The future world order, already in progress, will be formed by strong sovereign states. The ship has sailed. There’s no turning back.
By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and widely cross-posted
Let’s cut to the chase and roll in the Putin Top Ten of the New Era, announced by the Russian President live at the St. Petersburg forum for both the Global North and South.
The era of the unipolar world is over.
The rupture with the West is irreversible and definitive. No pressure from the West will change it.
Russia has renewed with its sovereignty. Reinforcement of political and economic sovereignty is an absolute priority.
The EU has completely lost its political sovereignty. The current crisis shows the EU is not ready to play the role of an independent, sovereign actor. It’s just en ensemble of American vassals deprived of any politico-military sovereignty.
Sovereignty cannot be partial. Either you’re a sovereign or a colony.
Hunger in the poorest nations will be on the conscience of the West and euro-democracy.
Russia will supply grains to the poorer nations in Africa and the Middle East.
Russia will invest in internal economic development and reorientation of trade towards nations independent of the U.S.
The future world order, already in progress, will be formed by strong sovereign states.
The ship has sailed. There’s no turning back.
How does it feel, for the collective West, to be caught in such a crossfire hurricane? Well, it gets more devastating when we add to the new roadmap the latest on the energy front.
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, in St. Petersburg, stressed that the global economic crisis is gaining momentum not because of sanctions, but exacerbated by them; Europe “commits energy suicide” by sanctioning Russia; sanctions against Russia have done away with the much lauded “green transition”, as that is no longer needed to manipulate markets; and Russia, with its vast energy potential, “is the Noah’s Ark of the world economy.”
For his part Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller could not be more scathing on the sharp decline in the gas flow to the EU due to Siemens’ refusal and/or incapacity to repair the Nord Stream 1 pumping engine: “Well, of course, Gazprom was forced to reduce the volume of gas supplies to Europe by 20%+. But you know, prices have increased not by 20%+, but by several times! Therefore, I’m sorry if I say that we don’t feel offended by anyone, we are not particularly concerned by this situation.”
If this pain dial overdrive was not enough to hurl the collective West – or NATOstan – into Terminal Hysteria, then Putin’s sharp comment on possibly allowing Mr. Sarmat to present his business card to “decision-making centers in Kiev”, those that are ordering the current shelling and killing of civilians in Donetsk, definitely did the trick:
“As for the red lines, let me keep them to myself, because this will mean quite tough actions on the decision-making centers. But this is an area that shouldn’t be disclosed to people outside the military-political leadership of the country. Those who deserve appropriate actions on our part should draw a conclusion for themselves – what they may face if they cross the line.”
Baby please, stop breaking down
Alastair Crooke has masterfully outlined how the collective West’s zugzwang leaves it lumbering around, dazed and confused. Now let’s examine the state of play on the opposite side of the chessboard, focusing on the BRICS summit this Thursday in Beijing.
As much as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) and ASEAN, now it’s time for a reinvigorated BRICS to step up its game. In conjunction, these are the key organizations/instruments that will be carving the pathways towards the post-unipolar era.
Both China and India (which between them were the largest economies in the world for centuries before the brief Western colonial interregnum) are already close and getting closer to “the Noah’s Ark of the world economy”.
The G20 – hostages of the Michael Hudson-defined FIRE scam that is the core of the financialized neoliberal casino – is slowly fading away, while a potential new G8 ramps up: and that is directly connected to BRICS expansion, one of the key themes of this week’s summit. An expanded BRICS with a parallel G8 configuration is bound to easily overtake the Western-centric one in importance as well as GDP by purchasing power parity (PPP).
BRICS in 2021 already added Bangladesh, Egypt, the UAE and Uruguay to its New Development Bank (NDB). In May, at Foreign Ministry-level debates, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Thailand were added to the 5 BRICS members. Leaders of some of these nations will be connected to the Beijing summit.
BRICS plays a completely different game from the G20. They aim for the grassroots, and it’s all about slowly “building trust” – a very Chinese concept. They are creating an independent Credit Rating Agency – away from the Anglo-American racket – and deepening a Currency Reserves Arrangement. The NDB – including its regional offices in India and South Africa – has been involved in hundreds of projects. Time will tell: one day the NDB will make the World Bank superfluous.
Comparisons between BRICS and the Quad, a U.S. concoction, are silly. Quad is just another crude mechanism to contain China. Yet there’s no question India treads on tightrope walker territory, as it’s a member of both BRICS and Quad, and made a vastly misguided decision to walk out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – the largest free trade deal on the planet – opting instead to adhere to the American pie-in-the-sky Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
Yet India, long term, skillfully guided by Russia, is being steered to find essential common ground with China in several key issues.
