Note by the Saker: I am posting this article today by the special permission of Paul Craig Roberts. It was initially posted here.
Will Putin’s Policy of Concession Succeed?
by Paul Craig Roberts
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Conference last weekend shows the Russian government’s ensnarement by neoliberal economic policy. Putin defended globalism and free trade, and he warned that crisis will result from the breakup of the global system.
In fact, crisis is the result of globalism and neoliberal economics. For Russia neoliberal economics means both economic and political crisis. https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/05/25/americas-fifth-column-will-destroy-russia/
Neoliberal economics produces domestic economic crisis, because it diverts employment in high-productivity, high-value added activities, such as manufacturing and tradeable professional skills such as software engineering, from developed economies, such as the US, UK, and Europe, to economies where wages are much lower. Neoliberal economics is also the basis for financialization, which diverts the economic surplus from real investment into debt service. Together these devastating impacts of neoliberal economics kill economic growth. Just look at the no-growth experience of the Western world in the 21st century, where growth has been limited to the prices of financial assets while well-paid employment disappears.
The problem is not only that neoliberal economics is a device for financialization and the ruination of populations for the benefit of oligarchs and global corporations. The larger problem is that The Russian government’s belief in neoliberal economics makes Russia impotent to withstand pressure from Washington. Russia cannot stand up to Washington or even to Israel, because the government believes that Russia’s economic success depends upon being integrated into the Western economic system. To keep the door open, Russia continually accepts provocations which encourages more provocations.
There are situations in which this is statesmanlike and commendable, but not this situation because the crisis goes beyond economics. Putin’s prudent diplomacy is perceived in Washington as weakness. The neoconservatives who control the US government are committed to US hegemony. They are already over-filled with hubris. Each time they witness Putin back away, they become more confident that they can with more pressure force Russia into submission.
For example, the neoconservatives read Putin’s standdown in the face of Trump’s missile attack on Syria, an attack based on an obvious fake news event, as a lack of nerve. Putin’s acceptance of Washington’s attack was very damaging to Russia’s credibility with Washington’s neoconservatives. What they saw was Putin accepting an attack on an ally to whose defense Russia had committed armed forces. What is the point of clearing Syria of American supported jihadists and then allowing Washington and Israel to attack Syria?
I have explained Putin’s standdown as his gamble that Washington’s aggression could break apart Washington’s European empire as long as Russia does not exercise force in a way that would scare the Europeans. In other words, Putin is behaving carefully, not rashly. This is admirable, especially as Putin has superweapons against which the West has no defense.
My concern is what happens if Putin’s bet doesn’t pay off, and the effect of Putin’s restraint is to convince the neoconservatives that Russia can be bullied into submission. I do not think Russia can be bullied into submission, but the neoconservatives will have Russia in a corner where Russia has to fight or surrender. Russia will fight, and it will be the end of us all.
In other words, if Putin’s admirable strategy fails, the neoconservatives, who are already more full of hubris than was Hitler when he sent the Wehrmacht marching off into Russia, will push Russia to the point of war.
Therefore, I have suggested a different strategy: that Putin put his foot down. For example, he could stop accommodating US and Israeli attacks on Syria. These attacks are illegal under international law. They are the actions of war criminals under the Nuremberg Standard established by the US itself. Putin could supply Syria with the S-300 missile defense system, but at the request of Washington and Israel Putin has not fulfilled the contract, another example to the neoconservatives of Putin’s lack of nerve, a misreading that encourages Washington in its provocations.
A foot-down strategy carries the risk of scaring the Europeans about Russian aggressiveness, which is the way the presstitute Western media would report it. However, this strategy does not carry the risk of convincing hubristic neoconservatives that Putin is a pussy. The effect on Washington could be positive and push Washington back to the time when the US was respectful of the Soviet Union. The effect on Europe could be to make Europe aware that the conflict that Washington is initiating is what threatens Europe, not a threat from Russia.
The evidence is clear that the neoconservatives are discounting Russia as nothing more than a short-term obstacle to US world hegemony. Let’s attempt to weigh some of the evidence in behalf of Putin’s diplomatic strategy. French President Macron, Washington’s puppet, who has French troops in the US-occupied part of Syria, is toasted by RT for going to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum with the mission of “keeping Russia in the European family.” https://www.rt.com/news/427820-putin-macron-russia-europe/
Is Macron, who has French troops in Washington-occupied Syria, breaking with Washington, or is Macron playing Putin along by encouraging Putin in his belief that Europe will break from Washington and welcome Russia into the “common European home,” thus encouraging more concessions from Putin.
Is the Russian government being deluded into making more concessions and accepting more requests that serve the agenda of Washington and Israel instead of Russia and her allies? Washington’s latest request is that Putin encourage Iran to withdraw its military contingents from Syria. Putin did as requested, but Iran refused on the grounds that, unlike the US, France, and Washington’s mercenary jihadists, Iran is in Syria at Syria’s requests. The result is that Washington and Israel, both of which continue to attack Syria, have succeeded in creating tensions between Russia and Iran. http://tass.com/pressreview/1005664
To avoid a rift with a necessary ally, Putin might instead have told Washington that Russia and Iran would withdraw after Washington removes the forces it has placed in Syria. Washington was quick to take advantage of the rift and has informed Putin that Washington does not approve of Russia fulfilling the contract to deliver jet fighters and the S-300 air defense system to Iran. If Putin accommodates this Washington request as well, it will make it much easier for the US and Israel to attack Iran.
Washington has won again. Dispute between Russia and Iran leaves Iran more vulnerable to a US military attack, an attack that a number of commentators see in the works. If Iran is destabilized, the easier to destabilize Russia.
What did Putin get out of again acquiescing to Washington? More threats to Syria from Washington and Israel. On May 28 Washington informed the Syrian government that if it attempts to clear Daraa of foreign invaders who are occupying, with Washington’s support, Syrian territory, Syria will receive a “firm response” from Washington. https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201805261064839163-syria-leaflets-reaction-daraa-ceasefire/ Israel informed Syria
that Syria is not permitted to use its air defenses to protect its territory against Israeli aircraft operating within Syrian territory. https://sptnkne.ws/hAhP
In other words, Washington and Israel have rewarded Putin’s concession by forbidding Syria to defend itself.
The neoconservative Washington regime is confident that it has Putin locked into the backdown mode and will even be able to negotiate Russia’s withdrawal from Syria. If that occurs, Washington will restart the war to overthrow the Syrian government.
With Russia on the run, Putin can expect a Washington-ordered Ukrainian attack on the breakaway Russian republics that Russia has left hanging and also Washington-organized ISIS attacks on Russia through the former Soviet central Asian republics. https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/05/24/putins-peace-efforts-coming-naught/ The Ukrainian attack could occur during the World Cup when the Russian government will be focused on the prestige of hosting the World Cup and not on its foreign policy.
When Russia is incorporated into the Western economy, it will be as a vassal state.
But for now Russia is celebrating, pointing to the large attendance at the St Petersburg Forum, including that of the French president, as evidence that Russia is not isolated and is hoping for another prestige gain from the World Cup.
Perhaps someone in the Russian government will remember that it was its focus on the Sochi Olympics that delivered Ukraine into Washington’s hands.
Considering the strong remembrance in Russia of WWII.One would think they would remember that Stalin had numerous warnings of Hitler’s plans to invade the USSR. And not only ignored them.But even punished those people warning him.He could/would not believe that the Germans would invade.He believed Germany gained too much from Soviet trade.And from not having a two front war to fight.But instead Hitler determined he could “win” against the USSR quickly,and then would have her resources without having to “trade” for them.
I’ve seen a similar situation since 2014.Helped by the enormous power of the Atlantists in Russia (the last weeks showing that pretty clearly),we see the US and NATO moving ever forward against Russia.All the arguments that the Europeans will desert the US and join with Russia is just “fairydust” thinking.While its true the Europeans are unhappy with the US dominance over them.They are enslaved by their Americanized elite masters.And will not (can not) break with them,they own them.We humans like to dream all the time.But we should not fool ourselves that our dream world is the real world.
Uncle Bob,
Was there anything Stalin could have done to actually prevent Barbarossa? Would a tough guy act somehow have dissuaded Hitler? I don’t think so. In a book I read about about Hitler, I remember how he said that he can sign a pact with Russia over and over again, but that he would still end up attacking her.
That is why I do not agree with the main line of PCRs reasoning: that a tougher stance by Putin will somehow dissuade the neocons from attacking. I do not believe anything can restrain these people.
Kim has threatened them, but have they backed down in Korea? They insult him and have indicated they would like to see him end up as Gaddafi.
Putin seems to be playing for time. Perhaps he’s hoping that as the divisions within the empire grow, it will weaken the attack. But an attack is coming, that’s for sure. He may also be playing to the history books.
On a positive note, Stalin did end up defeating Hitler, and I believe Putin is much better prepared than Stalin ever was.
To my reading of history, Stalin did what he could do to gain time. This was in 1939, and the much discussed/ much criticized Molotov-Ribbentrov pact. That gained Stalin a bit under 2 years before he had to go to war.
By 1941, Hitler was going to attack the Soviet Union and soon. It had been a long term goal, or at least long-standing rhetoric that Germany needed the ‘living space’ that could only be found in the east. Hitler and the Nazis had begun as street thugs fighting those who wanted communism in the streets, so his entire movement was build on ‘resistence’ to communism. A fair bit came out after the war about Hitler’s government, since the allies captured all the German state records. Nowhere in that is anything that hints that if Stalin had acted ‘tough’ then Hitler would have backed down. Hitler was cocky after his run of victories, and was telling his generals statements like that the whole Soviet Union was weak and all that was needed was to kick down the front door and the whole structure would collapse. No amount of postering by Stalin was going to deter the overconfident Hitler, and by that time Hitler was already in the habit of not listening to his generals.
