world should get Russia a long way. Saker what say you ?
Greetings from Singapore:
In Argentina we had Arturo Jauretche writing about about those which are willing to sell out. He called them ‘de medio pelo’. It is not the established high class, nor the workers. There are two: (1) The ones which were rich and are no longer. (2) The new rich. Both of them will embrace anything from abroad and be happy to proxy foreign interests in their own country.
@What are Russia’s options
Let’s not disregard the spiritual dimension of the struggle. It is the defence of Orthodoxy all over again. Therefore:
1)Defence: Shut the door to Eurosodom.
2)Offence: Missionary work in Europe, America, Asia
WizOz
I remember reading Samuel P. Huntington’s book “Clash of Civilizations” and found it a useful starting point in understanding the world.
I agree that for Russia only tears await it in Europe. The heirs of Byzantium and heralds of Eastern Orthodox Christianity are not welcome there. Turn east to Asia and its vast lands. To the lands of the Turks, Persians, Mongols, Indians, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. Your land is not on the fringes of Europe, but the center of Asia.
Since now days the US and Europe have become “anti-Russians”, I can sustain that the biggest threat to the US’s current paradigm is “peace”, and on the same note, “peace’ is also the best strategy or path for the Russian Federation to develop,excel and provide for its population. Perhaps there is one more task Russia must accomplish to fully engage in a comprehensive integration with eastern countries, including BRICS and Latin America, and that is to rescue east and south Ukraine’s ethnic Russians (through Federalization of Ukraine if possible). Putin is right in maintaining a strong defense as a deterrent measure against the US advances. Russia needs “peace” to bolster its population and social and economic growth. As the Russian population’s quality of life improves, so the internal political stability in the country. All this requires statecraft and sharp skills, and I think Russia has the human resources to accomplish this.
This needs a roundtable discussion, not a blog. But, for starters, let’s try:
-Sponsor color revolutions, propaganda, and NGOs. It was a terrible tragedy to allow the West to take over the minds of Ukrainians without a Russian response. And Russia Today has done wonders. Sponsor scholarships for Eastern Europeans.
-Try to retaliate in ways that make it seem like the AngloZionist Empire folks have something to lose. So, if they grab someone in Thailand by bribing the locals, do the same. One New York or London high-level operative stuck in Russian prisons for 20 years will make them reevaluate putting Viktor Bout away. It’s not like there’s a shortage of Western criminals.
-Publish or release some truth. Why isn’t Sozhenitsyn’s last book in English? How about releasing some more phone calls from Western operatives? You can’t make friends of someone like Sarkozy, so just try to damage him.
-Russia needs to convince Europeans that smashing Russia and stealing her resources is not a viable option. This was the plan that made sense to Westerners before, but it isn’t feasible now.
-Is there no way for Russian businesses to invest in some of these Eastern European companies? If EU investment is much higher in, say, Bulgaria than Russian, well, actions speak louder than words.
-Stop calling your enemies “our partners”.
Paul
Saker,
You started by referencing a palpably great movie, The Lives of Others, whose Stasi apparatus has been adopted by the US and England.
You then went on to argue that since 1945 to date the US strategy for dealing with its own citizens as well as those of the world is “to terrify the general public and to justify lavish spending for full-spectrum aggression on everybody.” I would link the two ideas by adding surveillance between “full-spectrum aggression”. (BTW that is a great turn of phrase; its elegance is both structural and conceptual.)
Full-Spectrum surveillance and aggression on everybody, everyday creates an urgency in the survival domain. Just like in animals who are threatened by scarcity, whether food, water, shelter, etc. in animals this leads not to stupor but to torpor. In Wikipedia they say this about torpor: “Torpor enables animals to survive periods of reduced food availability. A torpor bout can refer to the period of time a hibernator spends at low body temperature, lasting days to weeks, or it can refer to a period of low body temperature and metabolism lasting less than 24 hours, as in “daily torpor”.”
That’s what Europeans suffer from in my estimation. Indeed I believe the world and it’s people suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder engendered by the very apt phrase you coined, full-spectrum surveillance and aggression. Whether the South China Sea, the Sea of Marmara, or the Red Sea, people, by such I mean ordinary everyday people, are just trying to make due in a state of intellectual torpor, which in itself is intended to be a seductive palliative, not much different than being plugged into the Matrix, as most who have succumbed are.