BRICS, especially in its expanded BRICS+ version, is bound to increase cooperation on building truly stable supply chains, and a settlement mechanism for resources and raw material trade, which inevitably has to be based in local currencies. Then the path will be open for the Holy Grail: a BRICS payment system as a credible alternative to the weaponized U.S. dollar and SWIFT.
Meanwhile, a torrent of bilateral investments from both China and India in the manufacturing and services sector around their neighbors is bound to lift up smaller players in both Southeast Asia and South Asia: think Cambodia and Bangladesh as important cogs in a vast supply wheel.
Yaroslav Lissovolik had already proposed a BEAMS concept as the core of this BRICS integration drive, uniting “the key regional integration initiatives of BRICS economies such as BIMSTEC, EAEU, the ASEAN-China free trade agreement, Mercosur and SADC/SACU.”
It’s only (BRICS) rock’n roll
Now Beijing seems eager to promote “an inclusive format for dialogue spanning all the main regions of the Global South via aggregating the regional integration platforms in Eurasia, Africa and Latin America. Going forward this format may be further expanded to include other regional integration blocks from Eurasia, such as the GCC, EAEU and others.”
Lissovolik notes how the ideal path from now on should be “the greater inclusivity of BRICS via the BRICS+ framework that allows smaller economies that are the regional partners of BRICS to have a say in the new global governance framework.”
Before he addressed the St. Petersburg forum on video, President Xi called Putin personally to say, among other things, that he’s got China’s back on all “sovereignty and security” themes. They also, inevitably, discussed the relevance of BRICS as a key platform towards the multipolar world.
Meanwhile, the collective West plunges deeper into the maelstrom. A massive national demonstration of trade unions this past Monday paralyzed Brussels – the capital of the EU and NATO – as 80,000 people expressed their anger at the rising and rising cost of living; called for elites to “spend money on salaries, not on weapons”; and yelled in unison “Stop NATO.”
It’s zugzwang all over again. The EU’s “direct losses”, as Putin stressed, provoked by the sanctions hysteria, “could exceed $400 billion a year”. Russia’s energy earnings have hit record levels. The ruble is at a 7-year high against the euro.
It’s a blast that arguably the most powerful cultural artifact of the entire Cold War – and Western supremacy – era, the perennial Rolling Stones, is currently on tour across a “caught in a crossfire hurricane” EU. On every show they play, for the first time live, one of their early classics: ‘Out of Time’.
Sounds much like a requiem. So let’s all sing, “Baby baby baby / you’re out of time”, as one Vladimir “it’s a gas, gas, gas” Putin and his sidekick Dmitry “Under My Thumb” Medvedev seem to be the guys really getting their rocks off. It’s only (BRICS) rock’n roll, but we like it.
And all this without killing anyone, without robbing anyone, without humiliating anyone. Without speculating on who is smarter or has divine support.
The supreme art of war. Crimea was taken the same way.
Spot on Liborio! ‘Western values’ as practiced by the Anglo Zionist elite are the antithesis of what they profess, and this rank, putrid mendacity needs the full glare of exposure at every mention.
Big fan of a collective kicking the bully aside into the gutter scenario but I also have to caution from experience that when the bully perceives his demise he looks around for the right victim, someone not too big but big enough to make a show, and he comes out of nowhere and clocks him silly in a last ditch effort to maintain status as someone to fear.
Lets not get too cocky here. I will be the first up front to spit and dance on the shadow of Evil and will do all I can to insure it stays down for good but I will not make the mistake of turning my back too soon.
Trouble is if that someone is assessed to be “not too big but big enough to make a show”, and they are horribly wrong in their assessment in that the target turns out to be the most powerful and advanced military in the world more than capable of completely kicking their arse – then what?
As long as Americans have food and heat, the Bully
Is alive and well. The Bully is far from collapse.
In prison you have food and heat. In Bangladesh also. In Tonga, Vanuatu and Mozambic. well, the bully is collapsed already. The Afghanistan run is one of the proofs. The once great army lost it’s fight capabilities and experience, they have trannies now than will run away at the first bullet. In comparison, from 1 million active army, the Russians have 120.000 in combat in ukraine, a real combat vs. motivated guys. And they’re rotating those 120000 just to have all the active army trained in the real warfare, city combat – which is the most difficult. It looks like in a conventional war the bully will have an AVC even before the first bullet will be shot.
Pepe word-riffing down musical memory lane.
Serious moment in history the substance of his article. BRICS must act to change the paradigm and preclude the hegemon from recovering unipolar power.
We shall see if this happens in Beijing.
Putin is the dynamo, the flywheel of the grouping.
We know he and Xi are all in.