Hitler was always going to attack the Soviet Union. He was thinking about it even in 1940 when he let the British off at Dunkirk in the hopes of gaining an alliance with them. The obvious target of an alliance with the arch-anti-communist Churchill was the Stalin and the Soviet Union.
Stalin did gain almost 2 years by making that deal in 1939. In that time, the T-34 and KV-1 tanks started to roll out of the factories, and the Stormovick (sic) fighter bombers started to be produced. That time he gained was not enough to stop Hitler at the border, but it may have been just enough time to slip through by the skin of his teeth in the winter of ’41.
” It had been a long term goal, or at least long-standing rhetoric that Germany needed the ‘living space’ that could only be found in the east. ”
In this case for brevity I will bring in Wiki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalplan_Ost
“The Generalplan Ost (German pronunciation: [ɡenəˈʁaːlˌplaːn ˈɔst]; English: Master Plan for the East), abbreviated GPO, was the German government’s plan for the genocide and ethnic cleansing on a vast scale, and colonization of Central and Eastern Europe by Germans. It was to be undertaken in territories occupied by Germany during World War II. The plan was partially realized during the war, resulting indirectly and directly in a very large number of deaths, but its full implementation was not considered practicable during the major military operations, and was prevented by Germany’s defeat.[1][2]
The plan entailed the enslavement, expulsion, and mass murder of most Slavic peoples (and substantial parts of the Baltic peoples, especially Lithuanians and Latgalians[3]) in Europe along with planned destruction of their nations, whom the ‘Aryan’ Nazis viewed as racially inferior.[4] The programme operational guidelines were based on the policy of Lebensraum designed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in fulfilment of the Drang nach Osten (drive to the East) ideology of German expansionism. As such, it was intended to be a part of the New Order in Europe.”
The Einsatzgruppen that entered Poland at the start of WW II showed how this was going to work. Lists of people of “social value” ,prepared by Germans living on Polish lands, to be killed at the outset of the war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Prosecution_Book-Poland
The “IMAGE” option shows clearly how this looked.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Einsatzgruppen
Tom12 and above,
I am going to go little bit back in time but not much. Shortly after the 1917 revolution, Poland which found itself “free from Russia’s clutches” ganged up with Germans and attacked USSR ( the USSR was created in early 20’s). This gave Poland large swaths of Ukraine and other Western parts of Russia (after the war they became Western republics”. Lenin having to deal with internal situation signed unfavorable agreement with Poland. Move forward in time to Ribbentrop-Molotov, where Stalin turned the tables around on Poland and grubbed parts of land stolen by Poland earlier. This move gave USSR military improvement as it moved its border to the river (Bug?) which in Stalin’s mind would slow down German attacking forces. So, yes what Stalin did was a defensive move, no matter how much the Poles were and still are screaming about Soviet aggression.
This also gave USSR time to dismantle factories in the West and move them to the East in order to manufacture needed weaponry. Unfortunately, this also slowed down the production of the badly need weapons and other military equipment, but at least they continued to work after small delay instead of falling into German hands.
The history of WW(1&2) of the ‘Russian’ Revolution and the ‘Ukronazi’ one is incomprehensible without taking into consideration the plan for the “League of East European States” (the Max Bodenheimer Plan) proposed by the Zionist Max Bodenheimer, the founder of the Committee for the freeing of the Russian Jews in 1914, which envisaged the creation of a state dominated by the Jews of the so-called ‘Pale of Settlement’, taken from Russia.
Fascinating to get more and more details from you guys, as well as modifying my broader understanding, Anon..
“then Hitler would have backed down. ”
It seems incredible, but the neocons are cocky after a string of losses, messes, and disasters.
If these guys were in the private sector, wouldn’t they have lost their jobs by now?
BTW, my Moscow correspondent wrote two days ago the following:
“Concerning Paul Craig Roberts, he is basically right that Putin is influenced by the neoliberal ideology. Putin is to a large degree a liberal in the economic policy making and, at the same time, he is patriot in the foreign policy making. I am not sure that this combination is efficient for a country like Russia and that the Russian economy will be able to make a breakthrough during Putin’s last presidency. Roberts is right that neoliberal economists are dominating in public discourse in Russia and, what is worse of all, in economic education.
Russian foreign policy actions are also constrained now by the football championship. The position of Russia is vulnerable because it cannot respond effectively on various provocations and threats. We shall see what will happen thereafter.”
Katherine
of course Putin is a liberal. he said so himself regarding the communist/socialist period of Soviet Russia as a waste of time, a ‘lost period’ in the Russian life.
what that means for Russia is oligarchic dominance Putin functioning in that orbit…and social disaster for Russia, as the so-called ‘Atlanticists’ will gain the upper hand, aided by the unrelenting pressure created by Russia’s military encirclement and total economic sanctions
we know that Russian capitalism is not contiguous with Russian nationalism but with it’s own class interest which could mean easily include Russian nationalist betrayal
For Putin to be liberal capitalist is a massive intellectual, spiritual and emotional failure in the light of world history and the current global economic crisis. capitalism is what it is, what all experience has taught us it is. there is no human future in and by capitalism. every future social option, from now on, based in capitalism involves horrific options for humanity..EVERY ONE!
every consideration involving capitalism is horrific for humanity…population reduction, genetic engineering, total surveillance, massive police states, torture…pure horror. does not Putin see this? cant he see that there cant be democracy and the proper evolution of humanity in a capitalist future?
and as a matter of fact I do remember that Putin himself may have pointed that out in criticism of the western way, in which he himself precluded any such possibility in western life..the proper humanitarian evolution of humanity. but that is not a product of western life as such but of systematic capitalism.
ultimately the capitalist class must go on, cannot lose its social power, at which point capitalism ceases to be the point, merely the survival of the elite.. into whose hands all the social power is concentrated. they will..are already.. using the social power they have to cut society into a shape that facilitates their perpetual domination, whatever form that may take. and any such form must be horrific..to extinction.. for humanity
Putin is dead wrong! liberalism is insane, capitalism was never the answer, and now it has run its course. humanity must evolve on all levels to deal with the material state we have all collectively..to put the current stage to full use and work in the interest of humanity.
Russian survival requires a disavowal of capitalism and movement towards total social inclusion, cooperative work places in which worker control is the mode of ownership of all economic means…so that the focus of production becomes the on-going honing of the society..the instrument by which all survive. it is the survival of society, the efficient, developmental and functioning of the whole, that ensures individual survival..not domination by a minority, at the expense of the majority
Ben,
Thank you for your beautiful writing. The last paragraph says so much. Especially the last two sentences. It’s why I feel my government (U.S.) has so little on offer that’s genuine. It’s not the Democrats and it’s not the Republicans. It’s all of us with some exceptions I’m sure. It’s society unchained.
Peace–Chris
“Russian foreign policy actions are also constrained now by the football championship”
Geez, it’s all up when you can’t do the right think because of a soccer tournament – what a pathetic bunch.
Perhaps.
But I am not sure that “tournament” is the right word.
As a non soccer fan, I was surprised to learn that the World Cup lasts a month and will take place in venues all over Russia.
https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/world-cup/news/russia-2018-world-cup-schedule-complete-fixture-dates-start-times-tv-channels-live-stream-info/
The potential for security risks, not to mention false flags, seems to be considerable.
Handling all of the logistics and making this whole thing go smoothly for a month seems to me to be maybe omewhat akin to running and coordinating a military campaign.
I am not surprised if it is absorbing a lot of brainpower of different kinds.
A lot of mean-spiritied people are standing by to make a mountain out of any molehill of a glitch. And that’s not counting those who would actually like and may try to throw a major spanner in the works
It’s too late to turn back now! Russia must run with the World Cup ball.
Katherine
Stalin did not defeat the 3rdR. Lend-lease did. War is logistix
Bullsh*t. The Red Army defeated the Wehrmacht. Read some real history, instead of all that pindo rubbish.
“Lend-lease did.”
You’re dreaming. Lend-lease was made possible so that Germans didn’t succeed in capturing Russia. Had they done that then Germany would have freed itself from the “leash” of the Anglo-Zionist financial cabal.
WW II was to allowed to happen to bleed to the max Germans and the Soviets and anyone along the way. There is no way for me to prove this but I bet that if Soviet Union was under Trotsky the cabal would have put the breaks on Germany. Sanctions work great when you have the right Pawns under control nullifying the need to go to military warfare.
Tom _12
Actually the proof is in archives to allow the USSR and the German empire battle it out to become ultimately weakened. Thus enhancing a near bankrupt UK s position….
William F Engdahl s book A Century of War touches on these issue s. Churchill s devious plan.
Yes Land lease in delivery became a late starter.
The Saker has touched on that topic in one of his essays.
“Out of the almost $46 billion that was spent on all lend-lease aid, the US allocated only $9.1 billion, i.e., only a little more than 20% of the funds, to the Red Army, which defeated the vast majority of the divisions from Germany and her military satellites.
” between 1941 and 1942 only 7% of the wartime cargo shipped from the US made it to the Soviet Union. The bulk of the weapons and other materials arrived in the Soviet Union in 1944-1945, once the winds of war had decisively shifted.”
https://orientalreview.org/2015/05/12/wwii-lend-lease-was-the-us-aid-helpful-enough-i/
“Putin seems to be playing for time. ”
I am in this camp as I can not believe that Putin and Company can for a second believe that you can make a deal with the Anglo-Zionists. They have show so clearly over the past 20-30 years that anything you agree on with them WILL be forgotten just as fast as it was agreed on. There is no way in Hell you can trust them.