When you start looking at the lives of others you begin to notice, not the obvious ethno-cultural divides or geopolitical divides, but rather the class and economic disparities, i.e ., the 99 vs 1 per centers, which cut across Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, et al. as well as across countries.
Each culture and ethnic group, or most if not all, seem to have their own one per centers. If you step back and watch you see alliances among strange bedfellows all looking for a cut in the action. The rest of us go on either plugged in to the Matrix, struggling to survive or railing against the machine.
“Russia has never attacked the West. Not once.”
How about Winter War, invasion of Finland 1939?
In my opinion, Europe has been subjected to the same psychological warping the USA has been, by the same sort of scientifically researched and developed marketing and propaganda works. The main difference between the USA and Europe is the people of Europe were less genetically and culturally prone to internalise the indoctrination than Americans, so it took longer to get Europeans to be like Americans.
It is in this indoctrination science, and in effective ways of applying it, that the zionist Jew has contributed the most to world impassivity to NWO fascism. Psychology, both individual and mass, is where the Jewish zionist really does excel.
вот так
As to your concluding questions: ” Does it not make sense for Russia to follow a simple course: try to avoid as best can be any wars or confrontations with the West (and that will be decided by the USA anyway) and turn towards the South, East and North for its future?”
While I believe you are correct that Russia needs to look South, East and a North for sustainability, it should not disengage from the West. The former alliances will ensure its future; the latter engagement will ensure the future of humanity.
@Anonymous:How about Winter War, invasion of Finland 1939?
Bang! I should have been more careful with that “not once” I am afraid :-(
Also, its my émigré prejudice seeping through – for me the USSR was never “Russia”, but I cannot impose that view on other so I have to accept your point: Soviet Russia *did* attack Finland in 1939. Worse (for my thesis!), Soviet Russia did not even have the excuse Imperial Russia has in 1808 (fighting the Swedes).
I am tempted to modify my thesis to “Russia attacked the West only once”, but you have taught me a lesson in caution, so I will stick to a more modest “Russia only rarely attacked the West and never in a major continental war”.
Does that sound better?
Thanks, dear anonymous, for keeping me on my toes :-) I expect nothing less from my truly fantastic readers!
Cheers and kind regards,
The Saker
Excellent post.
My one quibble is that I would say that northern Germans are culturally closer to Russia than they are to the anglophone world. The German people have just been broken by losing two wars, the Nazi debacle, and finally, the endless occupation; and their authentic culture has been pretty much destroyed by the US occupation.
Saker,
New reader to your blog (love it!) and I would strongly suggest you take the first few paragraphs of this post and fashion a mini-bio out of it. Please place the bio in the sidebar or link it somewhere at the top.
Knowing your background really helps new readers place this blog in perspective.
@Winter War,
Can you really call it an attack “on the West”? Finland was “West” for just twenty years. For hundred years it was a true autonomous Grand Duchy, with its own Diet and Finnish as the national language.
It was a limited war (however bloody) for an adjustment of borders. Stalin was offering territorial compensation elsewhere.
WizOz
Every road, pipeline, train or business deal from surrounding countries is progress. If not for all the current business with Europe, the US might have already tried more radical tactics than were used in Kiev.
What about promoting non-debt-based money and the end of usury throughout Europe? The reason Europe is in such a sorry state is the domination of the bankster class. They destroyed the de Gaulles.
Russia controlled by the banks as much as the Atlantic Expansionists?
http://www.alt-market.com/articles/2074-russia-is-dominated-by-global-banks-too
@Anonymous:Russia controlled by the banks as much as the Atlantic Expansionists?
Under Gorbachev and Eltsin, yes, totally. Under Putin there is a struggle taking place. The Atlantic Integrationsts are definitely supporters of the international banking system, the Eurasian Sovereignists are trying to gradually get Russia out of it without rocking the boat too hard. This article overlooks that a lot of so called “Putin decisions” were a compromise between these two powerful groups.
Cheers,
The Saker
A small but vocal minority in W Europe is very happy to have a large Russian neighbour!
Another interesting analysis by saker. I have to agree that it seems only sensible for Russia to look east — the EU might be a good trading partner but as long as they are controlled by the US they can never really be trusted. They are willing to sacrifice their economic interests to US strategic interests. We need look no further than how France sacrificed its auto exports to Iran to satisfy the US.