The other three have to step up and declare their sovereignty.
Or will we hear “You can’t always get what you want”?
Hmmm. We do always appreciate Pepe Escobar’s reporting on new developments outside of the US/Western System. :)
However, some of the developments going on in Eurasia, Latin America, and India are presented in a “future tense” status. We would feel far more optimistic if all those trade/currency/transpot linkages were fully in place. But they aren’t.
When Pepe explains how both “the hostages” the US/EU’s “financialized neo-liberal casino” are “fading away” we question that observation.
Unlike most all Americans who are heavily burdened by the US Service centers: Big Tech/Health Care/Auto/Home Loans and credit card debt, European citizens still have a measure of public health care; technology isn’t anywhere as expensive as in the US, and Europeans are not allowed to put huge sums of debt on their credit cards, or to seek bank loans to purchase a home, when they do not have the income to support that cost.
What both societies do have in common are the price rises in fuel/natural gas/oil and food products. But on average, EU citizens’ incomes are higher than average Americans.
Moreover, we are NOT seeing a rise in EU/US bankruptcies in banks, or anywhere else in their financial center.
And lastly, as Americans who have witnessed the immense cruelty of the US Hegemony, do not ever, ever count it out.
Note: during Roman times, when Spartacus the Gladiator and hundreds of thousands of impoverished citizens launched their campaign against the Ruling Aristocrats of Rome, it took nearly 200 years of bloodshed to make a dent. It was Emperor Augustus, who eventually seized the opportunity to tamp down the Rome’s ruling class.
Bankruptcies occurred on mass during covid.
The thing to look for is recoveries to pre covid levels. That’s not happening in the West. It’s going the opposite way.
Germany
https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/gdp-growth
They recovered
Romania (best place to grow own food)
https://tradingeconomics.com/romania/gdp-growth
Even better
Do you believe in any graphs and figure from West? My belief is all books are cooked, only reason you dont see any cracks yet is the constant money printing from free air.
I try to avoid conclude what I assume in the first place, like if (A, B, C) then A.
To manage that I use facts instead as own assumption as starting point.
@kjell108
The problem arises when the ‘facts’ on which you base your conclusions aren’t really facts but made up data that doesn’t have substance.
Take for instance the GDP measurements. The US GDP is highly exaggerated, counting several sectors which doesn’t really add anything to the economy. They also have the advantage of the USD reserve currency status
Right. It takes time, and in these 200 years the Roman Elite made all kind of secret societies and hide gold reserves and networks which we suffer from still today.
Can you understand the China lock down Larch?
I don’t believe for a moment it is a response to the virus (if there is one).
More likely a response to the disrupted inventory cycle.
Sympathy for the devil?
I think the lockdown it is more likely another arrow aimed directly at the heart of the west pushing it down further on its knees through the creation of more inflation. The Chinese will have reviewed the checks and balances. A relatively small and temporary cost for China to pay for a very large benefit. Especially with the creation of BRICS+ and it’s huge internal economy.
– I think the lockdown it is more likely another arrow aimed directly at the heart of the west
Interesting . Pandemics is a weapon in China, besides nukes?
When the great plants of our cities have turned out their last finished work; When the merchants have sold their last yard of silk and dismissed the last tired clerk; When our banks have raked in their last dollar and paid the last dividend; When the judge of the earth says, “close for the night;”And ask for a balance – what then ?
When the choir has sung its last anthem, And the preacher has made his last prayer; When the people have heard their last sermon, And the sound has died out of the air; When the Bible lies closed on the altar, And the pews are all empty of men; And each one stands facing his record, And the great book is opened – what then ?
When the actors have played their last drama, And the mimic has made his last fun; When the film has flashed its last picture, And the billboard displayed its last run; When the crowds seeking pleasure have vanished and gone out in the darkness again; When the trumpet of ages is sounded, And we stand up before Him – what then ?
When the bugle’s call sinks into silence, And the long marching columns stand still; When the captain repeats his last orders, And they’ve captured the last fort and hill; And the flag has been hauled from the masthead, And a world that rejected its savior, is ask for a reason – what then ?
A new child will be born.
I’m glad I’m not the only vine in the vineyard that has been pruned free of the brain singed frustration producing headaches of the limited human mind’s ability to grapple with and “get a handle” on all that has taken place in the past and what will take place in the future ? Have you never heard these words before, “who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it ?” (lamentations 3:37). The Lord God Almighty is real ! I have personal evidence to prove it. He knew me before he formed me in the womb.
Let me guess. We’re all just playing chess with God to see which of us can outguess His next move before what He has decreed to happen does, right ? Then we can declare ourselves loved by God through having a mainline to His prophecies, or at least being in league with Him. We were told that God finished His work(us) before He created the world. Therefore, we are all just living out the script for each one of us that God wrote before He created Adam and Eve.