So the only way to reason with them is to have the capability to immensely hurt them. They show what they are capable of when they took down the Russian Empire with Nicholas II at its head. Trotsky/Lenin wanted a land of serfs working for nothing like little robots. It didn’t work. Stalin broke-up the show as he was on the hit list.
Tom, when was the USA NOT aggressive, genocidal, destructive and psychopathically arrogant? When was the UK not that way? When was Israel ever peaceful and happy to live in peace with its neighbours? The plan for Russia is submission, the imposition of a New Yeltsin and the vivisection of the country in the manner of the slicing up of Yugoslavia and the USSR. Then on to China, where the same treatment is planned. The ONLY thing that will EVER stop US aggression is the end of the current US political, military and economic system, and to avert that the US elites will be happy to drown the world in blood.
Mulga – I don’t have a crystal ball.
“The plan for Russia is submission, the imposition of a New Yeltsin and the vivisection of the country in the manner of the slicing up of Yugoslavia and the USSR. ”
You might be right and then you might be wrong. Will watch and see how it goes. For sure, the game on this level is very devious and beyond our ability to predict their next move. The broad stroke moves are pretty easy to see in today’s world as we have far more information available then our grandparents ever did.
“The broad stroke moves are pretty easy to see in today’s world as we have far more information available then our grandparents ever did.”
The opposite is probably true https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10991582/Revealed-how-King-George-V-demanded-Britain-enter-the-First-World-War.html
It is a letter that throws fresh light on one of the darkest periods in Britain’s history.
A note which has remained in private hands for a century details a previously undocumented meeting between George V and his Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, on the eve of the First World War.
The King, mindful of his position as a constitutional monarch, made no public declarations about the situation in Europe in the lead-up to the conflict.
But in the newly-disclosed meeting, the King informed Sir Edward it was “absolutely essential” Britain go to war in order to prevent Germany from achieving “complete domination of this country”.
When Sir Edward said the Cabinet had yet to find a justifiable reason to enter the conflict, the King replied: “You have got to find a reason, Grey.”
Mr Mulga seems absolutely right.
I came to that same conclusion way back in the seventies..’if the capitalists are going to lose they will blow up the planet!’
more evidence of this is the Israeli ‘Sampson Option’ that’s an ‘obvious certainty’ I think that the crimes of those people are have been so huge and constant, relentless that the world would never be able to ignore them. they lose power and they must be called to account. they will face what they dished out so liberally to so many people the world over
a great catastrophe of murder/suicide war awaits the human species..seemingly not far off now.
Putin’s evolution of superior weapons is a good thing…the only chance humanity has is to be able to destroy the west with superior weapons, before the west can destroy the planet
You area absolutely right. From the Teutonic Knights to this day nothing has changed.. Mad Dog Churchill did everything to save the Empire. He accommodated the Nazis to attack Russia just like UK and US is doing today.
@Tom-12
I am in this camp as I can not believe that Putin and Company can for a second believe that you can make a deal with the Anglo-Zionists.
It was the Russians who declared:
[from: /why-the-recent-developments-in-syria-show-that-the-obama-administration-is-in-a-state-of-confused-agony/%5D
I doubt they’ve forgotten…. we’ve no reason to think they forget anything.
Imagine then for a moment their shock when or if VVP goes on the offensive.
Always appreciate your thoughtful comments, Uncle Bob 1. Stalin, like Putin, was playing for time while rebuilding the Red Army with new tanks and aircraft which were just entering production in late 1940, and recovering from the self-inflicted massacre of the Red Army’s leadership in the 1937-38 purges which wiped out most of its most competent experienced leadership, leaving a bunch of “Yes Men” whose only qualifications was loyalty to Stalin in charge. Like Putin’s weak showing in Ukraine, the Finnish war of 1939 convinced Hitler that the Red Army was weak and incompetent after the purges destroyed it’s leadership.
Stalin believed that Hitler wouldn’t be foolish enough to get into a two-front war, and would focus on finishing Britain off before attacking the USSR, even when his spies told him otherwise. As you mention, he even executed some of his best spies as “provocateurs” for warning him that Hitler was in fact planning an attack in 1941.
What Stalin didn’t understand was that as far as Hitler was concerned, Britain was already defeated. The British army was driven off the European continent and the Luftwaffe ruled the skies over Europe. In 1941 the Royal Navy was losing the Battle of the Atlantic to the U-boats who were sinking ships faster than the British could replace them, and the RAF bombing campaign hadn’t really started yet and was a minor nuisance at best. So Hitler didn’t see himself as entering a two-front war because Britain didn’t pose any significant threat to Germany.
The same danger exists today. The leadership of the new Nazi Germany, the US, has a vast worldwide empire of military bases, aircraft carriers, bombers, and ABM systems ringing Russia and is determined to crush Russia before it can complete rebuilding it’s military strength in the early 2020’s. Many Russian military programs are coming to fruition or entering serial production in the next few years, but are only prototypes or in pre-production testing stages right now, and not deployed in significant numbers (or at all) in the field. The SU-57 fighter, the Armata tank, the resumption TU-160 production, the hypersonic missile warheads, and so forth.
The US/EU economic sanctions and the coup in Ukraine have significantly slowed down the development and deployment of many of these programs as the Russian economy was weakened, tax revenue fell, and many critical supplies from eastern Ukraine were cut off, in particular rocket and large aircraft engines like the D-30 that powered the An-124 heavy lifter and large turbines for warships. All those had to be replaced by domestic equivalents while the economy was under attack, and developing new large jet engines and turbines can take up to a decade from preliminary engineering studies to actual serial production in new build from scratch factories.
So Putin, like Stalin, is desperately trying to buy time by appeasing the would-be aggressor. The two years bought at great political cost by the Hitler/Stalin Non-aggression Treaty *just* enabled the first few hundred T34s and KV-1s to reach combat units before the invasion, and the first IL-2 Stormaviks, Mig-3, and Yak-3s to start coming off the production lines. Enough to save Moscow from German bombing. It’s a risky gamble, as PCR discusses, because it also encourages the aggressor to attack right now, while they are strong and you are rebuilding.
Putin’s very limited support for Syria and Donbass, like Stalin’s reoccupation of the Baltics and eastern Poland, is intended to push the defence perimeter a bit farther from Russia’s borders. Let’s hope it’s enough.
“What Stalin didn’t understand was that as far as Hitler was concerned, Britain was already defeated. The British army was driven off the European continent and the Luftwaffe ruled the skies over Europe. In 1941 the Royal Navy was losing the Battle of the Atlantic to the U-boats who were sinking ships faster than the British could replace them, and the RAF bombing campaign hadn’t really started yet and was a minor nuisance at best. So Hitler didn’t see himself as entering a two-front war because Britain didn’t pose any significant threat to Germany. ”
I can only guess as most of us are likewise doing but didn’t Hitler and Friends know that there was another player in the Game who could completely overturn his wobbly cart ? US of A !!!! I always have this sneaky feeling that Germans were “pushed” into attacking Soviet Union. Just the right “fake news” was fed to Hitler’s inner circle to make them think that the move east was a walk in the park. Just looking at the map of Europe shows one that to spread oneself so wide is setting you up for a major fall. I suspect that there is still a lot that we do not know about how these decisions were arrived at. Decisions are arrived at through information but we have not clue what information was being fed to Herr Hitler to have him make the moves that he made. The British are still classifying Top Secret information about WW II that in some cases makes you wonder why.
Both Britain and the US had an interest in promoting Hitler’s invasion of the USSR, both to relieve the pressure on Britain and to have two of their rival world powers fighting each other to the benefit of the US and Britain. But Hitler’s decision to attack was likely based on his belief that with no troops remaining in Europe, Britain was out of the land war, and based on the poor showing of the post-purge Red Army against Finland. As Hitler put it, “We have but to kick in the front door and the whole rotten edifice will come tumbling down.” He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Tom,
without the assistance of US industrialists and bankers (and their German counterparts) Hitler may not have gotten into a position of power. Except some social elements there wasn’t anything Socialist regarding the Nazis. They were a murderous neoliberal bunch. The more I’m thinking about WW II the more I’m convinced that the declaration of war against the US was Germany’s reinsurance, otherwise the USSR would’ve liberated Europe up to the Atlantic. The German Wehrmacht willingly surrendered to US troops while viciously fighting for each inch on the Eastern Front. In my opinion Germans were the useful idiots for fighting Communism, with the Jewish population used as scapegoat (for forming social cohesion in Germany and those countries occupied by it).
I always have this sneaky feeling that Germans were “pushed” into attacking Soviet Union. Just the right “fake news” was fed to Hitler’s inner circle to make them think that the move east was a walk in the park.
Indeed, everything is a rich man’s trick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aySN0FGJYpM
I wish I could put to rest Sokolov’s “Icebreaker”.It puts a completly different perspective on events. It could be substatiated or descredited by access to Soviet archives. It’s as big (or greater) topic than 911.
I think you meant Viktor Suvorov.
Suvorov is questioned by some quarters but my knowledge of history is not on a level to make it possible to debate this. Some think that he is selling dung. Not everything as the method is to mix some truth with “dung”.
What is Sokolov/Suvarov here an allusion to?
Katherine
To this book
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebreaker_%28Suvorov%29
The issue is who used who.
“Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?, by Viktor Suvorov (Russian title: Ledokol, Ледокол) is a book which leads a reader to believe that Stalin used Nazi Germany as an “icebreaker” to start a war in Europe which would allow for the Soviet Union to come in, clean up, and take control of all of Europe. In his foreword “To the Reader” however, Suvorov states right away “There is no single answer to this question”.”