For Russia to move east is going to be difficult. We should not ignore that Russia and China really do have historic differences that need to be dealt with. After all Vladivostok and the surrounding province once was part of Ching dynasty China and there is still a sense in China that that region was lost to the Han Chinese during the era when Japanese and Western imperialism tried to carve up China into a series of colonies. Even to this day China has yet to reclaim Taiwan from first the Japanese and later the US claim to that Chinese province.
However, with those difficulties in mind, I think Obama’s greatest contribution to world strategic alliances might well turn out to be is to force Russia and China to come together. Think about it. He has done three things in his second term.
1. Decided that it was not in the interests of the US to go to war against Iran and it was time to make peace with them, so we could:
2. Pivot to Asia, which any sentient observer knows means confronting the Chinese. While Hilary was Sec of State, she clearly explained that this meant a military and economic union of Asian states that excluded China. So China now feels threatened and Japan feels empowered to push its territorial claims.
3. While this is going on the US decides to push Ukraine into the UE and NATO at the same time. We know how that has turned out.
I have not heard much about the Shanghai Cooperative Organization in recent years but it would be very easy to see this grow into one very powerful alliance that excludes the US and EU. It will likely reemerge with a knew name but it could very well be along the lines that saker has mentioned. It would likely include:
China
Russia
All of the central Asian Republics
Mongolia
Iran
Afghanistan
along with India and Pakistan having observer status at the very least. And maybe even Turkey would want to join.
Now that would shake up things up.
Why Europeans do nothing? Because they simply wait for their own Putins to save them. Where would Russia be without Putin? Europe lacks real leaders right now. The real problem is that if such national leaders start to emerge, they will be severely undermined by the existing ruling elite. Putin was lucky because he was a leader of a superpower. A European country’s Putin must fight against the EU establishment. If alone, he will fail. I just hope that Russia will recognize and support such leaders in the future.
I am a Central European former diplomat, and have some insight how this state came about. Infiltration and propaganda were the main mechanisms (probably propelled by blackmail here and there.)
There are diplomats and others who do not feel that they are subjects of the USA, and resent the current political stupidity that does not even make sense as far as our own national and economic interests are concerned. But to clearly express such an opinion is a career killer. If I were to write an op-ed on the subject, the media would most likely not print it; the editorial offices, especially of the supposedly “leftist” and official media, are completely controlled by psy-ops operatives, as far as I can tell.
The one thing that gives me some hope is their lack of success in shaping public opinion, e.g. on Ukraine/Crimea all the journalists in my country were hysterically anti-Russian, but three quarters of the readers’ comments strongly disagreed with the official narrative.
So you may believe that there is a large number of people who still think for themselves and see the USA for what it is, but their voices are systematically silenced and marginalised by the media and co-opted elites. It is so costly to speak out, however, that only the retired and old think they can risk it; and that generation is still prone to cold-war thinking.
Many others are unable to see the truth because of constant spin and distraction (e.g. with the recent missing plane story, sports, reality shows, etc.)
As for the co-opted, they really do believe the bullshit they propagate in many cases; it is a case of groupthink and lack of civil courage as much as anything else.
Our institutions have been hollowed out and ruined over the last two decades by systematically promoting only on political/ideological grounds, stifling internal dissent and discussions, and marginalising independent thinkers.
Add to that the most cowardly and stupid generation of politicians in European history, and there you are.
The USSR was not that bad?! Really?!
Only if you compare it with the US, which is hardly anything to be proud of.
Again, I do not understand – I seriously cannot understand – how you can say these things and then spout nazi this nazi that back and forth. I have no problem revising Soviet history. I have no problem agreeing that there has been lots of exaggerated propaganda about it. But then we must be fair and recognise that the same applies to NS Germany. But I digress…
Still, It must be said that this “not so bad USSR” basically torn Africa apart. I know nobody gives a shit about the black dude except when it’s to turn it into a political weapon. But the truth is decolonisation in Africa was disgraceful and the responsibility is Soviet and American.
Problems in the portuguese colonies started soon after when Daniel Solod arrived in Konakry. In March 15th 1961, thousands – black and white – were massacred in the most barbaric fashion in Northern Angola. And this is but a drop in an ocean…
How many new African countries actually had the chance to vote on auto-determination or so-called independence? How many times have the people actually been consulted about this? Certainly not Angola, Moçambique or Guinea. Neither Goa. Nobody thought it nice to ask these people what they thought. And everybody thought it a brilliant idea to nominate Soviet and American puppet-terrorists as “representatives” of the people they spent their time butchering. In reality, it wasn’t so different of what we see today in Syria.