“He who diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and he who rolleth a stone, it will return upon him”(proverbs 26:27). Those who have refused to retain God in their knowledge have been given over to “reprobate minds” (rejected as un-savable, foreordained to damnation- per Webster’s). As you try to understand why they think and do as they do, realize that they are working through the thoughts of a reprobate mind because they have rejected the knowledge of God’s existence.
Do not hate any people because of the race they come from. There will be some in heaven from every nation, kindred, and tongue.
Excellent.
To us American expats who have prepared “bolt hole” communities here in Brasil, all this BRICS+, New G8, etc. talk is really frightening. Now, there are all sorts of rumors of a “decoupling” away from the USA following the anticipated victory of the left in the coming October election. According to the rumor mill, among the first acts of the new government will be the de-dollarization of the economy and the confiscation of the assets of us ‘Yankee neo-colonialists”. Already, two of my nearest neighbors are looking to sell their farms, equipment and other assets before the new regime can take them away, presumably with zero compensation. Maybe I’m the biggest fool but, at least for now, I’m sitting tight and even using my neighbors’ panic attacks to INCREASE my holdings (and my capacity to defend them!). I figure that, whoever is in charge, and whatever their world-view and ideas about “multi-polarity”, anti-imperialism, sovereignty, etc., there’s always going to be a need for the stuff that I can produce – and that pitchfork-wielding rabble can’t.
^^;;^^
Morcegão
@ Morc on June 22, 2022 · at 9:47 pm EST/EDT
To us American expats who have prepared “bolt hole” communities here in Brasil, all this BRICS+, New G8, etc. talk is really frightening.
———————————
Have you explored the thought that expats there are feeling threatened because they have benefitted from a system that keeps more than 50 million Brazilians living below the poverty level, with an income less than $5.00 a day? Not that expats are at all responsible for the 17 million Brazilians added to that group because of the pandemic.
All I can say to address your fear is, you have nothing to fear.
The fear waves are natural when a figure of the stature of Lula looms in the horizon.
The Brazilian establishment, hellbent on keeping the status quo, sells the best commodity they posses to remain in power, fear. Those who buy it, either feel guilty about their “assets,” or have an entrenched fear of social change. Lula did not make a socialist, let alone a communist country of Brazil. His government, however, promoted a distribution of Brazilian wealth focused on the disenfranchised that elevated many out of poverty.
Fascist Bolsonaro dedicated his administration to destroy Lula’s socially oriented policies, reorienting them toward the traditional dominant elites. Your neighbors can look at Lula coming to power, again, as a harbinger of the coming changes about to happen by Russia’s challenging of the world order.
The New World Order will be built BRIC by BRIC.
Guess they are afraid of that too.
Lone Wolf
Wa qata’at Jahiza qawla kuli khatib
@ Billawees on June 23, 2022 · at 3:50 am EST/EDT
Wa qata’at Jahiza qawla kuli khatib
————————————————
Mind to post your comment in Arabic? Transliteration doesn’t help trying to figure out the meaning.
Wa qata’at Jahiza qawla kuli khatib
Wa = And
qata’at =
Jahiza =
qawla = saying, word, sentence, speech, agreement, promise, contract
kuli = everything
khatib = imam
—————————-
Lone Wolf
Gratitude to Lone Wolf for that apt reply to @Morc. Russia is spearheading a changing universal order ending the gruesome exploitation and dehumanization of people’s of all nations by their psychotic-elite governments. The pessimists would want to keep the old world running for them but it is a donkey’s braying that weakens and dies sooner than it started. I sum all this as the guaranteed triumph of Light over Darkness.
@Morc.
If you hold land that produces food and can defend it, then your enemy is not “the pitchfork wielding rabble that need food” and can buy it. Your enemy is their enemy: “the checkbook wielding rabble that need to own everything. Who are trying to buy us all up at ten cents on the dollar. Using Covert Operations such as Covid-19 Lockdowns and anti-Competition Sanctions to break supply chains, cause shortages, bankrupcies and ruinous price rises for fuel, machinery, fertilizer, seed, chemicals, water etc. Watch your mortgage, your freehold, and your access to **the market** where your edible real food is finally exchanged for inedible fiat currency.
well said.
Morc,
stop seeing yourself and acting like an expat.. it will be dangerous soon to be a gringo in many points of L. America.
