by Pepe Escobar with permission and first posted at Asia Times The annual MAKS aerospace show kicked off its 2021 installment at Zhukovsky Airport outside Moscow – not with a bang, but with multiple bangs. MAKS – whose name is an acronym for the Russian mouthful Mezhdunarodnyj aviatsionno-kosmiches, literally international aviation and space show – is famous for showing off the latest hits in aerospace and defense technology from major Russian
Staff Writer What was this? An insurrection? (Or ‘a failed insurrection’ according to the President using western talk of “a deliberate, coordinated and well-planned attack on our young democracy, on our economy and our people’s livelihoods.”) Up until now, he has done nothing much to assist ‘our people’s livelihoods.’. But the Defense minister Mapisa-Nqakula said it was her view that the military was not seeing signs of a coup or
Test Test Test
2021/07/19 19:30:01Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of the issues of the day. The ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’ will have two new open threads each week. The Saker stated moderation policy will apply eg ‘no caps’, no obscenity … etc to all post. The Cafe is now open for
By Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog Just a few months since Joe Biden’s election, the Western idea of terrorism has radically changed. With the media having spared no effort making people believe that the real terrorists are indeed the armed supporters of the Republicans, who are ready to take on the crowd of BLM “looters” and express their right to protest by demonstrating that rights at the Capitol. As
Dear friends, First, thanks A LOT for all your comments, suggestions and warnings. On their basis I have made a few early decisions (which we can revisit as many times as needed): I will not write an essay discussing the issue of “Sergianism”. The short (1-4 para max) vignettes thing will happen. “Shortcuts” SANDBOX will be the place where I will host them. If technically possible (I need to ask
Staff Reporter The US is manufacturing consent to coup Cuba. The language used is a clear give-away. After all these years, now suddenly the ‘Cubans want their Freedom! and of course, the US can give it to them, is the sub-text. On 23 June 2021, the UN General Assembly voted for the 29th year in a row, in favor of a resolution to demand the end of the US economic
Selections from Godfree Roberts’ extensive weekly newsletter: Here Comes China. You can get it here: https://www.herecomeschina.com/#subscribe Further selections and editorial and geopolitical commentary by Amarynth. Geopolitical moves: Most of the geopolitical space was taken up by the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Soon Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, moved in, boots ‘n all, with SCO. http://10.16.86.131/russia-china-advance-asian-roadmap-for-afghanistan/ A geopolitical story of note is the confirmed friendship between
By Francis Lee for the Saker Blog “The weak and ill-constituted shall perish: first principle of our philanthropy. And one should help them to do so … What is more harmful than any vice? Active sympathy for the ill-constituted and weak.’’ (1) The Beast awakens – Second Time Around Such were the sentiments – customarily referred to by Charles Darwin as the ‘’survival of the fittest’’ and of Friedrich Nietzsche’s
Dear friends, To my surprise many (most?) of the comments I got yesterday were related to my question about whether to write about the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century or not. Thanks to all those who replied! And the various comments have given me an idea which I want to run by you: What if, instead of writing a 10’000 words essay (I am only
2021/07/16 08:00:01Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of the issues of the day. The ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’ will have two new open threads each week. The Saker stated moderation policy will apply eg ‘no caps’, no obscenity … etc to all post. The Cafe is now open for
Crazy times! It turns out that the Colombian thugs which killed the President of Haiti were linked to both the DEA and the FBI. The former agency confirmed that the killers were, indeed, part of a DEA team, but they never got the order to kill anybody. Right. [Sidebar for the alternatively gifted: if you are thinking “oh no! The DEA is a respected branch of the US government, they
By Zamir Awan for the Saker Blog With the beginning of the 20th century, geopolitics was changing rapidly. The centries old, empires, Kingdoms, Dynasties were facing severe challenges, and many revolutions were witnessed. The biggest change was the Russian revolution in 1917, as the Marxist first country in the world. People fed up with imperialism, feudalism, capitalism, and Western Style liberalism, democracy, and colonialism were looking at the Russian revolution
Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s ‘facilitate, not mediate’ role could be the key to solving the Afghan imbroglio By Pepe Escobar, with permission and first posted at Asia Times Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting of Foreign Ministers on Wednesday in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, may have been an under-the-radar affair, but it did reveal the contours of the big picture ahead when it comes to Afghanistan. So let’s see what Russia and China
Joint statement by foreign ministers of the SCO countries following a meeting in the format of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, July 14, 2021 We, foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries, Advocating the development of Afghanistan as an independent, neutral, united, peaceful, democratic and prosperous state, Realising that peace and stability in that country is one of the main factors in ensuring security in the SCO region,
by Batko Milacic – Independent analyst – for The Saker Blog The events in the Middle East have made a large number of interstate relations of the former “allies” very complicated due to the large-scale operation “Arab Spring”. After the failure of the original idea of creating the Great Middle East, a project in which the main role was played by Washington, in alliance primarily with the Gulf monarchies but
Vladimir Putin answered questions on the article “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians”. Question: Mr President, thank you very much for finding an opportunity to answer questions about your well-known article on Ukrainian issues. Here is my first question, if I may. Why did you decide to write this article at this particular time? President of Russia Vladimir Putin: I decided to prepare this material a while ago, actually. I have been thinking about it for several months now. The title of this material, or “article,” is just a convention because it
By Chris Faure for The Saker Blog Part 1 The riotous looting has reduced but is still continuing into Wednesday. We don’t really know what is left to loot and burn but whatever is standing is still being looted and burnt. This clearly was a planned initiative as the looter vehicles, cars and trucks have their number plates removed or covered with black plastic bags, the movement of the mobs
Translated and subtitled by Leo. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) itself unwittingly denied the version of Navalny’s poisoning. It’s hard to make a different conclusion to the OPCW report presented this week. In the document, it is said that the organization, with the request of Germany, formed a technical commission to check the information about the poisoning of the Russian citizen even from August 20th. Basically
By Fabio Reis Vianna for The Saker Blog Even if the rhetoric and the interim security strategy of the Joe Biden administration itself tries to give a multilateralist veneer to the idea that the benevolent hegemon would be back, the reality imposed by the increase in competitive pressure, which deepens after the outbreak of the pandemic, and acquires dramatic contours in the so-called “vaccine war”, reveals a challenging scenario for