Soviet Union had enough problems as it was and we are led to believe that it would be capable of managing the administration of an invaded Europe !!!
” Once Hitler ‘broke the ice’, Soviet victory in the large-scale war that followed would enable the USSR to impose Stalinist regimes on most of Europe. In this theory, Nazi military aggression would ironically form the icebreaker for a communist invasion.”
Catherin would have understood the issues best,
/will-putins-policy-of-concession-succeed/#comment-527322
» Soviet Union had enough problems as it was and we are led to believe that it would be capable of managing the administration of an invaded Europe !!! «
We don’t have to be led to believe anything when we may simply rely on empirical evidence of how the area East of the Iron Curtain was administered from 1945 to 1989. There were communists in every country (ever heard of Komintern?), probably least so in Germany, but even there it did work … well, to the extent that socialism/communism can be expected to work in spite of 2000 years of history.
Had Stalin beaten Germany in ’41, he’d have also managed to take France and Italy, where communism is traditionally stronger.
Heck, even after the war, basically under American tutelage, Aldo Moro in Italy was murdered (by Gladio = Uncle Sam) because he was ready to form a government with communists.
The Icebreaker book is good not because of the lofty metaphor but because of the military hardware detail on the ground and the military analysis, which leaves no ground for the claim that the Soviet Union had assumed a defensive posture, but convincingly proves the opposite!
Oh my God, here we go again … poor innocent uncle Joe Stalin … so good and naive, like a little boy waiting for the Easter Bunny … he could not believe a German attack was imminent … even punished (repulsively, we have to assume) people warning him about the danger … such a touching story.
Verily, the Zionists could not have written it more beautifully. In other words, it’s an amazing concoction of lies.
The truth is revealed by Viktor Suvorov’s “Icebreaker”. He’s basically restating what the Wehrmacht observed during the initial days of Barbarossa.
The Soviets had numerical superiority on the frontline, vast amounts of hardware and supplies right there, all means of land warfare ready at their disposal – and yet suffered a catastrophic collapse during the first days and weeks.
How could this be???
The answer is simple. There were totally unprepared for defense. Instead, they were in an advanced state of readiness to launch their own attack. Hardware, fuel, ammo forward deployed and unprotected. That’s what German troops found everywhere when they attacked. The Soviets had never even trained to defend – always attack, always forward. That’s what Soviet officers said and wrote after the war.
These are not some opinions on what some leader may have thought or mused or uttered – these are quantifiable military hardware facts on the ground.
The Soviet preparations for the Big Attack on Central Europe were long in the making. Their logistics were slow. Their leadership, including Stalin, was completely blown away by how swiftly Germany could deploy a powerful strike force to the East and move to attack.
They also overestimated the resilience of the Red Army. A catastrophic collapse was not anticipated.
War with the Soviet Union was precisely what Germany tried to avoid. But Molotov’s visit to Germany in 11/1940 and his far-reaching revendications made it clear to Hitler that he was faced with a dilemma: cave in and sacrifice allies all the way from Finland to Bulgaria (which didn’t want to be thrown under Stalin’s yoke), or prepare for war. I don’t think there was a third option.
Stalin’s grand design failed horribly. He thought he would outsmart everyone else and “liberate Europe”, but he stumbled over his own supreme arrogance. This was the first catastrophic strategic mistake he made with regard to Germany. The second was to consent to sever Silesia & Pomerania from Germany and annex it to Poland … thus Poland would be unconditionally tied to F/UK/US once they escaped the Soviet Iron Fist, turning into the irreconcilable strategic annoyance that it is today.
This story that paints Russians s aggressors, this time by agent Suvorov, sounds very similar to other western propaganda. Is that ad lib or ano dominae, or can that observation be made.
Er… did you see this ? “https://www.rt.com/business/428216-us-china-russia-rogers/”
On top of the recent St. Petersberg Economic Conference record number of attendees, and value of trade deals in the trillions, it’ makes for interesting reading.
While I appreciate PCR’s warnings, while sometimes finding them too hyperbolic, I’ve noticed over the years that Mr ‘Vlad the vulture capitalist slayer’ Putin is able to make moves that counteract the AZ empire’s at just the most inconvenient moment for it!, So please keep the anaylsis coming, it’s greatly appreciated, I’ll remain confident that chess, and a loaded six-gun, trumps checkers and a starting-gun full of blanks.
If Russians were Americans they might behave in the way that the author wants them to behave.
But Russians are Russians and they will do it the Russian way.
Getting ones objectives without having to fight is what Russia is aiming at. It makes sense because in Syria they are weaker than their adversaries.
The Iran/Syria issue in Daraa and Quneitra are already getting results because the opponents are sitting down to discuss the issue. Similar will happen to other parts of Syria as time goes on and theUS and friends’ position becomes more and more untenable.
The opponents are itching for an excuse for a major war and Russia is avoiding giving them one. This by itself is an achievement.
As the Saker has pointed out before the Russian way is to always keep talking with the enemy. As for the S-300 Russia is clear- Syria has what it needs and by inference will always have what it needs. I think this issue was well played by Putin. He raised the issue of supplying S-300 and the other side panicked. He put aside the issue, for now, to be used again if needed.
The Syria war is over. The only way forward for the empire is to attack Iran, the next phase of the plan. This is a much more dangerous issue.
Finally, I doubt the Russian government is distracted from foreign policy issues because of the football. It is the empire that thinks it is a good time to start wars during major international sport events.
Thank you for saying this – I agree with it all.
I confess that with so many people thinking the opposite, and forgetting all the successes that accrue to Russia’s credit in recent years, I had despaired of raising the energy to point out these things. You saved me the effort, and I’m grateful.
The greatest mistake commentators make with regard to Russia is to think in terms of winning battles. It is not Russia’s objective to win battles. She has no need of this boost to her self-esteem. Russia’s objective is to create peace, and the two actions – of winning battles against an adversary vs. creating peace for all – are completely different actions.
I always remember a thing told to me by a small-time service contractor I knew. Referring to his own trade, he said that when he started in business, he knew that people would expect a miracle. What he didn’t understand is how many people wouldn’t recognize a miracle when they saw one.
We live in a world far more safe than just a few years ago – made safe by Russia – and this gives us the luxury to criticize in detail, carried away with fears that are groundless. And we forget the miracle.
Thank you jiri, and especially Grieved. Your last 3 paragraphs brought tears to my eyes Grieved.
I agree with both 100 %.
I never fails to astonish me how armchair warriors with nothing but academic ivory towered vision, who appear to know little to nothing of the real world, can be so free with their opinions which are empty of reference to context.
Perhaps PCR and others who agree with him could go back and watch all 5 episodes of “The Unknown Putin” to see Russia as she was in the 1990’s. Or look at the footage on the Putin documentaries of those early years; of the disasters in Chechnya, the Battle for Height 776 , the sinking of the Kursk – and then look at Russia today.
I also find it so hard to understand how it seems PCR, supposedly an expert on International Finance, seems unable to grasp that unless Russia was prepared to let America drive her into isolation and thus total economic collapse and disaster, she had to find a way to trade internationally – and to do that she had, in the early days, to trade in American dollars, using international markets.
Putin answered someone’s fearful question about becoming isolated in one of his earliest Q & A’s “that will never happen” he said firmly “Russia is never, ever, not going to have partners and be isolated”.
And now I look at her. Look at the recent St. Petersberg Economic Forum, the record number of international attendees, the huge value of trade agreements signed; the increasing number of countries coming to Russia’s door to ask for deals, for investments.
And the man who did this is being called “weak” !! There is even a hint of suggestion of cowardice, of selling out as Gorbachev did – which would be treachery. To even have the ghost of such a thought of Vladimir Putin makes me feel sick.
I’m so sad to see this – I see too often these days what almost appear to be 5th columnists right here. What else is it but being 5th columnist to sow seeds of doubt, to suggest Vladimir Putin is a traitor, a weakling, a possible compromiser who is a threat to Russian security.
As you said Grieved “We forget the miracle”. I remember the worlds of the philosopher Henri Bergson “the eyes can only see that which the brain is willing to accept”
It appears there are many whose brains dont want to accept the miracle of modern Russia and her renaissance. I – like you – am amazed at it and enormously grateful for it.
“What else is it but being 5th columnist to sow seeds of doubt, to suggest Vladimir Putin is a traitor, a weakling, a possible compromiser who is a threat to Russian security…”
Wtf? Where did you conjure this one up from?
Jeez, talking’bout hyperbole…
Your comment – and the language you use – made me laugh. Thanks for that.
It reminded me of a snippet I read in “Serpent in the Sky”, quoting from the immense work by M. Griaule, who spent 20 yrs investigating the philosophy and science of the Dogon. He quoted from “Conversations with Ogotemmeli “One could not speak of the …(..) the 8 ancestors in front of the priests wife, the Nummo in front of a smith, or of anything before fools”.
Methinks Ogotemmeli had wisdom.
but Isabella, maybe you yourself don’t understand the ‘neo-liberal policies’ that Saker and PCR are deploring ?
Its not that they’re criticizing Putin’s foreign policy – its his economic policy – global free trade – rather than ‘FAIR trade’ – that is the problem. Its not going to go away – and btw
Isn’t time the world started thinking of nature and ecology rather than wealth and more and more international trade ? Expansionism is like cancer.
Well said, Ann!
Neoliberal economics is one of the major poxes on the planet now, and PCR is right to call attention to it. Putin seems always to have accepted neoliberalism and free trade, and his speech at SPIEF certainly seems to corroborate this. As you’ve indicated, none of this takes anything away from his foreign policy.