Assimilate (go native!), network with your neighbors working outwards concentrically – especially native farmers, break bread with them, invite them into your home, start a barter system, find farmers & ranchers who have what you need and show them what they lack in exchange, hire their sons to help with harvest and give them chores, get into the nearest local towns and show you aren’t an aloof foreigner – let them see you regularly, etc.. There are a lot of decent folks especially in rural areas and you can maintain your position as long as you are part of the fabric of that community. The huge ongoing changes can be navigated with optimism, prudence and patience, without succumbing to fear as you correctly noted.
Thank you Lone Wolf, A. Deplorable, and AHH…. You have addressed Morc perfectly. I am a USSA expat and have lived in Uruguay for 10 years. I follow AHH’s advice, and have integrated into the local economy. I avoid most other USSA expats, as they tend to carry the prejudices of Amero-centrism. Let it go, Morc!
This rumour mill works 24/7 since the end of the last military dictatorship and, as always, the generation that suffered due to dictators and rentier/agrarian elites’ incompetence and theft doesn’t care about the rumours and demand change; the next generation will not learn anything, will believe the exactly same rumours and will elect a new “Saviour of the Motherland” to save us from corruption and communism (the most popular political boogeymans in Brazil) and suffer the consequences – It happened in 1960, 1989, 2018 and will probably happen again by 2050.
Curiously the same people running the mill has never made so much money as during Lula’s administration – the problem is lower classes were also making money and this cannot be tolerated.
As a former columnist of one of the most important newspapers wrote: “airports have lost their glamour, with large families of brown, bad dressed people going to the same destinations as the elite; airports looks like bus terminals now. Universities are even worse.”
What really matters to Brazilian and Latin American elites is differentiating themselves from the rabble: If they can’t make enough money for this goal, debasing the rabble and eliminating paths to its social mobility also does the trick. They don’t care to be just “regional managers” for the international capital and a second-tier elite surrounded by abject poverty, as long as they are able to live safe lives inside their marble towers.
Morc,
If you have been in Brasil for awhile and I assume you have been from what you wrote.
AND
You don’t have enough of a local network to:
Feel reasonably safe -and-
Know what’s happening and what is likely to happen
THEN
There is something wrong with you and they probably should send you packing.
How about Elvis?
The Old Hometown Looks The Same
And I Stepped Down From The Train
And There To Meet Me
Is Mr Sarmat and His Nephews. . . . . .
And Joe Biden’s mind is 2000 Light Years From Home.
. . . And if US/UK AngloZ leaders play their hands poorly, perhaps they will need to scurry downstairs to their basements crying Gimme Shelter as their cities are toasted in a Jumping Jack Flash?
Covid-19 was just to soften up the world. Next pandemics will be for real in terms of death (in reality water being poisoned). The corpses are meant to pile up on the streets for everyone to see. The anti-vaxxers will be scapegoated.
(I remember an CIA agent revealed swimming pools were built in that way they could reverse the water stream, so what was inside swimming pool was pumped into drinking water pipelines)
(I remember during EBOLA breakout in 3 African countries, police arrested people who went from well to well and infected the wells with EBOLA)
The ship has sailed, what are we to do? Wait for the barbarians? Nope, here we will be “drag” into the Financial battlefield and no matter love of queen or country or getting paid, in this steppes you are bound to loose.
The infamous “casino” economy so called seems to imply things didn’t changed? Of course it did.
Welcome to the “Bed&Breakfast Economy”! which just will be the little engine that could of the new and bigger Tourist Economy! and all this brought by who? You bet, Manhattan FIRE! Sorry, no barbarians, only new nomads on the fringes of this yet new Capitalism…
Is been on the making and you know it, Europe will offer it’s “ruins”, US it’s panoramas and theme parks, mexican beaches with corona, ski-resorts with sasquatch, ICU cruises or trans-Siberian from Cusco to the Malasyan archipielago! and if you can’t afford it, Nomad! And we will be thrown out, the further into the wastelands the better…
This new economy needs something more to define it since it appears in a binary combo…..so we will call it the “The BiPolar Economy”. “Financialization leads to polarity”(Hudson) And this bipolarity is a kind of “autistic” sociopathy which tramples over the livelihood of millions on a blink and without remorse…
Don’t be a sore looser, as one old clasical economist once put it; poverty has the solution and the path for the liberation of the working class!
Wishful thinking. The point here is that folks inside Russia and China wants to think too west. This boring and lame Hollywood bullshit has lured hundreds of millions of people in other countries believe in “American dream”. People are so easy to be manipulated.
Let’s be realistic. Russian share of China’s trade is still little bit over 3%. Western nations are 10-20 times more important trade partners to both China and India than Russia.
But mainstream on world trade has already moved from Atlantic to South Sea: zone from China to Africa. Russia and Europe are shrinking, China-India-Africa zone is growing and pretty fast.
