by Ljubiša Malenica for the Saker Blog The abrupt dissolution of the USSR and the emergence of the United States as the sole superpower in the last decade of the twentieth century influenced both the political ordering of the world and the ideological foundation upon which said ordering relied. Where previously existed two conflicting worldviews, with their own specific characteristics, the end of the Soviet Union signaled the fall of
By Pepe Escobar with permission and first posted at Asia Times The late Dr. Zbig “Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski for some time dispensed wisdom as an oracle of US foreign policy, side by side with the perennial Henry Kissinger – who, in vast swathes of the Global South, is regarded as nothing but a war criminal. Brzezinski never achieved the same notoriety. At best he claimed bragging rights for giving the
By Larry Romanoff for the Saker Blog From their experiences in the formulation, manipulation and control of public perception and opinion with the CPI, both Lippman and Bernays later wrote of their open contempt for a “malleable and hopelessly ill-informed public” in America. (1) Lippmann had already written that the people in a democracy were simply “a bewildered herd” of “ignorant and meddlesome outsiders” (2) who should be maintained only
By Godfree Roberts – selected from his extensive weekly newsletter : Here Comes China You can get it here: https://www.herecomeschina.com/#subscribe Having recently read Godfree’s latest book, Why China Rules the World, I learned about trial spots, the history of these and how basically everything that is accepted by the population, gets trialed first, by the population. We change pace on this regular sitrep and instead of bringing together a wide
by Francis Lee for the Saker Blog 1. Jack London and the Iron Heel The Iron Heel is a dystopian novel by the American writer Jack London, first published in 1908. It is considered to be one of the earliest examples of modern dystopian fiction. It was the fourth of London’s earlier output which included, People of the Abyss (which was in fact journalism rather than literature) and the two novels,
A good sub-title for this interview could be “Lavrov Unplugged”. A quote from the transcript (which incidentally was available faster than any other transcript from the The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation ): “… when it became clear that Russia did not want to live in the house of “a self-appointed boss,” all these complications began to emerge. …. All this started when this signal was not
By Nat South for the Saker Blog This is part of a series on air missions carried in proximity to Russian borders, (NATO members and Sweden), principally intelligence-gathering missions, supported by air tankers. Flights tracked were mostly either over the waters of the Baltic, Black Seas and more rarely, Barents Seas. The latest briefing follows on an article written back in May 2020, [1] on my blog with several visuals
Thirty years ago, the United States dominated the world politically, economically, and scientifically. But today? Watch this in-depth discussion with distinguished guests: Alastair Crooke – Former British Diplomat, the Founder, and Director of the Conflicts Form Pepe Escobar – Brazilian Political Analyst and Author Max Blumenthal – American Journalist and Author from Grayzone Chaired by Dr. Mohammad Marandi – Professor at University of Tehran
A more sovereign Germany closer to Russia and China may be the straw that breaks the US hegemon’s back By Pepe Escobar with permission and first posted at Asia Times Last week we traced the necessary historical and geopolitical steps to understand Why Russia is driving the West crazy. And then, last Friday, right before the start of the Year of the Metal Ox, came the bombshell, delivered with customary
By Larry Romanoff for the Saker Blog In the revelation of propaganda as a tool of public mind control and its use for war marketing, it is worthwhile to examine the historical background of Bernays’ war effort. At the time, the European Zionist Jews had made an agreement with England to bring the US into the war against Germany, on the side of England, a favor for which England
from Zamir Awan for the Saker Blog The only optimistic part of President Joe Biden’s first foreign policy speech is, “We’re also stepping up our diplomacy to finish the war in Yemen — a war which has produced a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe. I’ve asked my Middle East squad to ensure our support for the United Nations-led initiative to enforce a truce, open humanitarian channels, and restore long-dormant peace talks.
By Pepe Escobar posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times Have an auspicious Year of the Ox, everybody. And to celebrate it in style, fleetingly alleviating our burden in these times of trouble, let’s plunge into a dream within a dream, going back to the future for a game-changing moment in Chinese history. Chinese New Year’s Day, 1272. At the time, that fell on January 18. Kublai Khan,
By Francis Lee for the Saker Blog From its inception the European Union was an ambitious strategy to build an economic bloc which would serve as a counter-weight to the US’s global economic dominance. (1) One of the primary conditions of this overall construction involved the creation of a single strong currency, the euro, that could become the rival to the US$. This was not just a political question, it
The White House Briefing Room MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES This memorandum reaffirms and supplements the principles established in the Presidential Memorandum of December 6, 2011 (International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons). That memorandum, for the first time, directed executive departments and agencies (agencies) engaged abroad to ensure that United States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect
by Pepe Escobar with permission and first posted on Asia Times Future historians may register it as the day when usually unflappable Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov decided he had had enough: We are getting used to the fact that the European Union are trying to impose unilateral restrictions, illegitimate restrictions and we proceed from the assumption at this stage that the European Union is an unreliable partner. Josep Borrell,
By Jimmie Moglia for the Saker Blog Samuel Butler published his novel Erewhon in 1872. The title is the (almost) reverse spelling of ‘Nowhere’ and it applies to a country the author discovered. He probably had in mind the Southern island of New Zealand where he minded sheep for a while. The protagonist, Higgs, tending sheep in a prairie, looks at a mountain in the distance and wonders what lies
By Godfree Roberts – selected from his extensive weekly newsletter : Here Comes China You can get it here: https://www.herecomeschina.com/#subscribe Russia ramps up natural gas supplies to China via Power of Siberia mega-pipeline “The export of gas to China through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline continues to grow. Supplies regularly exceed Gazprom’s daily contractual obligations,” the company said in a statement, adding that the volume of gas delivery last
By Chis Faure for The Saker Blog Ecuador’s leftist candidate Andrés Arauz declared victory in yesterday’s election Early exit polls show his socialist Correista party beating right-wing US-backed banker Guillermo Lasso massively We’re waiting for more conclusive results, but so far this looks like a historic victory and we cannot help but be reminded of the victory in Bolivia. Arauz will be the second left-wing economist to win the presidency
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions at a joint news conference following talks with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, Moscow, February 5, 2021 – https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4553286 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I had a substantive discussion with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice
by Robert Cialdini and Peter Koenig for the Saker Blog Have you ever wondered how a herd of sheep is driven to their slaughterhouse? Manipulation of minds is a well-studied science, has been applied already for centuries, but is getting ever more sophisticated. For example, the many poignant assertions, Joseph Goebbels, Hitlers Minister of Propaganda (1933 to 1945), included, “if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth”;