And none of this critique of Russian economic policy takes anything away from the miracle that is modern Russia, arising as a phoenix from the neoliberal depradations of the 90s, largely if not solely due to Putin and those loyal to him and to Russia. I will, however, agree with PCR that Russia would do better to dump neoliberal policy, and perhaps those in the Saker community who so strongly revere Putin would do well to read PCR on economic matters. There is a lot to digest there, and some of it is quite arcane, but no one explains economics better than PCR, and Michael Hudson for that matter.
70% of Russian exports are oil & gas. Putin knows perfectly well that Russian oil & gas is much cheaper than anything the Europeans can get from alternative sources. USA wants Europe to “diversify” their energy sources, but Putin knows he can beat any supplier on price and convenience hand down! Of course he’s for free trade…
“Isn’t time the world started thinking of nature and ecology rather than wealth and more and more international trade ? Expansionism is like cancer.”
The Powers that Be are willing to ignore this topic. It does not effect them. Just to keep the little people quiet they do numbers like this,
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-28/eu-proposes-ban-straws-and-single-use-plastics-protect-environment-consumers
When I see comments under this article in the spirit of “Well at least it is a step in the right direction.”
I Just Bust Out Laughing.
They are not necessarily “neo-liberal”. The Neo-liberal globalism that PCR claims to be deploring have been deplored by Vladimir Putin long ago. They are the imposition of a single, unipolar power over the entire world, which will run it’s trade and economies to suit that power. What he has long said he will persue – since Munich 2007 – is a multipolar world, in which equal centres of power trade with everyone with respect for sovereignty.
But that still needs international trade. What Putin has always advocated is using, as far as possible, the infrastructure in place to facilitate that multipolar trade.
Russia is doing that. Had Russia taken the American route of aggression, confrontation and the war this necessarily would have led, she would have been decimated by America., Have you ever heard the phrase “infiltrate then liquidate”? Same as “infiltrate, then control”.
It’s why America lauds her few remaining “Liberals”. These are vastly over-rated by the way, in any “power” they have. They have none – in fact reports from Moscow are that, should you share such views these days in Russia, you need to keep quiet about them. Look at the voting share the likes of Navalny – and he when tried running, Kudrin.
You, – no attacking the author or other commenters. Mod – seem to be basking in a view of Russians as stupid and in need of your much greater wisdom that the likes of “conciliating, weak” Putin can drum up.
Yet you overlook the vast bounds forward Russia has taken under him, while still following these the policies you are decrying.
You also overlook that Russia, by using a policy of world wide “we trade with anyone and everyone” – which you are called “Neo-liberal globalism” is in fact becoming the World leader in trade. It’s America that is becoming isolated – and hated. Russia is becoming the “go-to” place to trade, invest – and is respected.
And as for thinking about Nature and ecology – can I suggest you follow recent developments in Russia, and the massive plans for ecological improvement currently starting to be implemented.
Isabella, please desist in your stridency; it colours everything you say and undermines your argument. I certainly never basked in the view that Russians are stupid; thank you to the mods for warning her about this implicit ad hominem/straw man/false dichotomy combination.
The main problem with neoliberalism is that it is a particularly infectious ideology of endless growth, meaning that it uses arcane but convincing yet nevertheless wrong-headed arguments to promote perpetual growth. For just one instance, the notion that moving high value-added professions overseas will benefit anyone –except the owners of the business– is a complete lie, yet is presented with such mellifluous and repeated earnestness that it has been adopted almost world-wide. You are right that, so far, Russia has resisted this trend after the disaster of the 90s, and I am well aware of how this “Liberal” philosophy is unpopular in Russia now, so no need for you to instruct me there. I had, in fact, originally stated this caveat in my earlier comment, but brevity seemed the better part of clarity, so I deleted it. Alas that it is not so (meaning that brevity no longer suffices for clarity), and hence the need for this longer note.
The main point I’m trying to make is this: we happen to live at the time that the limits to growth are becoming apparent, and increasing trade, although beneficial in the short-term, will only make worse the very problems caused by growth in the first place. This was all very clearly modelled in Limits To Growth in the 70s, by the way. This is also why the desire is stated, in some comments here, for ecological considerations to come to the fore, or even be considered at all, actually. Don’t you understand? More trade will result in more trouble; more consumption will cause greater grief; the world will continue to become less liveable.
The only solution to neoliberal economics, as PCR and Michael Hudson have pointed out for years, is some version of Herman Daly’s zero-growth ecological economics. That’s what I’d like to see in a truly multipolar world: more room for life, less room for usurious consumption; more trouble for the technosphere, more breathing space for the biosphere; less carbon fibre and titanium and polyester, more brass and wood and canvas. Our present world, mired as it is in fractionally-reserved usury and the endless growth implied by it, does not acknowledge this fundamental reality. The technosphere remains firmly in control, while a few submarines in the desert strive otherwise.
Careful, Max.
The idea that “growth is cancer” is an old oligarchical trick to weaken the underlings and keep them down.
Beware of the nominalism and naïve emotionalism of the person with no appreciation of the fact that more advanced technology in industry, transport and agriculture can actually be more ecologically beneficial than older, less advanced technologies.
All “growth” in the body is not malign! Most of it is benign and necessary, for the development of a healthy member of any species!
The same holds true for growth in an economy.
This whole area is rife with epistemological tricks and traps by the Oligarchs and errors of judgment overwhelmed by emotion and muddled thinking (especially the fundamental error of nominalism) by the victims of oligarchy, namely, the human species, which the oligarchy has steered onto the rocks of poverty, despair and weakness for millennia singing the same old siren song of Zero Growth.
Consider who were the sponsors ot the Limits to Growth fraud of Forrester and Meadows in the early seventies.
Then trace their role in the launching of Aurelio Peccei’s Club of Rome……in the eighties, which peddled the same Delphic sophistries and nominalist manipulations of the gullible minds of western liberals, singing the same old siren song.
And who directly sponsored said Club of Rome, officially:
N.A.T.O.!!!
I give you the benefit of the doubt and trust that you do not realize who your beliefs were manipulated by.
But I know who they were manipulated by, and I also trust that Vladimir Putin also realizes what I have sketched out above, and is more in agreement with Isabella than with you.
The purpose of the trickery is to induce weakness and vulnerability to attack and dismemberment, first mentally, then physically.
All growth is not a cancer. Nor are all humans. Nor all industry, nor all science and technology.
But oligarchy IS a cancer.
Beware of their manipulation.
Dear Bro,
You are quite spectacularly wrong, about me at the least, but even more so about the benefits of continued growth.
You have resorted to the use of fallacies as valid arguments, five of them that I can count: ad hominem; non sequitur; ad authoritas; false dichotomy; and burden of proof reversal. Furthermore, your claim that “growth is good” is exactly the kind of oligarchical hypocrisy that you claim I have succumbed to, so you have been hoisted by your own petard.
Before I explain the fallacies in your argument, I would like to point out that your concluding statement –“All growth is not a cancer”– is gravely troubled, in that it is written one way when, I think, you meant another, namely that “Not all growth is a cancer”. Is this not so? Beware the positional character of English grammar, friend; your statement, as it is written, directly says that it is “all growth” that is not a cancer, and hence allows that some growth might be cancerous. And that clearly would undermine your presentation, wouldn’t it? Do not even think to say that I am being pedantic, because such grammatical distinctions matter enormously, reflecting as they do the content of our thought. By the way, you did it again, and with exactly the same effect, when you said that “all growth in the body is not malign”, where I think you mean “Not all growth is malign”.
With that preliminary out of the way, I can now discuss the troubles with the remains of your argument.
First, you have used ad hominem in your attempt to assume a patrician overtone, telling me to “Beware” and “Careful, Max”. Did you like it when, in the preceding paragraph, I told you to “Beware…friend”? Not exactly a good rhetorical tool is it, and neither is this very sentence itself, which is doing the same thing to you. Perhaps you might desist with such bollocks.
Secondly, you are guilty of a non sequitur when you say that “All ‘growth’ in the body is not malign! Most of it is benign and necessary, for the development of a healthy member of any species! The same holds true for growth in an economy.” The fallacy here is the last sentence, where you assume that what is true for human physiology must therefore also be true for a human economy. It should be abundantly clear that the two are not at all necessarily correlated.
Third, you appeal to authority (yours), yet you provide no references to back up your claim. I don’t mean to imply that one needs to write a professional report here, with every citation fully listed, but at least it would be good to see some justification. Where, for instance, can you justify that “…the oligarchy has steered onto the rocks of poverty, despair and weakness for millennia singing the same old siren song of Zero Growth”? The emphasis here is on “millenia”; one is supposed to believe your unproven and unearned authority that the Ruling Class has been singing Zero Growth for millenia? They don’t even sing it now! All we hear from the dominant neoliberals is the need for increasing growth; where and when has any of them said, instead, that zero growth is desirable? Hence, this is a specious statement on your part.
Fourth, you present a false dichotomy (aka, exclusion of the middle third), where you say, “All growth is not a cancer. Nor are all humans. Nor all industry, nor all science and technology.” Who said anything about all humans, all science, all technology? Not I. I said that endless growth –in anything, whether use of energy, or size of economy, or size of population– is not possible, with the obvious premise that our planet is finite. That you see fit to say, in the same breath, that “not all growth is a cancer” (as corrected earlier) and that not all science is a cancer is to imply that the only choices possible are one or the other: either we accept endless economic growth, and thus the benefits of science, or we reject endless growth but then we, somehow, reject all of science and tech. There are scores of other choices available, obviously, yet you paint them with a black-and-white brush, and that’s the fallacy.