So the USSR *was* that bad. Was it worse than the AngloZionists? I don’t know. From my point of view, they may well be the one and same thing. USSR done it’s job, and it was dropped. The EU is the new USSR. Or the US. Bottom line is: they’re people that have to go and mess with other people: warmongers and subverters the lot of them.
But, as you say, Russia isn’t the USSR anymore, thankfully. And it’s bloody well time somebody steps up.
Saker, I know it is something already repeated many times, but for the sake of avoiding unnecessary tensions in your readers minds let’s say it one more time: not all ‘jews’ subscribe to the nazi Zionism. And dose who do, should get a medal. They created tumor that is about to destroy the so called ‘western’ civilization. Since the civilization lost it’s soul and turned itself into a simple parasite /capitalism involved/ it was capable to prolong it’s existence by extracting resources from the others.. hence the observed by you “steal or burn” behavior. I believe they /the Zionazis/ significantly shortened the last stage of the drama by appointing morons like the controlled by them Bush. Russia is back in shape, leadership and population aware of the poisonous influence via the impotent ‘liberals’. Just look how the wisest deal with the Nazis – the chinese. “Give them enough rope to hang themselves.” Or to paraphrase: Переслегин:”Если сложность управляющей системы меньше сложности управляемой системы, для управляемой системы возможно только гомеостатическе процессы.” Yes, the fate of Europe is sad. But they chose it to be their ‘fate’, even during the Uki-farce.
Dear Saker, thanks for that thoughtful post of yours.
I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but I would like to propose different or complementary perspectives on the following:
First, reaction from European leaders to the Ukrainian crisis are much more ambiguous than what their public stances would make appear. As so often, what the hands are doing is more important than what the lips are saying.
Speaking as a French and a European, I am truly embarrassed by the automatic shrill alignment in words of most of our leaders on US position. Yet you have certainly remarked that actions have not followed: so-called “sanctions” are preposterous to be sure, they also are inoffensive. Any serious decision a European nation could have taken against Russia, it has avoided: Britain is content to host Russian oligarchs, France is content to build Navy ships for Russia, Germany is content to buy Russian gas and oil.
In short, European leaders are much wiser in deeds, than they are in words. These countries cannot be described as US vassals. These are countries who want to continue appearing as US vassals, but who cater first to their interests, first of all economic ones.
This is not a satisfactory situation, far from it, and spouting insulting words is definitely unwise, but again: deeds remain more important than words.
Second, “Eurasian” proposals to develop Eastern and Nordic potential of Russia and link more with Asia obviously have a logic to them. It is generally good for every country to have as many partners as possible, in economic as well as in other matters. Also, global warming will progressively make it easier to develop Siberia, this is a long term trend that will span the century and more, although it surely won’t happen overnight.
That being said, links of Russia with Europe – or should I come out of the closet now and say: with the rest of Europe? ;-) – go much farther and are far deeper than the mere geographical.
– Starting with geography nonetheless, the fact is that three quarters of Russian population live in the European part of Russia. The fact is that the two main cities are located in Europe. The populations of Moscow and St Petersburg are not going to move to Novossibirsk and Omsk tomorrow
– Then, the economy. Speaking in rough figures, Russia trades with the EU for approximately 55% of total trade, Ukraine+Belarus additional 10% or so, Asia including Turkey 25%, United States approximately 5%. Which is to say that close to two thirds of Russian trade is with other European countries, including Belarus and Ukraine. Again, I don’t know about the future, but I suspect this is not going to change the day after tomorrow
– Not forgetting historical and cultural factors. Are Russians the same as other Europeans? Definitely not. Are French the same as others, or British, or Germans, by the way? Definitely not either.
Russian is a European language. Russian culture and civilization has been influenced for centuries, for better or for worse, by what came from the rest of Europe, just like other Europeans have been influenced for better or for worse by what came from Russia… or from each other.
Many innovations came from the West to Russia. Many threats too. Innovations and threats both were different forms of challenges, which Russia tackled in her own way. A bit like non-British Europeans tackled the challenge that was the Industrial Revolution, non-French Europeans tackled the challenge that was the French Revolution… examples abound.
