Guest Analyses
by Igor Pejic The crisis in Mali which started with the Tuareg rebellion in 2012, in the northern part of the country, still haunts the society and presents a serious destabilization factor for the entire Sahel region. The Mali crisis has been fueled by many different elements including: historical, demographic, political, social-economic and even climatic. Although there has been a significant international effort to resolve the crisis, the French military
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik International The tawdry Michael Flynn soap opera boils down to the CIA hemorrhaging leaks to the company town newspaper, leading to the desired endgame: a resounding victory for hardcore neocon/neoliberalcon US Deep State factions in one particular battle. But the war is not over; in fact it’s just beginning. Even before Flynn’s fall, Russian analysts had been avidly discussing whether President Trump is the new
by Eric Zuesse Ever since Donald Trump won the U.S. Presidency, the U.S. aristocracy (who control or outright own all of the U.S.-based international corporations and especially the weapons-firms such as Lockheed Martin, whose sales-volumes depend upon increasing the nation’s ‘defense’ spending — and that requires restoring ‘the Cold War’) have been trying to abort his Presidency in any and every way they can. Above all, they have been trying
by Ramin Mazaheri As Communist hero and the “African Che Guevara”, Thomas Sankara, famously said: “A soldier without any political or ideological training is a potential criminal.” France’s police have an ideology, because everyone has one: Only the truly apathetic or the most indoctrinated claim to not have one. I’ll be honest: I have not attended France’s police academy nor read their training manuals so I can’t say for sure,
By Amir NOUR[1] Convinced that terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, is unacceptable and unjustifiable, member States of the United Nations were finally able to adopt, on September 8, 2006, a common approach within the framework of the “United Nations global counter-terrorism strategy ». But, ten years later, the “international community” has yet to agree on a consensus definition of the common
by Peter Koenig Did Trump cheat us all with his campaign promises and his succinct ‘to the point’ Inaugural Address? Or did he just deceive some of us, some of the time, and the rest will be taken care of by a more or less sophisticated trickery? – A gambit, one of which is Iran? After all, we know how he has been elected. Among the ruses used was a
by Cosimo The Short Version: In a shocker on Jan. 25, the French elite moved to destroy the right-wing candidate, François Fillon with a scandal that may be fake. The elite is clearing the way for their new pawn, Emmanuel Macron, a former Director of Banque Rothschild. Macron’s misdeeds are revealed here. The dissidents shine an unwanted light on the Macron-Rothschild connection and in return, the elite seemed to have
by Ramin Mazaheri Is this the end of France’s mainstream political parties? The day of reckoning certainly should be near. When 77% of France believes parliamentarians, are corrupt then you have a fundamental problem with your system. If you don’t trust you’re the highest rung of the legislative branch, then that house needs to be purged. It seems it’s going to happen this election cycle for the executive branch, at
by Kakaouskia Part 1 – A Beginners Guide Greetings to the Saker community and readers. In the past few months there has been a flurry of international activity in an effort to resolve the Cyprus problem. While to most people the problem is either unknown or a passing note, it does pose a bit of a headache for the southern flank of NATO as it is a constant point of
by Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times From the Bab al-Mandab to the strait of Malacca, from the strait of Hormuz to the strait of Lombok, all the way to the key logistical hub of Diego Garcia 2,500 miles southeast of Hormuz, the question pops up: How will the unpredictable new normal in Washington – which is not exactly China-friendly – affect the wider Indian Ocean? At play are way
by Ramin Mazaheri There wasn’t an official award handed out, but the Islamophobic statement of 2016 in France has to go to the politician who said that Muslim women who wear the hejab are like the “American niggers who were in favor of slavery”. LOL, she did even not say “blacks”, she said “niggers” – “nègres”, in French. You simply cannot use that word in polite society. I know because
by Jeff J. Brown Trump and Roosevelt: two peas in a pod? Crosslinked at: http://chinarising.puntopress.com/2017/02/02/the-uncanny-similarities-between-presidents-donald-trump-and-franklin-delano-roosevelt-china-rising-radio-sinoland-170202/ SoundCloud podcast reading: https://soundcloud.com/44-days/the-uncanny-similarities-between-presidents-trump-and-roosevelt-china-rising-radio-sinoland-170202 For the record, I voted for Donald Trump. Not that I was in love with the guy. It was really a matter of default. On the Oklahoma state ballot, I had the choice of Hillary “Crimes Against Humanity + Here Comes World War III” Clinton, the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and
By Aram Mirzaei “They say we are a nation of tears, but with these tears we have overthrown an empire” – Imam Ruhollah Khomeini. As the Iranian people are celebrating the 38th anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic, Washington has recently installed its 7th president since that cold winter day of February 11, 1979. To many Iranians, the Islamic Revolution represented a defining moment in Iranian history, one
by Iman Safi Part II; The “Left” Dilemma: (for part I, please see here) To understand where the global “left”-“right” divides stands now, we must take a quick look at some key developments and join them together within the particular context sought; because the roots of this divide go back to the times during which the Western mind was in the process of choosing between such issues as succumbing to
by Ramin Mazaheri “The Euro”, both the monetary system and the book of the same name by Nobel-Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, can appear complicated. Take heart from Noam Chomsky, who wrote that nothing in the social sciences cannot be understood by the average bus driver in a couple of minutes – this is not calculus or physics, after all. Give me just three paragraphs to simplify everything: Stiglitz successfully
by Iben Thranholm Recently Marie Krarup, a member of the Danish Parliament for the Danish People’s Party – contacted me to say that the EU task force East Stratcom has placed me on a list branding me as a pro-Russian propagandist and is accusing me of spreading Russian disinformation. This organisation was set up in March 2015 by the European Council to implement an action plan on strategic communication to
by Ramin Mazaheri The great journalist Alexander Cockburn famously asked the question “How pure is your hate?” I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s a line which always rubbed me the wrong way just a bit. I always thought it was treating “hate” rather religiously – purification being a routine goal of prayer, fasting, ceremony, etc. Hate, from a religious or moral standpoint, should not be considered “pure”, or at least
by Anwar Khan Certain knowledge about things inaccessible to the senses has always been a challenge to man. It has especially become so in our times—those of the fake news days. As news of the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey hit the waves, it was another field day for the alternative media folks to provide “analysis” and “conclusions” on the issues related to this sad event. As always,
Note by The Saker: as has been the case so many times in the past, I am posting an article with which I disagree, rather strongly, in fact, but which I find nevertheless worth posting precisely because it represents a point of view different from mine and because it asks some interesting questions. My own two cents about all this is that the Russians are seeking opportunities to appear to
by Ramin Mazaheri The French Socialist Party has the first round of their political primary on January 22nd, and as a longtime news correspondent in Paris I thought it incumbent on me to make a fun prediction. The fun, if you couldn’t tell, has already started: the incumbent, Francois Hollande, is not even running for re-election. Let’s bask in what a historically huge loser Hollande is: I cannot recall any