Fifth, you have reversed the burden of proof onto he who is questioning the claim, namely me. You think that endless growth is a good thing? I refute you. Now you have to prove I’m wrong. Your statement lacks all credibility otherwise, and would therefore descend to the level of naive emotionalism, as you’ve stated, if you continue to adhere to it.
Finally, I claim that you seem not to understand the very nature of growth, which confirms what Allen Bartlett famously said: “The greatest shortcoming of the human species is our inability to understand the exponential function.”
You take issue with my citation of Limits To Growth (LTG). It is not, at all, the only text on the subject, and I for one don’t think its analysis goes far enough, by which I mean that I never found it all that revolutionary, which is in keeping with its political origins, which I’ve known about for years. In particular, its overall modelling stance is entirely too docile and optimistic for my taste; I would have used far more pessimistic assumptions, and I have an MSc in mathematics with emphasis on dynamical systems, so I am speaking with professional experience here. I cite LTG solely because it’s an easy reference, despite its optimistic faults, which clearly smelled of globalism to me long before globalism was even a word. To elaborate, the world3 model that was written for the LTG analysis, while technically correct, is run with parameter values that I think are far too optimistic, and this to me smells of manipulation, because its conclusions are used to alter behaviour. The subsequent analysis is rife with “if only we do this or that then we could solve the problem”, which is exactly the manipulation you are referring to.
It remains true, however, that endless growth is not possible, and we get to live in the time when that fact will become obvious. Even Adam Smith warned about endless growth, at the very beginning of Wealth of Nations, where he states quite clearly that British economic growth would do well to stop about 200 years after he was writing, to give the rest of the world a chance to lift themselves out of poverty. Zero growth does not mean zero prosperity, as Herman Daly says. In fact, Daly’s analyses on the utter impossibility of perpetual growth are far more accurately modelled than LTG, and I invite you to read some of his work before you attempt to respond to me.
Furthermore, it can be shown that current growth will require that the human species have access to an entire galaxy’s worth of energy in about 2000 years, and I by “galaxy” I mean exactly that, and not some figurative allusion. You could read the analysis here:
https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2011/07/galactic-scale-energy/
I’ll give you, now, the benefit of the doubt and assume that you’ll read it before you fire off some more empty idealogy about the continued benefits of endless growth.
Well said, Isabella. There are people who, because they think like Americans, believe that Russia is playing a game that will only lead to war and disaster. They forget Russia’s successes over the last 2 decades. And because Russia wants to trade with Europe (and even America!), they assume she is in the globalist camp infiltrated by so-called 5th Columnists. I( think even the Saker seems to be succumbing to this idea that Russia is making the wrong choices and is being over-run by the Atlanticists.
There is so much to celebrate. And I believe in the future there will be even more for Russians (and all of us!) to celebrate.
As my Moscow correspondent stated,
“Putin is influenced by the neoliberal ideology. Putin is to a large degree a liberal in the economic policy making and, at the same time, he is patriot in the foreign policy making. I am not sure that this combination is efficient for a country like Russia and that the Russian economy will be able to make a breakthrough during Putin’s last presidency. Roberts is right that neoliberal economists are dominating in public discourse in Russia and, what is worse of all, in economic education. ”
The problem seems to be that there is a disconnect in thinking that economic policy and foreign policy can exist in separate spheres. A nationalist, patriotic foreign policy implies a certain economic policy, and it is not a business-and-trade-as-usual one. The latter narrows foreign policy options. This was crystal clear to Obama, with his attempt to bind Europe to the USA via the TIPP and the Pacific rim countries (excluding china) with the TPP (or am I mixing up the acronyms?). Alfred McCoy writes very clearly on this in In the Shadows of the American Century.
It looks as though China is trying to launch a system of world trade that rests on different premises from the neoliberal ideology and financial infrastructure. Not being an economist I cannot discuss this point but maybe someone else can. I.e., the fact that it should be perfectly possible to engage in international trade while not compromising national sovereignty. The neoliberal idea of international trade seems to be to undermine nation-states’ sovereignty and replace this with a supranational economic/governing regime in which corporations dictate to countries what they may and may not do.
Thus, a national foreign policy perhaps cannot coexist with an acceptance of any neoliberal premises or conditions of trade.
Katherine
Katherine
To understand China’s economic policies, you have some of the very best explanation right here at Saker’s vineyard, with Ramin Mazaheri’s articles. He’s a very good writer, very readable, and with a certain talent for explaining doctrines in simple and clear ways, often using everyday examples. He’s just finished an 8-part series on China that was excellent.
Here are his articles here: http://thesaker.is/tag/ramin-mazaheri/
China is indeed establishing a new way of running a national economy. It’s a fusion of capitalism and socialism, with Chinese characteristics. Mazaheri is a firm champion of socialism, and we can learn much from his articles – he shows very clearly what a robust economic and social engine socialism is. It’s the solution for this plundered world. His articles, and China’s efforts, both show the way for nations to create a more stable national economy and better the welfare of its people.
Neoliberal doctrines are zero-sum. China’s doctrines are win-win.
I have read Mazheri’s pieces.
Very interesting.
I also read historians of China and of the American empire and other empires, such as Alfred McCoy.
Mazaheri definitely does not trump McCoy!!
Indeed, I hope Mazaheri takes the time to look over In the Shadows of the American Century.
Katherine
“Putin answered someone’s fearful question about becoming isolated in one of his earliest Q & A’s “that will never happen” he said firmly “Russia is never, ever, not going to have partners and be isolated”.”
Its called Gold Reserves. Without this I think the rouble would have been brought down a long time ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_Wars
” What else is it but being 5th columnist to sow seeds of doubt, to suggest Vladimir Putin is a traitor, a weakling, a possible compromiser who is a threat to Russian security.”
Huh?
I think the main point of the piece is that the neocons will *misinterpret* Putin’s actions and this will lead them to very dangerous adventures.
As devastating as was the warfare of WW2, the potential, as the writer pointed out, is that if the neocons, in their hubristic misinterpretation of Putin, go too far, the result will be a “lesson” that this time around will not just devastate Europe, Russia, Japan, Burma, Portions of China, the Philippines, etc. but will destroy the whole world.
Katherine
Katherine
In other words, following on my earlier post, a nuclear armed world cannot afford a “Make my day” scenario.
Katherine
I’m a bit surprised how this cut did not get played so much in the empire.
Please go to 2:25 to make your day!
I never tire (so far) of hearing Putin tell Macron not to worry about their dependence on the US for defense, that, “we could help out with that“.
Thank you Grieved. It is a big relief to read your comment. I completely agree.
” It is the empire that thinks it is a good time to start wars during major international sport events.”
They play this card so often that it bores me. China and Tibet was the last BS circus that caught my attention when China hosted the Olympics.
In general, I agree with your comment.
Let those who disagree try a simple mental exercise:
1. Review past history of 15 years, and estimate trend line for comparative outcomes of a. US leadership, EU leadership, and Russian leadership.
2. Note please, if you may, the dramatic difference in “sabre-rattling” and “outcomes from aggression” between these groups.
Putin/Russia has a very tight line to walk, both foreign and domestic.
Where are we now (2018 May 30):
1. We have witnessed, what is effectively, the defection of Turkey, the second largest NATO partner, from NATO, and collaboration with the “calming down” of the Syrian conflict/coup; [even though, it must be admitted, Turkey is very “dug -in”; we shall have to wait and see how it’s forces are withdrawn, nonetheless, their occupation is providing a critical release-valve for the venting of terrorists from other areas]
2. The EU is as close to the brink as it ever has been since WWII to fracturing from the US! It would be too cold in most parts of Europe without Russian gas; talk about a cold war…
3. Russia has, in the past 3 years, reasserted itself as not only a prime player in global politics, but done so in the least aggressive manner possible, and has become the more credible international player.
It is true that the situation is complex, but day-to-day events are a poor measure of meaningful outcomes at a five to ten year view.
I think if you look at five year blocks, one can see successive decline in the empire’s outcomes (for the 99%) and similar magnitude, but the opposite direction outcomes for Russia and her aligned, mostly border, nation-state (and nation-state-like) actors.
Again, Russia/Putin walks a narrow path to success, imagine any “empire” leader, in the past 15 years who could have come so far as Putin/Russia has come in the past five years?!
Things aren’t perfect, and the daily massacres, by agencies of the empire, i.e. indigenous Palestinians make it very, very difficult to see that the tide has turned, but it looks like maybe the tide has turned.
Let me extrapolate from my own history:
I am just simple white trash, brought up in the heart of the empire, and fed enough western propaganda to choke a horse and brainwash a saint. Given the daily diet of lies I was fed for something like 50+ plus years I was finally able to see through it and see what the west has been doing to not just the rest of the world, but to its own so-called citizens. I was swimming in the lies, and yet I was finally able to begin to see it for what it is.
Now consider Russia and Russians: They have had decades, and generations of experience, in dealing with the west and seeing through their promises and lies. And being very hurt and damaged by the west, not just by Germany… you learn really well that way, and really fast. So I do not think Putin is having any illusions about the methods and intentions of the west, and what the west would do to Russia if it could get away with it.
I think they have at least that knowledge and wisdom, and that is a very reliable foundation of experience for Russia to act from and protect themselves.
Dad,
I love your comment. The truth is that vast majority of the people in the so called “Communist Block” learned to read between the lines. Unfortunately these people have been hijacked by the so called “enemy from within” and even reading between the lines does not seem to help them much. Polish politician Piskorski who’s been held in prison for no less than two years without a proper hearing in the courts is accused for being Putin’s Agent and without any evidence I might add.