(following up from previous)
Is this history and cultural proximity discontinued now? Count me unconvinced:
* Are Russian diasporas to be found firstly in Western Europe then in America, or in Japan and China?
* Did the people who reformed Russia and put her back on her feet again take inspiration from democratic ideals of the West -no matter how hypocritical Euros and Americans often are about those ideals – or from the Communist Party of China? Do supporters of the Eurasianist trend of Russian politics themselves want a Unique Party to lead Russia, like the CCP leads China?
* Do Eurasianists themselves want corruption and judiciary system in Russia to improve to Western European levels, or to go down to Chinese ones?
* Don’t Russia today criticize Western Europe -often rightly, I’m afraid- in the name of the very European ideals, rather than in the name of Iranian or Chinese ideals of government or human rights?
* By the way, how many blogs by Russians long established in China and discussing in Chinese with Chinese how close Russian and Chinese peoples are :-D ?
Geographical proximity, economic integration, enduring historical and cultural proximity… since every person is allowed his opinion, allow me dear Saker to call Russia by her right name, that is a European country with a very large -for the time being mostly empty- territory in the North East :-)
—
Here is how I would describe our present situation:
– Europe one century ago entered a disastrous crisis, which although it receded by no way ended in 1945. Like for all crises, the aim should be to quell the fires, then rebuild back to normal and learn the lessons
– Distressingly, 100 years after, we have not yet completed that task! Independence of Europeans from external powers (America), good relations between all Europeans (disputes between Western Europe and Russia), stable monetary system (gold-guaranteed) are all sore points
– This was by the way clearly the objective of De Gaulle to close once and for good the sorry period begun in 1914: he worked for independence from America, propped up Europe “from the Atlantics to the Urals” and called for gold to become anew the stable and independent international reference. For Gaullist French like myself, this remains the objective
– A lot of what remains to be done is on Western European shoulders, to be clear. Here the glass may be seen half-full or half-empty, it is anyway definitely not empty. As I said, European leaders do not act as American stooges as far as relations with Russia are concerned, although they think it a good idea to sound like ones. Desire for independence from the American Empire is growing in the populations of most EU countries, while it has not yet forced the governments to act accordingly. And you may note that the Euro, contrary to the Dollar -and far more than the Yuan, Yen, Ruble or Pound- is explicitly guaranteed by extensive gold holdings of EU member countries
Russia should certainly not refrain from developing her Eastern and Northern resources: not only it is good for herself, but it is even also good for Western Europeans! Nor does it need to do anything special more than what the Russian government is already doing anyway: defend Russian interests when they are really threatened, refrain from useless provocations even when the questionable present European leaders usher verbally offensive but in fact inoffensive threats.
My main point is that Russia and Western Europe are presently estranged from each other unnaturally and to their own detriment, and that they will go back to better and closer relations sooner than many fear. Which will be an essential part of closing once and for good the 20th century, for all Europeans to resume their rich history and for Russia to be an equal and fully accepted part of an Europe of fatherlands (“Europe des patries“)
I take it you feel comfortable throwing out almost the entirety of Russian literature and music?
I should disagree w/one of Your statement;
….”I will come back to the West Europeans later, but let me say this about East Europeans here:
How did they forget this basic fact of history: Russia has never attacked the West. Not once. Unless…” Not once U mean what West or westwards? What about 18ht cent. when disgusting and shameful division/conquer of Poland/Lithuania between Austro_Hungary, Prusia and car-ruling Russia took place. What about Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania conquested in the 30th of XXc, what happen in summer 1920 when bolshevics attacted Poland and being defeated and did it once again backstabbed Poles in Sept.17th 1939 togheter w/that time Stalin’s big-buddy A.Hitler? What Russia is still doing in Kaliningrad oblast, is it historic part of Russia, no, never was. That’s what U said not once attacked West? Well, where acc. to You E-W Europe division line is? Oder river? or maybe Vistula, better yet eastwards up to Dniepr riv. it’s not clear E-W border to anyone after all Europe is one continent. Unfortunately for all of us ‘divide et impera’ still rules.
“The Soviet Story” is the film I’ll recommend to watch. Europe was slaughterhouse for 20mln ppl mainly Slavs.
Nevertheless it’s OK to me what U wrote, except mentioned above.
Appology for my english.
Slavicmen just like You.