In the case of Russia it’s quality not quantity.
China India Africa etc need energy oil, grain, fertilizer, technology weapons, and force to back it all up.
Russias contribution is vital in this sense.
Therefore for Russia trade with China has only to incrementally increase to be very effective. Imagine a large increase! Additionally Western nations are on the verge of very serious problems and are less and less attractive trade partners as days go by.The threat of asset seizure etc is also very high to seriously hinder any confidence.
Reality is, Russia exports 30-40 commodities with a world market share of 10-80%. Those commodities are very very important to the production processes of the nations who import them. Thats why the Rouble is on a 7 year high. And thats why all those predictions of the Western Leaders, Russia will go bankrupt, Russia will suffer, were foolish. So its not only the amount of the traded goods, but also the importance on the global stage. Who cares if Brands like Gucci or Mercedes are not imported or exported?
With importance on the global stage, how long do you need to find new mines, start the mining and the logistics? If the answer is a couple of years or even never (Palladium, Neon Gas, Oil, Gas, Aluminium, etc.) than you have a big big problem, thats what the West has, a big big problem.
Did i see you calling Mr Robert Johnson? Man… you just got more points from me.
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Russian economic situation in 2021/2022 is relatively weaker as it was before COVID-19. According to IMF the list GDP-PPP of nations show wider gap between Germany and Russia than it was in 2019 (21% vs 7%). On the other hand India has now bigger GDP-PPP than Japan and Germany together. Based on British economic study in cirka 2040 India may have bigger GDP PPP than USA.
according to the IMF???… that is precisely what it is about, building better opinions than those of the WB and the IMF….
The IMF? Are you serious? The IMF is a US imperialist tool which behaves like a Mafia loanshark against Nations sorely to enhance US power! Unbelievable there are people who still think the IMF’s self serving opinions mean anything.
Here you have to post data to prove your point – data you don’t have.
@kjell108
We don’t have time to explain everything to you. I think you’re a newcomer here cause I haven’t seen you here before.
Search ‘Michael Hudson’ on the search bar and read his articles. Prof. Hudson explains technically how the IMF is a tool for the globalist camp to have a grip on the Global South
To: E. van Duh Crazy (& Co.)
“Out of Time – The Rolling Stones – Madrid – 1st June 2022”
https://youtu.be/FX5mcpVuc6s
What does end of empire sound like, …?
(Mr Winter)
What a heart lifting article! Great to hear a song for sore ears. The Rolling Stones aspects are cool too. Last May it was 50 years ago since ‘Exile On Main Street’ was released. In 5 days, the 27th of June, I was at the Exile STP tour stop in Mobile Alabama. Here’s my take on that day. I was a wild child back then so you may not condone some of my actions. I’m sorry for that … not.
https://fivegunswest.blogspot.com/2012/08/rolling-stones-june-27th-1972-mobile.html
It was good posturing, indeed. But highly un-informative.
As was predicted.
Failure to protect one puppet regime is beginning of the end. If the conquests of Orange Revolution can be crushed into oblivion, what props all other “regime changes”? Not a whole lot anymore. The next stage will be a wave of local coups against the puppet governments and/or obscenely fake conversions thereof (as in, ⅩⅩ Party Congress grade monkey business).
That’s what clearly can be done, too. So, a good start. But unfortunately, not all that is needed.
Memetic sovereignty is not even on the table yet. The Kremlins (up to and including Chekist-In-Chief himself) continue to pay at least lip service and recycle stale old crap from Washington. Even the “UA nazi nazi nazi” thing counts (though it’s admittedly useful). They have enough of a clue to suppress cheeky, “Pussy Riot” type incursions, but that’s all. Their servants continue to enthusiastically help the Cathedral in its secondary objectives, from recent shenanigans with non-existent “vaccine” to breaking internet. And the only visible attempt at political theory “innovation” is Dugin… which may be even more damning, lol.
«Lost» implies they had it before.
Well, there are multiple criteria and thus multiple degrees. And more or less leonine contracts. But the test they fail is a classic border of non-sovereignty, indeed. See the quote from Vattel on Moldbug’s blog (graymirror.substack.com/p/61-the-nomos-of-the-earth) or read the original (archive.org/details/lawofnationsorpr0000vatt) for more of classical international law goodness.
Well, obviously. When was it not? The real question is: will it be more like 2-3 superpowers and dozens of lesser powers, or 2-3 superpowers and disposable puppets and vassals again (eventually turning into similar crap under new fig leaves)? Considering that both superpowers that don’t appear dying ultimately are products of the nu-Vatican Harvard, the signs are not entirely clear.