BTW, I just read about coup d’etat in Italy, because elected parties’ coalition could end the monster that is EU.
That is a bulls-eye that few may be capable of appreciating.
Eastern (I purposely avoid Middle) European nations have been very cleverly bamboozled to think that once Soviet Union fell apart that they had reached Utopia. How was it done ?
By the use of the “enemy from within”. No matter how you want to slice this or dice it the DNA of this element is always the same, as are also the fruits of their work. Poland will be getting the full treatment as well as the others. Here is how.
The latest “good” news to hit Eastern Europe is Bill 447 signed by Trump. There is nothing about this in Western MSM. Check Google and prove me wrong. What is it about ? In simple terms I would describe it as “Daylight Robbery”. Here is the gist of the Bill
“The most controversial article 3 of S. 447 postulates: “in the case of heirless property, the provision of property or compensation to assist needy Holocaust survivors, to support Holocaust education, and for other purposes”. In fact, the concept of so-called “heirless property” carries a clear contradiction in terms, as heirless property refers to properties of the Polish citizens that legally and orderly escheated to the Polish state. The organizations making such extralegal claims on heirless property have according to the Polish law and international legal standards absolutely no legal standing.
In addition, Jewish property claims have been handled and settled by numerous post-war compensation schemes, most notably by the Luxemburg Agreement between Israel and Germany. On the basis of this Agreement the State of Israel, Jewish claims organizations and individuals obtained a compensation from Germany amounting to 100 billion 2018 US dollars. The compensation served as a settlement for all the human and material losses suffered by European Jews as the result of genocidal German policies and destruction of Jewish property.”
Did you catch it ? Property that has no living relative related to the owner, “heirless property”. Why not extend this to Indians in North America ?
“Is Macron, who has French troops in Washington-occupied Syria, breaking with Washington, or is Macron playing Putin along by encouraging Putin in his belief that Europe will break from Washington and welcome Russia into the “common European home,” thus encouraging more concessions from Putin.”
The answer is of course the latter. Emmanuel Micron’s France is an American Trojan horse and is trying to play Russia and Putin for suckers.
Macron: An American Trojan horse in the Elysee Palace
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/05/17/macron-american-trojan-horse-elysee-palace.html
Micron was created as a political Trojan Horse by a cabal of French Zionists, nearly all of whom are Jews. He is 100% controlled from Tel Aviv via the CRIF, the French AIPAC. From that you can be assured that he is a pawn of Israel’s pet hyper-power, the USA.
Doctor Roberts is an astute observer of international affairs and has kept a very keen eye on Russia of late . Although some of his opinions may appear to ‘some’ as being overly pessimistic the vessitudes of the pendulum swings in the diplomacy or lack thereof do merit Dr. Paul’ concerns .When I watched the Great Patriotic Parade I was astounded that Netanyahu was a quest of honour at such a prestigious event , but then I recalled President Putin say on several occasions that he and his Foreign Office were unsure of who they were dealing ‘with’ as if the US admin were run by other entities. Perhaps this meeting did answer some of the queries as it is rather clear that many of the negative attributes that have occurred in the ME since 2003 can be traced back to the Zionist influence. Bibi and his cabal of Neocons , Ziocons, Anglocons and the rest of the Construct supported the destruction of the Middle East through wars of agression abetted by lies from the corporate media . As is known the Russians came to the rescue of Syria in late September of 2015 and did an incredible job of reversing the situation but now approaching three years later the situation seems at best to be in a stalemate. Idlib province is awash with terrorists that were allowed to leave for this ‘safe haven’ after suffering defeats at the hands of the SAA , yet what is astounding is that these terror groups are actually bussed out to relative safety ,after they had destroyed the towns and communities that they had terrorized and the residents are left with nothing but destruction. Bibi is due to meet President Putin in the coming days apparently to discuss the jewish intentions and their freedom to operate , now this may say a lot to the persons interested as to what Russia’s position actually is or will be. The French President went to St-Petersburg along with the IMF Head Christine Legarde along with Shinzo Abe and the Chinese Vice President and apparently a record number of investors . That may be a very promising outcome for Russia and perhaps a certain rapprochement is in the works with the Western European statelets but I cannot interpret this in a positive light especially when Christine states that the Status Quo and the existing order must be maintained . Which means that the ‘Freeloader Class ‘ may continue to pillage the workers in order to live the ‘jetset lifestyle’ for free; has austerity taken its toll in the EU and Brussels is desperate to find new commons for exploitation. Chancellor Merkel has expressed her desire for the Nord Stream pipeline 2.0 but with a caveat that the Ukrainian gaz transit routes remain open and apparently President Putin and Alexi Miller acquiesced , isn’t that strange when the Ukies are threating war with the Donbass ; I think its more about giving free money to the Kazarian jews after all Vienna ,Berlin and Paris are expensive places. The coming weeks should give us all a clearer direction what Russia and Prez. Putin have decided if Russia chooses to pursue neoliberal economic policy’s then I would have to agree with Doctor Paul’ analysis .
I don’t find PCR’s warnings hyperbolic, but on the contrary quite cogent. At any rate, I think Putin is screwed. He fails to see through the industrial suicide of globalism, and waning to be part of Europe is his achilles heel. I also completely agree with Saker’s disappointment with Russia’s attitude towards Israel’s criminality. It seems Putin just doesn’t understand the malevolent evil in the Tamudic mentality, which has completely perverted the sacred–revealed–concept of the Chosen People. It’s the perfect example of corruptio optimi pessima. The Israeli policies are truly diabolical and they will end terribly–as will those who unite themselves to them. Trump is a disaster for the US, just as the lunatic Netanyahu will prove to be a disaster for the Israelis.
I have absolutely no doubt, that Putin understands precisely the game he is playing magnitudes in excess of how “we” understand it.
But the rightous path is besieged from all sides by the perillous swamp.
I am an agnostic, but I pray for this man.
His enemies are an open hand, they do what they have always done.
As I see it nowadays, our future as a species lays largely in his decisions and actions.
Putin is trying to keep the situation dynamic. If he stands up to the Hegemon/AngloZionists directly they will slam down the hard Iron Curtain and cut off Russia (and China) from Europe, the Middle East and enforce full on sanctions etc. That will create a static, stagnant situation with little or no dialogue that can lasts for decades, until the rot in the West causes a collapse or the tiniest friction escalates into a nuclear World War III. In this scenario Russia will also suffer. Russia may grow, but it will be stunted growth. This is the aim of the AngloZionist elites, cut Russia off and isolate it, then pick off Iran, China et al one by one. If that does not work, then the US can feast on Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa on the non-Russian side of the Iron Curtain.
That scenario is a card Putin is not willing to play. No matter what he does the AngloZionists will keep the pressure going. However, every day the AngloZionist racket is collapsing faster and faster, with increasingly desperate measures needed to keep the scam going. Every day more people are waking up to the monstrosity that is the US/Israeli Empire. This is Putin’s battle field.
I believe Putin is utterly aware he is trying to discuss with a US/Zionist mindset that is fully pathological and criminally insane. I think Putin knows he will have to confront the psychopaths with force one day, out of pure self defense. That day will start the global war to end all wars. Every day that day is not here is a good day. But the chances are it will come, solely due to the insanity of the Western elites.
That is why Putin is pursuing dynamic politics, talking to his European ‘partners’. Putin has been pursuing an open door invitation policy to Europe since he came to power. For Russia Europe is the price. Russia in, Germany up and the US out. The exact opposite to NATO. Close the doors and that will not happen.
At the recent Economic Forum in St. Petersburg (the SPIEF 2018) Putin asked the Europeans if they enjoyed the fruits of their ‘partnership’ with the US, knowing full well that Europe resents the abuse by it’s ‘Master’, the Hegemon. If Putin’s generation of Russian leaders, the non-psychopatic ones at least, learnt anything from the collapse of the Soviet Union, is that a house built on sand will not last. Germany may be in a difficult situation under US ‘stewardship’, but, the ‘truth shall set you free’. Just like the Soviet Union was not sustainable, so is not NATO.
The problem is, I fear, that the US/AngloZionist sphere has reached a kind of Critical Mass of Psychopathy. You cannot reason with it; the real recipe is to avoid it at all costs, but if you cannot, as you cannot Israel and the US, then undermine it, which Putin is doing by simply standing his ground and pointing at reality, the cold hard facts of the underlying geopolitical situation and the dynamics, and hope Germany and Europe finds it’s resolve to shake off the bonds of the dying post-WWII US Hegemony. That is the path out of a hot World War III. This is why the US is filling Europe up with military hardware and missiles and attempts at boosting NATO.
Meanwhile, the Russians are preparing for war. As for Syria, I would be very surprised Russia have not already secretly trained Syrian crews in the use of S-300s, or are simply prepared to send in Russian manned S-300s or what is needed if/when the decision comes. If that decision is made, it is yet another step closer to nukes being used to respond to military dilemmas/doctrines.
Good comment.
Indeed. Russia is keeping its enemies close; a dancing embrace.
totally agree.
it’s a fine line he walks around the zombified empire psychopaths
… it’s delicate work
… nobody known has a better cv for this difficult job, based on the last 19 years of the Russian re-emergence.
The one thing that Putin could do that would just gut the Atlanticists in his government and country would be to change the constitution and make the central bank publicly owned.
As it sits Russia still has the private central bank that was setup in the early 90s by the western looters (rapists according to Engdahl).
He has just won a landslide re-election. With his popularity he could propose the idea and let others run with it and give his public backing to them.
