A (well anonymized) anonymous reader sent me a very interesting link today. It is an opinion piece by Strobe Talbott for Reuters entitled “In 2015, Vladimir Putin may witness his empire’s death knell” in which Talbott predicts that: The year ahead could see the outbreak of the third Chechen war, which, in turn, could be the death knell of the Russian Federation in its current borders. (…) For the past
Thanks to Veritas for pointing out this episode to me!
Dear friends,Next week I plan to record my 4th podcast. As always, I invite questions, but also comments. Please post them here until Sunday evening 6PM UTC/GMT time. Please do not email me but only post your questions in the comments section (in English, French, Russian, German, Italian or Spanish – I can translate them into English during the recording). Any and all topics, from very serious to totally non-serious
There is one specific aspect of the recent thaw between the US and Cuba which nobody has mentioned and that bothers me a lot.We have all heard about the Cuban 5, the last three of which were now freed and we heard about the Jewish American spy Alan Gross who has now returned to the USA. The media has also reveled the name of the top US mole in Cuba
Listening to Obama’s speech about Cuba I was stunned by the following statements: After all, these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. It’s time for a new approach. (…) I do not believe we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result. Moreover, it does not serve America’s interests, or the Cuban people, to try to push Cuba toward collapse.
by Lev Igorevich Dollars for borsch There is a lot of speculation about the economic health of Russia in the light of tougher sanctions, falling oil prices and tumbling ruble. Concerns are raised whether Russia can afford it’s existence. However, those concerns are paper thin and are presented in more of a mocking spirit, because in most prediction acrobatics, actual revenues of Russian state are not considered at all. Many
Let’s begin by what I personally consider bad news: either Putin really believes in liberal market economics or he has to say he does. He began his Q&A and ended it with a categorical expression of full support for the policies of the Central Bank and its Chairwoman, Nabiulina, and a no less categorical expression of support for the Government and its Prime Minister, Medvedev. Worse, Putin declared that he
by Peter Koenig The world is still hell-bent for hydrocarbon-based energy. Russia is the world’s largest producer of energy. Russia has recently announced that in the future she will no longer trade energy in US dollars, but in rubles and currencies of the trading partners. In fact, this rule will apply to all trading. Russia and China are detaching their economies from that of the West. To confirm this decision,
by Mark Hackard Geopolitical analysis, the art of explaining power relationships through the prism of impersonal geography, can be a helpful tool for observers of the Great Game – but it also has its limitations. A case in point is the renewed US-Russia confrontation. Think tanks and policy insiders easily sell the narrative that from the dark days of the Cold War to our own time, Russia and the United
Dear friends and readers,Today I am writing to you to appeal for your help. By now it must be clear to everybody that what is taking place today is not just some “Cold War v2” or some “East-West tensions”, but a full-scale total war between not only Russia and the USA, but between the entire AngloZionist Empire and the Resistance (lead by Russia and the BRICS). Make no mistake, this
Interesting news this morning: Khasan Zakaev, one of the terrorist which organized and executed the 2002 attack against the Dubrovka theater in Moscow and an aid to Shamil Basaev was arrested in Crimea when he tried to enter from the Ukraine with false documents. Khasan Zakaev I very much doubt that Zakaev wanted to visit Crimea to enjoy the beautiful sights, sample the local cuisine or to relax on the
by LeonardoOn December 15, 2014 the Italian reporter Giulietto Chiesa, who had been invited to take part in a conference in Tallinn on Russian-European relations, was detained by the Estonian authorities for a few hours after being declared “persona non grata“. Facts appear to point to a deliberate move on the part of the Estonian authorities meant to prevent the journalist from attending the conference, thus censoring the speech he
Medvedev has just called a government meeting with most of the directors of top Russian corporations and the director of the Russian Central Bank. He immediately announced that he will not introduce any harsh regulatory measures and that he will let the market forces correct the situation. As for the former Minister of Finance, the one so much beloved in the West, Alexei Kudrin, he expressed his full support for
by “Diogenes” Preamble: First of all, when I heard of Central Bank decision to increase the rate, I have to admit that number looks suspiciously familiar to me. Yes, I knew Central Bankers manual. If you wish I can send you this That number 17% was used by my professor of macroeconomics who was lectured Central Bank staff consequently. It was in all American books on Macroeconomics, from 80s –
by Aleksei Kettunen Translation to English: Petri Krohn Russian ruble exchange rate changes have all the ingredients of success detective story. On Monday, 15.12. 2014 ruble weakened to a record low since 1998: the dollar cost 64 rubles and 79 rubles to the euro. In recent years, the price of an euro has been hanging around 50 rubles, or 5 000 rubles withdrawn from an ATM for a night of
Listen to this Ukrainian Nazi, speaking in Russian with his fellow Ukrainians, explaining that there are no peaceful civilians in Donetsk but only collaborators of the enemy. As soon as he is done spewing his hatred he gets hit by an artillery shell. Call it ‘karma’ or remember the words of the 3rd Psalm “thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly” but this guy sure got what he deserved.
