By Pepe Escobar – with permission and cross-posted with Consortium News It was a leak, not a hack. Yes: Brazilgate, unleashed by a series of game-changing bombshells published by The Intercept, may be turning into a tropical Russiagate. The Intercept’s Deep Throat – an anonymous source — has finally revealed in detail what anyone with half a brain in Brazil already knew: that the judicial/lawfare machinery of the one-sided Car Wash
By Pepe Escobar – with permission and cross-posted with Strategic Culture Foundation Sooner or later the US “maximum pressure” on Iran would inevitably be met by “maximum counter-pressure”. Sparks are ominously bound to fly. For the past few days, intelligence circles across Eurasia had been prodding Tehran to consider a quite straightforward scenario. There would be no need to shut down the Strait of Hormuz if Quds Force commander, General
by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker blog (Written for PressTV and cross-posted by permission) I am deeply skeptical that the US ever initiated a missile strike against Iran and then called it off, as was claimed by The New York Times. Of course, the US “paper of record” routinely does terrible journalism – they repeatedly rely on anonymous sources, as they did for this claim. Anonymous sources cannot be considered
by George Eliason for The Saker Blog The second part in this series showed clearly that the US Intel community has been overrun by untrainable and undependable people. The more facts that come out, the worse the situation looks. We trust these people to dissect and analyze critical pieces of information and based on their experience advise the President of the United States whether or not diplomacy, spying, and covert
by Le Saker Francophone for The Saker Blog You no longer hear about the Yellow Vests in the media and you think that the movement finally stopped after six months of activity, without getting anything. Well, that’s not the case. Of course the decrease in the number of demonstrators is huge. From 300,000 at the end of 2018 to 30,000 by mid-2019. But every Saturday these few tens of thousands
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog Why do we often forget how powerful Mexico is? 130 million people; undoubtedly the most powerful Spanish-speaking country (Brazil speaks Portuguese); a geographical location truly on top of the Latino world; access to both oceans; a historical cradle of civilisation with claims that can fairly said the be unrivaled; the world’s most developed economy accessible with the fewest shipping costs, and unparalleled expatriate
by Ollie Richardson for The Saker Blog In what is a very timely admission taking into account the topic of my last article – 21st century international relations and decision-making, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации), Sergey Naryshkin, pointed to a low risk method of “hybrid” warfare and named a specific example where it is being implemented. RT reported the following on June 18th
By Pepe Escobar – posted with permission With the dogs of war on full alert, something extraordinary happened at the 19th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) late last week in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Virtually unknown across the West, the SCO is the foremost Eurasian political, economic and security alliance. It’s not a Eurasian NATO. It’s not planning any humanitarian imperialist adventures. A single picture in Bishkek tells a quite
by Ollie Richardson for The Saker Blog As I have now come to expect, some of the comments posted beneath my last article (and if to be honest, beneath any geopolitical article published on a so-called “pro-Russian” website) refer to an imagined scenario where human beings are just doomed – completely doomed. In context, the comments I speak of go along the lines of “Yeah, the Russian leadership might be
by Nat South for The Saker Blog I have taken the opportunity to look at the recent incident involving two outbound tankers in the Gulf of Oman. I have got some questions or two, (or three) about certain parts of the incident, from a civilian mariner’s perspective mostly. There are various conflating aspects to the event, and questions need to be asked, yet journalists do not seemingly wish to ask
by Michael Hudson for the Saker Blog (cross posted by authorization of the author with https://michael-hudson.com/) President Trump has threatened China’s President Xi that if they don’t meet and talk at the upcoming G20 meetings in Japan, June 29-30, the United States will not soften its tariff war and economic sanctions against Chinese exports and technology. Some meeting between Chinese and U.S. leaders will indeed take place, but it cannot
by Stephen Karganovic for The Saker Blog As we approach another Srebrenica anniversary this year, on July 11 at the Memorial Center in the east Bosnian community of Potočari the annual spectacle will again take place. It will be graced by the presence of individuals who claim to be political leaders in the region and the part of the world under the domination of the West. Their speeches, which as
By Pepe Escobar – with permission and cross-posted with Consortium News Something extraordinary began with a short walk in St. Petersburg last Friday. After a stroll, they took a boat on the Neva River, visited the legendary Aurora cruiser, and dropped in to examine the Renaissance masterpieces at the Hermitage. Cool, calm, collected, all the while it felt like they were mapping the ins and outs of a new, emerging,
by by Nat South for The Saker Blog (Part 1) I’d like to tackle the subject of Arctic icebreakers, by firstly looking at the Bloomberg article, “Putin’s Arctic Plans Are a Climate Change Bet” as a starting point to this analysis. The article starts off in an eye-catching fashion, using keywords such as “climate change”, “control shipping routes”. The article is about the new generation of Russian nuclear icebreakers currently
by Aspelta for The Saker Blog Several months of mass protests in Sudan have succeeded in ousting the thirty-year presidency of Omar Al Bashir and gaining significant international attention, with a Transitional Military Council now in place comprised of many leading officials from Bashir’s government. With negotiations between protesters and the council stalling, and with the council itself divided between military officials and the leadership of independent militias such as
by Aram Mirzaei for The Saker Blog It’s been over a month now since the Syrian Army launched it’s long awaited Idlib offensive. The Syrian Arab Army and the jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham are involved in the deadliest battle of the month in northwestern Hama. What began as a successful month for the Syrian Army has since turned in a blood bath with all warring parties trading heavy
by Denis A. Conroy for The Saker Blog As secrecy, self-interest and corruption seem to be America’s trinity of evils, we need to be wary of the hologram that is shoved in our faces suggesting that American corporate capitalism is a force for good. On taking a closer look at the hologram we may observe the full-frontal image of three characters who are joined at the hip doing a soft
By Pepe Escobar – posted with permission If Tehran blocks the Strait of Hormuz it could send the price of oil soaring and cause a global recession Unlike Deep Purple’s legendary ‘Smoke on the Water’ – “We all came out to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline”, the 67th Bilderberg group meetings produced no fire and no smoke at the luxurious Fairmont Le Montreux Palace Hotel. The 130 elite guests
by Ollie Richardson for The Saker Blog Over the past five years my work in the information space has been consciously aimed at explaining why the Russian military does and doesn’t do certain things, whether it be in relation to Ukraine, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Venezuela, etc, and why demanding that Putin bombs everything in sight is exactly what the CIA wants so-called “pro-Russians” to say. Yet I haven’t exhausted (maybe
China Decouples: China Will Not Be Contained by Trade War Four major events in a cluster, one to come this week. The percipient point of view about China under Chairman Xi (more powerful than Mao, though far less charismatic) is that China will not retreat from its destiny. Any notion that China would cave to Donald Trump’s demands in the Trade negotiations of the past year (yes it’s been a