Hmmmm…
“there is a myth that France and Poland are particularly close whereas in reality the only thing binding these two countries together are their Masonic loges”
Could you elaborate on this? In particular, what was the role of the Masons in Ukraine? It is without question factual that they are extremely powerful in France.
Saker, I know it is something already repeated many times, but for the sake of avoiding unnecessary tensions in your readers minds let’s say it one more time: not all ‘jews’ subscribe to the nazi Zionism. And those who do, should get a medal. They created tumor that is about to destroy the so called ‘western’ civilization. Since the civilization lost it’s soul and turned itself into a simple parasite /capitalism involved/ it was capable to prolong it’s existence by extracting resources from the others.. hence the observed by you “steal or burn” behavior. I believe they /the Zionazis/ significantly shortened the last stage of the drama by appointing morons like the controlled by them Bush. Russia is back in shape, leadership and population aware of the poisonous influence via the impotent ‘liberals’. Just look how the wisest deal with the Nazis – the chinese. “Give them enough rope to hang themselves.” Or to paraphrase: Переслегин:”Если сложность управляющей системы меньше сложности управляемой системы, для управляемой системы возможно только гомеостатическе процессы.” Yes, the fate of Europe is sad. But they chose it to be their ‘fate’, even during the Uki-farce. Sorry for the mistakes. My written english is terrible.
“For the vast majority of Russian people, even today, the people of the Caucasus or Central Asia are far closer culturally than western Europeans and their central European friends.”
Well, this sounds a little strange to me. I come from a family who lived in Siberia but strived to live in Europe. Russia’s elites have been trying to shift the country Westwards for hundreds of years (since at least the Raskol in the 1650s, whereupon the znamenny chant was forgotten – and even more strongly since Peter I, when the capital was moved to the Western edge of the country). This couldn’t fail to have an effect. The strongest effect perhaps (at least for me, as this is my field of study) is that the greatest artistic works of Russia all take after Western European forms, rather than Central Asian or Chinese ones, and this is getting more pronounced with time (particularly since China is also imitating the West in many ways). Some of the raw material comes from those vast Eastern regions, but the forms they come to inhabit are of Western origin.
When the entire mainstream cultural base is built on Western forms, the only interpretation that makes sense that the general public strives Westwards, and sees the East more as a source of building materials than as a goal to move towards.
A rich source of building materials, sure. You can argue that it’s why Russian art seems so much deeper. But the tendency is always to adapt Eastern things into Western containers.
Here is more from Malcolm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snzSkny3SZ0
How can Europeans be so insular with regard US colonisation? From my perspective most non establishment Europeans are so busy during the working day endeavouring to earn a living that they have no time to think about what is really happening in the world outside their own personal environment. They come in through the front door, eat and go to sleep in front of the television which mostly churns out sleep inducing, may I say, US style crap. As an average citizen of the UK my friends think me strange when I talk about money creation and global politics and Revolution – all they want to discuss what they have seen on TV!
WizOz: “Can you really call it an attack “on the West”? Finland was “West” for just twenty years.”
Here in Finland we say: “Swedes we are not, Russians we will never become, so let’s be Finns.”
I really don’t know what you are trying to say with Finland not being part of the west. It most definitely is part of the west and has always been so, at least for the last thousand years or so.
I feel that the above may be one of our great shortcomings even. As we are so close to the east why don’t we use this to our advantage and act as the bridge between east and west?
to me this so-called “united Europe” inspires only disgust and contempt.
me too
Alexis,
Those are good points, and Russia a European civilization, but a couple of considerations might be worth keeping in mind. The Eurasian project is about an economic and political alliance that is based on opposition to the Anglo-American system, from banking to power by controlling the sea lanes. It’s not really based on emulating one country’s philosophical ideals. In fact, it’s really based on sovereignty. And Russia is going to have a relatively easy time of getting the trade figure with Europe down to 50% within ten years.
The other thing is that the EU’s strategic hostility to Russia on things like the Ukraine or Syria is much more important that a bit of trade. If Russia can’t hold certain strategic points, she will be in such a weak position that things are likely to fall apart.
Paul
( on 04 April, 2014 02:31 an anonymous said)
Putin was lucky because he was a leader of a superpower.
The Russians were lucky because:
1)Putin has been produced by a powerful ” sovranist” secret service not yet fully infiltrated by American agents.
