The IOC’s decision to ban the Russian flag and anthem from the Winter Olympics is grossly discriminatory and makes no legal or moral sense by Alexander Mercouris (cross-posted with Russia Feed by special agreement with the author) In the first half of 2016, shortly before the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Professor Richard McLaren at the request of WADA published his preliminary report on sports doping in Russia.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative heralds a new era with mega infrastructure projects dotting the landscape by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) If you are looking for the latest breakthroughs in trans-Eurasian geoeconomics, you should keep an eye on the East – the Russian Far East. One interesting project is the new state-of-the-art $1.5 billion Bystrinsky plant. Located about 400 kilometers from the Chinese border
by Phillyguy for the Saker blog Introduction The US came out of WWII as the world’s dominant military and economic power. Since that time, US hegemony has been predicated on: 1) unrivaled military strength, 2) control of world’s energy reserves and 3) primacy of the US dollar. US dominance has become increasingly threatened due to its continuing economic decline, a process that began in the mid-1970s as US corporate profits
Putin’s Syrian withdrawal announcement: neither a full Russian withdrawal nor victory in Syria by Alexander Mercouris (cross-posted with The Duran by special agreement with the author) At a time when President Putin is undertaking a tour of the Middle East it would have been politically speaking extremely unwise for him not to have made a stop-over to meet the Russian troops at the Khmeimim air base whom Putin himself sent
[Note by the Saker: I am posting this article with great reservations since I believe that, will all due respect, my friend Ramin fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the Bolshevik ideology and the reality of the motives behind the Bolshevik policies following their seizure of power in 1917. I also believe that Ramin has a completely wrong understanding of the Christian view of power and I therefore, with Ramin’s authorization,
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Is the world’s center of gravity shifting to the heart of the Indo-Pacific – a new pivot to Asia? In the context of the New Great Game in Eurasia, the New Silk Roads, known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), integrates all of China’s instruments of national power – political, economic, diplomatic, financial, intellectual and
by Ramin Mazaheri That headline leaves out the biggest bombshell: Per court testimony leaked in September, France’s Foreign Ministry knew all about Lafarge’s collaboration with terrorists in Syria and repeatedly encouraged them to do so. Many are assuming that future court inquiries will discover that the France’s Foreign Ministry and national spy services provided more than just moral support. Since the story broke in June 2016 the story just gets
by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog No man has possibly served the American Empire as much as Henry Kissinger did, and with all the literature, including screenplays, that have been written about him and his “shuttle diplomacy”, none probably described his biggest ever performance than Patrick Seale in his book “Asad”. After all, even though Kissinger is always remembered as the diplomat who has negotiated terms of settlement with
by Peter Koenig for the Saker blog Uzbekistan is a peaceful friendly country, smiling faces, many of them struggling to make a living, but still smiling. Uzbekistan is a double landlocked nation, meaning she is surrounded by other landlocked countries, i.e. Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Landlocked countries have no access to the sea. They are economically more challenged than are those with access to the seas. Exports to
by Marcus Godwyn for the Saker blog, (with huge thanks to Gleb Glinker for expert proof reading and wise editing; the introduction to this article has been posted before here) As western media and politicians relentlessly continue to spew forth warnings to their hapless populations about the ever present and growing “Russian threat”, only today: 12-11-2017 NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg has told Europe to “Prepare for a Russian invasion”.
by Pepe Escobar of the Asia Times (cross-posted by special agreement with the author) With its focus on Central Asia and Eastern Europe, the Belt and Road Initiative can be seen as fulfilling a strategy of challenging the West that can be traced back to Mao The 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress made it clear that the New Silk Roads – aka, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – launched
by Andrei Martyanov for the Saker blog “Tomorrow war breaks out; an autonomous torpedo boat—two officers, a dozen men—meets one of these liners carrying a cargo richer than that of the richest galleons of Spain and a crew and passengers of many hundreds. . . . The torpedo boat will follow from afar, invisible, the liner it has met; and, once night has fallen, perfectly silently and tranquilly it will
by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker blog Some are talking of “fear and euphoria” in the crypto-currency world, but what’s to fear? Last month Bitcoin’s multi-year existential crisis was surprisingly resolved with only a couple days of panicking. In short, those who wanted to implement technological changes to make Bitcoin more of an everyday currency and less of a stable store of value – lost. The losers threw a tantrum,
by Dmitrii Orlov for Club Orlov (cross-posted by special agreement with the author) A most interesting book has recently come out: Phil Butler’s Putin’s Praetorians: Confessions of the Top Kremlin Trolls. It’s a good book to read for all those who wish to peer behind the crazy funhouse mirror set up by Western media. It includes contributions from people who have been active in opposing the barrage of counterfactual press
by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker blog How much of the current Russophobia campaign is to detract from the outrageous far-right regime Barry Obama installed in Ukraine? Certainly, if this wave of anti-Semitism – excuse me, Russophobia – was not clouding everything involving that region of the world, Ukraine’s chaos would necessarily receive more attention. So even though protecting the US Democratic Party’s domestic standing is probably the primary goal,
By Aram Mirzaei for the Saker blog The wars in Iraq and Syria are entering a final phase as ISIL is about to end up where it belongs, history’s trashcan. ISIL as a fighting force is about to be destroyed and in Syria, Takfiri terrorists belonging to the Al-Qaeda linked Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham are next up, yet peace is something still unimaginably far away for this conflict-ridden region. The reason
by Eric Zuesse for the Saker blog WHAT WILL BE SHOWN HERE In order to understand Donald Trump’s foreign policies, a person must be totally open-minded to at least the possibility that the U.S. is the world’s most aggressive, war-mongering nation, so that when an international poll was taken of the publics in 65 nations in 2013 as to which country is “the greatest threat to peace in the world today”,
In a well choreographed Sochi summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin defines a peaceful future for Syria after the liberation of the country from militants by Pepe Escobar of the Asia Times (cross-posted by special agreement with the author) The main take away of the trilateral, two hour-long Russia-Iran-Turkey summit in Sochi on the future of Syria was expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin: “The presidents of Iran and Turkey supported
by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker blog Mohamed Bin Salman’s (MBS) royal Saudi coup is still in the making and its stories of mystery and intrigue are unfolding. Some recent articles written about this unprecedented Saudi development have focused on whether or not MBS was actually desirous of instigating reform within the kingdom of sand and capable of putting together the infrastructure that made such reform possible and how. Other
by Pepe Escobar of the Asia Times (cross-posted by special agreement with the author) A pacified Syria is key to the economic integration of Eurasia through energy and transportation connections Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani will hold a summit this Wednesday in Sochi to discuss Syria. Russia, Turkey and Iran are the three power players at the Astana negotiations – where multiple cease-fires, as hard to implement