Question,when the empire is dead and buried, what happens to the coercive imf loans to the empire’s vassals? Who is going to collect from the bankrupt vassals? Or, when their puppets are overthrown?
I think it is going to be interesting. Any thoughts!
Where should an intellectually liberal, humanist, close to retirement surgeon and physician choose to live in the world right now, given the way the wind is blowing? A disillusioned child of the West.
@Ian Comaish.
I chose the East Mediterranean because of mild winter climate and ancient history. My South African sister and niece chose Croatia and Serbia for sentimental reasons. My English son is impressed with Martinique because of great sailing and prewar French cuisine. So much for a retirement homeland.
But I met a couple of young adults who chose South East Asia and South Pacific as the place to make a career: Japan, China, AnZac, Patagonia. My French nephew and his Malayan wife chose the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. And a band of South African (Afrikaaner Dutch) farmers chose to invest their future in the great fertile lands of Russia.
“Passer by, if you are a Greek a say unto thee: Cheirete — health and good cheer. If a Syrian, I say unto thee: Shalom — health and peace. We intellectually liberal humanists are citizens of the same city, and that city is the World.” — written on a gravestone in Graeco-Roman Lebanon.
All this is connected with the irreversible decline of the West’s military power. Will the Russian protect the nations that will adopt the new reserve unit. Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Algeria, etc.? The USA will remain one of the actors of the multipolar world but its extremism in wanting to preserve the unipolar world weakens it every day. The US elites do not have the skills to re-examine the situation, to slow down and to take the turns. Going off the road seems inevitable to me. Will the car break up under the impact ( understand secession in the US)?
The $ is overvalued by how many %. In addition, the seizure of Russian assets for political reasons and the extra-territorial nature of US law in relation to the currency make this currency more of a political risk than a store of value. The US GDP in constant $ will fall by how many %. The glue of the USA is Washington DC without the possibility of financing its abysmal deficit, what will happen? California has no electronics factory, it designs the gadgets made in China to control us. Will this business model fall? The value of the currency, the supply chains and therefore the value added, the purchasing power of the consumer are all being redefined and I don’t see any upward indicator for the USA and its vassals.
“US elite” has burned down 100 food plants. Transport of fertilizer has been ordered delayed by main railway carrier.
Goal is of course to create food shortage
“𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭. 𝘌𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘺.”
This applies even more to countless compradore elites in Zone B.. As Uncle Bob reminded us, one cannot be “a little pregnant.” The next few months will determine the character and future trajectories of so many besides Europe. Foremost needs to be psychological decoupling (good signs from India and sub-saharan Africa so far) followed by practical steps such as leaving SWIFT and the dollar system. At this point they are tools of open subjugation. You cannot be a part-time Bi##h either.
“𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭, “𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩’𝘴 𝘈𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺.””
How will Russia’s respond to growing sabotage of their energy infrastructure? The neo-Vandals clearly initiated their Phase Two and aim to crash the party. Gas pipes, oil refineries and depots, Black sea rigs, etc are being blown up at increasing pace… The overall intent and pattern has been established.
“𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢, 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮, 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢, 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴.”
Yes, this may be the key hurdle for Eurasian integration. Please Pepe, explore the low-down on this stereotypical Anglo-created border issue, which includes essential Himalayan water access. India is in the dependent position and highly resentful, a friction source skillfully leveraged by Anglos. This has to be solved somehow to build trust and put Imperial divisions behind them. No other way ..
Yes they are outta time. Time is not on their side.
https://youtu.be/RJ44q_5uMM4
I always like to see Pepe add some lyrics to his articles. These lyrics from Rock and A Hard Place from the Stones are also appropriate:
The fields of Eden
Are full of trash
And if we beg and we borrow and steal
We’ll never get it back
We’re stuck between a rock
And a hard place
Between a rock, yeah, and a hard place
This talk of freedom
And human rights
Means bullying and private wars and chucking all the dust into our eyes
And peasant people
Poorer than dirt
Who are caught in the crossfire
End up nothing to lose but their shirts, yeah
We’re stuck between a rock
And a hard place
Between a rock and a hard place
Sorry Pepe The Stones suck. I’ve begun to see Sympathy as an invocation of sorts. Watch the Luc Godard film. Marianne gets it. She says we are connected to the Divine by a gossamer thread and if pissed or stoned it breaks. Her autobiog is great. The time Bob Dylan popped round for tea …
Definitely overrated band but the songs Heartbreaker and Gimme Shelter are a few of their songs which has passed the test of time . I prefer Led Zeppelin, even if Page was a Crowley fanatic
Mick Jagger became whining bitch of high taxes and supported Maggie Thatcher. So much about rock and roll generation’s rebellious. Let’s not forget that these “heroes” just wanted to become very rich and f*ck young girls. There is no magic both in pop music and modern football. Just look how boring these clubs Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man Utd, Barca, L’pool etc have become. Boring corporate nonsense and hype.
