Guest Analyses
By Amir NOUR[1] for the Saker Blog “Science without conscience is nothing but ruin to the soul” (François Rabelais) Lately, the world famous business magazine, The Economist, has received quite a bit of international media attention; and understandably so. Indeed, close to the end of each year, going back decades, it publishes an eagerly awaited special edition, which predicts the major political, business and social trends and events of the
by Denis A. Conroy for The Saker Blog “Europe ‘coming apart before our eyes’, say 30 top intellectuals”. The Guardian, 26 Jan 2018. The group of 30 writers, historians and Nobel laureates state that “we must now will Europe or perish beneath the waves of populism”. Which immediately raises the question; who is the ‘we’ that must do the willing…the answer would appear to be the church of the neo-liberal
by Eric Zuesse for The Saker Blog The annual Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report is the gold-standard for estimates of private wealth around the world. The latest is Global Wealth Report 2018. It’s at: https://www.credit-suisse.com/ Some aspects of this report (as in previous years) raise more questions than answers, but any informed estimations of where things stand economically within the world’s nations and even globally, has to take seriously what
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) An exclusive interview with former Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim on how BRICS came into being, how the nuclear deal was done with Tehran and how the South dealt with Chavez Brazil is once again in the eye of a political hurricane, after President Jair Bolsonaro’s appearance at Davos and explosive revelations directly linking his clan
by Chris Faure for The Saker Blog (*This is accurate at the time of posting but the situation is still developing fast. Updated comments at the end.) It came as no surprise this past week when the US Administration made good on their promises to attempt to Regime Change Venezuela, the third part of John Bolton’s Troika of Tyranny, the other parts being Cuba and Nicaragua. But there were a
By Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog HAARP – the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program – was initiated as an ionospheric research program, established in 1993 in Gakona, Alaska and operated by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. It was and is funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Its alleged purpose “was to analyze
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog Like illegally jailed PressTV anchor Marzieh Hashemi, I am a journalist at Iran’s PressTV and also a dual-citizen of Iran and the US, with family in both countries. So should I cancel my next trip to the United States, then? Well, I refuse to. I visit the US at least once a year, and nothing could possibly prevent me from returning whenever I
by Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog On 23 January 2018, the United States has initiated a coup against President Nicolás Maduro and his Government, by encouraging and fully supporting the “self-proclaimed” opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as interim President. Already days ago he had received the full support of President Trump, and today, in a special televised speech, US Vice-president Mike Pence declared that Venezuela’s Freedom begins with the new
by Jimmie Moglia for The Saker Blog That all the world is a stage and all men and women merely players is a familiar and generally accepted proposition. But many, prompted by curiosity and helped by new information previously unknown or uneasily available, would like to know more about the play they are the unwitting players thereof. Which transforms the frame of mind of the curious into that of a
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Crimea is essential to Russia strategically and economically, but speculation over Ankara helping to boost the US presence in the Black Sea is far-fetched given Turkey’s energy deals with Moscow. A power struggle over the Black Sea between Russia and the US plus NATO has the potential to develop as a seminal plot of the 21st
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog There is a lot of talk about which economic bubble will burst first and burst the worst (sounds like a gangsta rap song, no?) The stock market, real estate, luxury goods, corporate debt and government bond bubbles, and other lesser bubbles, all jockey for the titles. It’s the “Everything Bubble” for good reason. The “good reason” is: the 1% owns everything of high
by Phillyguy for The Saker Blog Summary The US emerged from WWII as the world’s leading economic and military 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 as the world’s reserve currency. All of the pillars supporting US global dominance are now being threatened by continuing US economic decline coupled with
By Ollie Richardson for The Saker Blog Why does Russia behave the way it does in relation to Israeli airstrikes in Syria? I will proceed from what seems to be an established fact (SANA confirmed) that on the night of January 11th Israel hit one depot at Damascus international airport. I.e., material damage. 12 projectiles were fired in total. Syrian air defences worked, and by all accounts they were as
by Denis A. Conroy for The Saker Blog “It’s not a choice between war and peace. It’s a choice between war and endless war. It’s not appeasement. I think it’s better even to call it American self-interest”. Michael Scheuer (commenting on American Foreign Policy). “For the state by its nature claims sovereignty, the right to an unlimited development of power, determined only by self-interest. It is by nature anarchistic”. “No
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog Let’s predict the likely trajectory of France’s Yellow Vest movement: What seems certain is that the only-on-Saturday protests will soon change into massive, permanent encampments in Paris, along the Champs-Elysées and Eiffel Tower. Other camps will be set up around the country, also at symbols of state power: the local city halls and tourist/historic attractions. This will make international news, because they will
by David Penner for The Saker Blog Ask any American liberal aged sixty-five and older what they think about Franco, Mussolini, or Hitler and they will vehemently denounce these men as tyrants, murderers, and despots. Ask them what they think about the Vietnam War and they will say it was a tragedy, not only for the Vietnamese, but for the poor American soldiers who were drafted and used as cannon
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times – here and here – by special agreement with the author) The new Great Game on the Roof of the World On top of the graceful Baltit Fort, overlooking the Hunza Valley’s Shangri-La-style splendor, it’s impossible not to feel dizzy at the view: an overwhelming collision of millennia of geology and centuries of history. We are at the heart of Gilgit-Baltistan, in
by Le Saker Francophone for The Saker Blog The genesis of the yellow vests Back to French presidential election in 2002, second round, Chirac won against Le Pen (father) 82% vs 18%, same scenario in 2017, second round, Macron won against Le Pen (daughter) 55% versus 34% Just after the presidential election comes the choice for the legislative assembly. In 2002, after Chirac’s victory, his political party, UMP, won 356
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Just before Trump announced that American troops are to leave Syria “immediately”, many compatriots, friends and analysts were wondering what could be the next event that might change the course of future events in northern and eastern Syria. The first reaction to the news of Trump ordering his troops to leave Syria took many by surprise. That said, we have to wait and
by Pepe Escobar exclusive for The Saker Blog Rostislav Ishchenko is arguably the leading international analyst focused on the extraordinarily turbulent Russia-Ukraine relations. He posts regularly on Ukraina.ru, with frequent English translations here. In contrast to the 24/7 “Russian aggression” demonization campaign effective on all corners of the Beltway and spreading towards selected European capitals, Ishchenko’s analysis, for instance of the information war deployed on all fronts of the Russia-Ukraine