2) without the NATO attack on Serbia, still a few years and there would have been no more “putin”
so, many thanks president clinton ! :-)
Communism didn’t collapse and it was not defeated, it was simply time for the next stage of the experiment: ‘Cultural Marxism’.
We, in ‘the West, have become too comfortable in our bondage.
“There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.” Aldous Huxley (Fabian)
When Galloway and Farage start to speak the truth on 9/11 I’ll start to listen to them.
Finland used to be part of the czarist Empire.
Pretty spot on as always. But, regarding the Europeans not reacting to open support for Nazis, I’d add a thing: that’s exactly why a large part of European countries have either a non-elected government or a Grosse Koalition – or both. People who can freely serve their oligarch masters without consequences for their career (who cares about voters, they’re not elected!)
Being from Italy, let me say I am absolutely disgusted with the latest unelected premier Renzi – a Washington favorite – being an Obama bootlicker, who pissed on literally every single word he said the month before to get in the US’s good graces (he promised to cut on the F-35’s, as buying so many overpriced junkpiles would be crazy for a country with a shattered economy like Italy; but as soon as Obama appeared in Rome, he reneged everything). And these quislings are playing with our lives.
(Besides, I think every single government in Europe and especially in Italy comes with an expiration date; as in, “new” guy comes in, everyone gets hopes high, guy does whatever the IMF wants exactly as the guy before did, people realize they’ve been had, a “newer” guy comes in before people take up arms. Sort of like an abusive, violent man getting married again as soon as the previous honeymoon ends.
Europe took a wrong turning in the early Nineties. Firstly NATO should have been dissolved once the USSR was gone having served its purpose. It’s quite clear that its new role is to maintain US control over Europe and keep Russia confined. The idea that it’s aimed at Iran is laughable. It’s aimed at Russia which means that the Atlanticist are not anti Soviet but anti Russian.
The other wrong turn was the Maastricht Treaty and the single currency madness. When Germany reunited with parity between the East and West marks this stalled East Germany’s economic development and cost the West heavily. The price France extracted for agreeing to German reunification was the Euro project. Also the EU expanded too fast. Free movement of labour within an enlarged EU was a formidable magnet for the youth of the East whose economies suffered from mass unemployment after the communist collapse. What should have happened was a free trade area across the wider Europe with investment being taken to the peripheral areas rather than sucking out the brightest of their graduates and entrepreneurs into the existing Western golden triangle.
European unity should be based on functional cooperation between governments, definitely not federation. Precipitous integration should be opposed with a strengthened Council of Ministers rather than decision making Commission or European Parliament. Europe des patries.
(thanks Mrs Thatcher don’t often agree with you but you were right abut this)
Monetary union, except possibly for a small core (Germany, Austria, Benelux, Scandinavia) is complete nonsense. Its difficult enough to set the correct interest rate even for a single nation, let alone a collection of nation states with widely different economies.
Strong network of independent countries enveloping the east of Europe, free trade but with free movement of labour being strictly contained until the eastern countries were fully converged with the West. Macroeconomic policy remaining at the level of the nation states. This might have worked.
The Mediterranean countries should never have joined the Euro and they should call Berlin and Brussel’s bluff, leave the Euro and restore nation state democracy rather than consigning the younger generation to decades of depression.
Sadly the Euro politicians have invested so much political capital in the “project” that they are incapable of accepting reality because it would be too humiliating. They will continue with a regime that is systematically destroying democracy and livelihoods and has handed Europe over to a dictatorship of bankers centered in the ECB.
My ancestoral relatives,on my fathers’ side were “field negroes”
too,even if they were WASP’s.
I gotta say that I sure’nuff do
hate living on the Old Plantation.
Keep on keepin’ on Saker!
Cool piece of work Saker, except for your one err. There’s one component of the playing field that will exert its own unpredictable influence on the geopolitical struggle: Global Warming/Climate Change. Clearly, carbon emissions will continue to rise because of the need to repel US/NATO aggression, and thus the worse-case scenarios must be expected to occur. Relatedly is the question of Russia’s amount of recoverable hydrocarbons and the number of years Russia can continue to be a net exporter.
I’d expect the SCO to admit Iran, and measures must be taken to ensure the Central Asian states don’t also become Ukraine-like. Russia’s major energy companies are saying their dollar-denominated contracts can’t be changed, so getting away from the dollar is a chimera. Well, contracts can be broken, or re-negotiated. There are already many measures being taken. There’s more to add, but that’s all for now.