Hegemony does not last forever. In all the trumpets and fan fair, no one nears the ship silently set sail.
https://patternofhistory.wordpress.com/
We are denied reading Alastair Crooke and Strategic Culture Foundation on the Net. Is there a way out?
The text of the English translation of the speech is here.
St Petersburg International Economic Forum Plenary session
The President attended the plenary session of the 25th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
June 17, 2022
http://en.kremlin.ru/catalog/keywords/128/events/68669
It’s good. Here’s a good basic quote from the body of the text.
“Friends,
Once again, the world is going through an era of drastic change. International institutions are breaking down and faltering. Security guarantees are being devalued. The West has made a point of refusing to honour its earlier commitments. It has simply been impossible to reach any new agreements with them.
Given these circumstances and against the backdrop of mounting risks and threats, Russia was forced to go ahead with the special military operation. It was a difficult but necessary decision, and we were forced to make it.
This was the decision of a sovereign country, which has еру unconditional right to uphold its security, which is based on the UN Charter. This decision was aimed at protecting our people and the residents of the people’s republics of Donbass who for eight long years were subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime and the neo-Nazis who enjoyed the full protection of the West.
The West not only sought to implement an “anti-Russia” scenario, but also engaged in the active military development of Ukrainian territory, flooding Ukraine with weapons and military advisers. And it continues to do so now. Frankly, no one is paying any attention to the economy or well-being of the people living there, they just do not care about it at all, but they have never spared money to create a NATO foothold in the east that is directed against Russia and to cultivate aggression, hatred and Russophobia.
Today, our soldiers and officers, as well as the Donbass militia, are fighting to protect their people. They are fighting for Russia’s future as a large, free and secure multiethnic country that makes its own decisions, determines its own future, relies on its history, culture and traditions, and rejects any and all outside attempts to impose pseudo-values steeped in dehumanisation and moral degradation.
No doubt, our special military operation goals will be fulfilled. The key to this is the courage and heroism of our soldiers, consolidated Russian society, whose support gives strength and confidence to the Russian Army and Navy and a deep understanding of the truth and historical justice of our cause which is to build and strengthen Russia as a strong sovereign power.
My point is that sovereignty cannot be segmented or fragmented in the 21st century. The components of sovereignty are equally important, and they reinvigorate and complement each other.
So, what matters to us is not only the defence of our political sovereignty and national identity, but also strengthening everything that determines our country’s economic, financial, professional and technological independence.
The very structure of Western sanctions rested on the false premise that economically Russia is not sovereign and is critically vulnerable. They got so carried away spreading the myth of Russia’s backwardness and its weak positions in the global economy and trade that apparently, they started believing it themselves.
While planning their economic blitzkrieg, they did not notice, simply ignored the real facts of how much our country had changed in the past few years.
These changes are the result of our planned efforts to create a sustainable macroeconomic structure, ensure food security, implement import substitution programmes and create our own payment system, to name a few.
Of course, sanction restrictions created many challenges for the country. Some companies continue having problems with spare parts. Our companies have lost access to many technological solutions. Logistics are in disarray.
But, on the other hand, all this opens up new opportunities for us – we often talk about this but it really is so. All this is an impetus to build an economy with full rather than partial technological, production, human and scientific potential and sovereignty.
Naturally, it is impossible to resolve such a comprehensive challenge instantly. It is necessary to continue working systematically with an eye to the future. This is exactly what Russia is doing by implementing its long-term plans for the development of branches of the economy and strengthening the social sphere. The current trials are merely resulting in adjustments and modifications of the plans without changing their strategic orientation.”
VVP
Any serious analyst of any leader should be able to read their work, preferably in the original language.
Even though I am neither serious or a professional analyst, the plain meaning should be well understood.
“Alastair Crooke has masterfully outlined how the collective West’s zugzwang leaves it lumbering around”
I so miss Alistair Crooke!
I thought the embedded link might take me to a site where his texts are available, but I got the Russian 404.
Try the reload button.It works some times, or follow SC on Telegram
Russia is “the Noah’s Ark of the world economy.” – A statement that is worth its weight in gold. But remember, plenty of oil and gas from Iran and Russia and Iraq to run Zone A for 100 years.
NOTE: If you happen to attend the current European tour by the Stones and notice the wheel chair access to the stage and marionette string dangling from the catwalks, please keep it to yourself so you don’t spoil the illusion for others and for your own public safety, don’t mention there’s a doof after the show.
Thank you.