100 years of autonomy under Russia didn’t have any impact on Finland whatsoever.
600 years of non-autonomy under Sweden, another story.
Fortunately we got rid of the latter also.
Best wishes
Anonymous Finn
Rudolph Steiner in a series of lectures at the beginning of the 20th century cast the antagonism between the West and Russia in terms of what one might call ‘cosmic affinities’.
His explaination concurs with one of the most important events – the most important event – in the New Testament.
This has led me to conclude that Steiner was reintroducing us
( he who has ears let him hear !)
to lost or hidden esoteric Christianity and that he was in touch with a ‘source’.
I dont think that your excellent politically oriented blog is the place to expose what I understood Steiner to be talking about.
May I send you privately what I understood his idea of ‘cosmic affinities’ to be?
The luminosity of the Eastern Orthodox Church is all the more comprehensible in the light of what he has to say.
Rudolph Steiner in a series of lectures at the beginning of the 20th century cast the antagonism between the West and Russia in terms of what one might call ‘cosmic affinities’.
His explaination concurs with one of the most important events – the most important event – in the New Testament.
This has led me to conclude that Steiner was reintroducing us
( he who has ears let him hear !)
to lost or hidden esoteric Christianity and that he was in touch with a ‘source’.
I dont think that your excellent politically oriented blog is the place to expose what I understood Steiner to be talking about.
May I send you privately what I understood his idea of ‘cosmic affinities’ to be?
The luminosity of the Eastern Orthodox Church is all the more comprehensible in the light of what he has to say.
@ APOL
I’m eager to know your point of view about Steiner and the “cosmic affinities”.
Please consider to post it here openly, some readers might be fascinated as well.
Thanks ad Regards.
M.
“as a European disgusted with his own birthplace” …. Welcome, I thought to be alone ….
xnylynx
“So yes, I am disgusted with Europe and its politicians. And I am disgusted with the deafening silence of the my fellow Europeans. I find no excuse for it. If African slaves could rise up against their masters,
how is it that Europeans seem to have this special fondness for their current overlords?”
It is called DENIAL and the manifestation of denial is PARALYSIS-just as the overlords demand.
I am new to your corner of The Vineyard but am thrilled to find the information here presented in such a balanced manner.
Thank you.
Another reason why I became a Eurosceptic
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/transatlantic-free-trade-deal-regulation-by-lawyers-eu-us
Very good post, worthy of a forum dedicated to the subject.
@ Anonymous 04 April, 2014 01:39
What about promoting non-debt-based money and the end of usury throughout Europe?
Indeed. Western European countries underwent a literal banking coup in the early 1970s, handing over the creation of the states’ money supply to the extractive private banking industry. This led automatically to an exponential rise in debt due to compound interest, just as compound anything will do anywhere.
By joining the EU, Eastern European countries came under the same top-down control of banking and international finance.
That’s a real bankster Union, for you, in which inevitable unrepayable debt becomes a weapon of mass destruction, enabling the opportunistic seizure of common public wealth, the suppression of wages and exploitation of excessive debt to justify clawbacks of social and healthcare services.
A Goldman Sachs executive is reported to have advised the European Commission, recently, that, if European economies are to survive, wages will need to be reduced by 30%!
I can say from experience in France that the ‘job market’ is an absolute nightmare. There is no longer any room for inventiveness, polyvalence or creativity. Either you are highly trained in specific field, preferably in modern technology, which fills the pockets of CEOs and investors, or you’re on your own to find the means to survive.
The great majority of the French population works long hours at ungratifying ‘jobs’, to return home, exhausted, to heat a pre-prepared commercial meal, put kids to bed and begin a new day at the ‘slave factory’.
Life is lived so close to the edge that few have the time or the means to do anything but ingest pervasive state corporate media propaganda. How can such populations be expected to organize an effective popular protest movement when social interaction has been destroyed?
Today, international oligarchs are profiting from the destruction of social fiber to engage in secretive negotiations of transoceanic trade partnerships, in the form of the TPP and TTIP, which will eradicate any remaining notions of national sovereignty and self-determination, and hand over global governance to industry and finance, in an ultimate coup.
How can a European worker [or any other, for that matter] be expected to have the time and means to take on a globalized financial monster?
.