If anyone knows the technical route required to get a constitutional amendment of this sort passed in Russia I think that would be a great article.
Just out of curiosity, is the Russian central bank private in the sense of the US Fed? It’s independent of the government, sure, but I don’t think it prints and then loans roubles on interest to the government.
I could be wrong but perhaps what you meant was, the central bank should not be independent, and be under the direct control of the state like in Communist times. That would gut the Atlanticists for sure but the disruption would be too great. A subtler and easier way is for Putin to Eurasianists in charge of the central bank. But having said that I think Putin recognises there are two factions in his government and is more intent on keeping a fine balance between them rather than getting rid of one faction. From what I’ve read Putin’s present government far from the Stavka predicted before his inauguration.
basil
… it would be a great article and a first … more people should be talking and acting in this direction, especially Russians. Putin is live soon with his Q & A … opportunity knocks !
PCR is right about the US establishment intentions and that European establishment even with a larger economy and population than the US is in largely servile to the former and hostile to Russia.
Not sure I agree that Putin is naive about the aims of the US/EU “deep state”/establishment. It seems clear he knows exactly what he faces. He has been saying that in public from Munich in 2005.
It’s also clear from various domestic and even some geared internationally what Putin’s aim did Russia is: for the Russian federation to economically develop into a high income, educated country with a strong sense of shared culture and history. It is NOT as many – both opponents and supporters of Putin allege – to be a foil for the US Empire. It is also not to realize some dream of uniting ethnic Russian lands by force. Putin at the end has the exactness of a bureaucratic mind: he sees his job as protecting the interests of the Russian federation not Syria, not even Donbas. In both these cases, he saw Russian involvement as serving some strategic purpose for the Russian Federation and not some moral imperative.
Putting the reality of the US Empire and it’s hostility towards Russia to one side, Putin it also appears, believes in neoliberal policies as s means to realizing his stated goals for Russia. Many within Russia itself appear to disagree with this approach and would prefer to see a more socialist policy. But Putin – right of wrong – seems to genuinely believe in neoliberal policies as the answer and not say, communism.
Now add in the reality of the US Empire and it’s objectives, and Putin is trying to balance an approach that thrives on external investment (which he has no problem with in theory) with the reality of hostile actors who can turn this spigot on and off nearly at will. He has no direct quarrel with the Empire and while condemning its hubris takes a practical stance on its activities as he for example does with Israel’s treatment of Palestinians or Saudi’s war in Yemen: while condemning specific actions, he does business with them. Ditto for Turkey.
One reason for the practicality is reality that Russia does not have the current means to fight an economic war the way the US Empire can and is. The best Russia can do right now is not lose, while buying time to get Russia into a stronger economic state. This is precisely what Putin is attempting to do.
To that end Putin will continue to respond to any Western outreach – eg Macron’s visit to St Petersburg – without ego while trying to build Russis’s internal systems and infrastructure to withstand external shocks just as it built up its military which Putin has said on more than one occasion was necessary to be able to defend/counterattack at a military level and allow Russia the security space to economically develop.
Not sure I agree that Putin is naive about the aims of the US/EU “deep state”/establishment. It seems clear he knows exactly what he faces. He has been saying that in public from Munich in 2005.
Well said. Best comment I’ve read so far, Ludwig. I’d just like to add my thoughts on the matter if I may.
Putin is focused on two things: to develop Russia socio-economically and to bring about conditions necessary to make a multipolar world possible. In that sense Putin is looking after his own country first while taking steps to loosen the Hegemon’s grip on world affairs. I think Putin has done remarkably well, in a space of 20 years, on both counts. I actually think that were Putin to step down today, he can look at his achievements for Russia with a certain amount of pride. Not many leaders can get a democratic country behind him for two decades in order to realise his vision for the country. If the election results are any indication, that vision is still holding.
As President, who’d just taken over country nearly completely broken by Yeltsin, Putin’s first challenge was to keep the RF together despite the country being riddled with with corruption and an economy in a shambles. The Second Chechen War was a huge challenge to RF’s integrity. Had things turn out differently we would probably see a smaller Russia, most certainly in the Caucasus — Brezezinki’s wet dream would have come to fruition. On the economic front, I doubt any country can think about economic development without also thinking about integrating into or at least working closely with the prevailing global economic order. Is there an alternative system that Russia can plug into to ensure her economic development?
PCR does not disagree with Putin’s strategy; rather his main worry is, what if it fails? Will the Neocons then force Russia into a corner where she has no choice but to defend herself, in other words, resort to war? That is a distinct possibility but I think Putin has taken care not to let the delusional Neocons get too far. Putin is a reluctant wielder of the big stick — which disappoint some of us who like to see muscular responses all the time — but he does use the big stick, and use it well, when Russian interests are directly threatened. He did it in Chechnya, Georgia (yeah OK, he was PM but unlikely Medyedev did the operation without significant input from his PM), Crimea, Donbass (threat of big stick), and Syria. I doubt even the Neocons can miss his point. Certainly the US military establishment don’t.
basil
” He has been saying that in public from Munich in 2005. ”
Yes, this speech left nothing to be guest at. He came straight out and said that Unipolar World won’t work. It can only work if the rest are as weak as Russia was when Gorbi the San Francisco Foundation Freedom Lover dismantled USSR.
I see RT has given us a very clear YT version of it,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4MAsIh3zMA
it seems to me that Russia is playing the same game as China, and getting time… and then, maybe it can even avoid war…
Due all respect for PCR, his approach to the entire issue is wrong IMO. He thinks that if Russia does not give S300 to Syria and Iran, this may result an attack by the US and we are all doomed by a possible WW3.
What if we think differently and list some clues.
Clue 1- Europe is getting cozy with Iran as we speak and there is an obvious charm offensive against Iran by France and Germany. Britain is also part of it, actually leading from behind. This fact does not fit the neocon theory or the so called Anglo-zionist theory, in fact it contradicts completely. Why is it so?
Clue 2- Iran just announced that it will do oil trading in Euro. Hups! Iran is not the enemy as Netanyahu paints it, but it seems that Iran is in fact a good partner of the Europeans. Interesting indeed.
Clue 3- Since a few years now, Russia does not deliver even the outdated S300 to Iran, even though Iran paid for it a few years ago and then hastily cancelled it with rage. Interesting. Question: Is Russia a friend or foe to Iran? Think hard about it and may be we should forget about Astana hype for the time being. What is really going on here?
Clue4- EU wants to continue with the Iran De-nuclerization deal against all odds and vehemently defending it against Trump. Trump wanted to pass it through congress but he pulled it back at the last minute when he realized that he does not have the numbers for congressional approval. Interesting indeed. The US congress somewhat wants to continue with Iran agreement. The theory of neocons or anglo-zionists wanting to finish off Iran doesn’t exactly fly here. May be US congress was bought by Iranian lobbyist? Just joking.
Clue5- Putin wants Iran out of Syria desperately, it seems. Even prepared a Constitution for Syria which would allow Iran to be kicked out of Syria gradually. Hmmm?! What does this tell us? Iran and Syria do not agree. Not a word from Europeans on this issue. Quite striking, isn’t it? Is Russia on the side of Syria and Syrian unity?
Clue6-Netanyahu visited Moscow for the victory parade, which is obviously one of the most holiest day for Russians. Just before the visit, while visiting and after the visit Israel bombarded Syria. All happened in front of the whole world quite openly which was even broadcasted on some media. There was not a word of condemnation from the Russian side. Well Netanyahu probably knew that this could somewhat damage Putin’s reputation, but obviously that was OK for everyone.
Clue7-There was a soft coup d’etat in Kremlin. Euroasianist folks received their pink slips. This coincided with Mr. Netanyahu’s visit. Atlanticists are back in Kremlin! However, strange events are occurring as well. Abramovich the young billionaire owner of Chelsea soccer team is kicked out of Britain and was given asylum in Israel. He did not return to Russia though. Sounds weird. Abramovich still has wide business interests in Russia. While Deripaska a major partner of the Russian Aluminum conglomerate Ruskal and close confidante to Mr.Putin is on the verge of being punished by the Trump camp via US sanctions. However it is doubtful that Congress will pass it. Don’t forget that there was a late charm offensive against Russia by the European powers. Is Trump somewhat jealous?
Clue7- Russiagate, Scripal poison case are all coming from old west not the new one. Trump is somewhat quiet. On contrary, Brits seems to be on the front line. Weird. What happened to the unbreakable Anglo alliance? I mean, US and Brits.
Clue8-There was a color revolution in Armenia, right in front of Russia’s nose. As we speak similar events are brewing in Azerbaijan. Caspian sea and Baku holds one of the most important oil reserves on the planet. Strange coincidence indeed.
Clue9- Syria recognized Donbass a short while ago. In return, Ukraine condemned it and withdraw its diplomatic mission from Syria. Russia is unusually quiet. What is Assad signaling? and who is the recipient of this message really?
Clue10-Recently China announced that she has no problem doing trade with Euro. China seems not to be that enthusiastic about petro-dollars any longer, even if she has a reserve close to 4 trillion of it. What the heck will China do with all that greenback? How will China dump all of it asap?
Clue11-Orban of Hungary and the President of Czech Republic are all good friends of Mr. Putin and Mr. Netanyahu. Yet they cannot stand Mr. Soros a bit. Wow! Strange isn’t it? Soros is also financing Elon Musk, the young billionaire who owns Tesla automotive company. There is a campaign going on against him in the US. He is strangely accused of being an anti-Semite, because one of his twitter messages. Does Trump hate electric cars? Well electric cars do not use fossil oil as far as I know.
Clue12- About two months ago, China had a charm offensive in Eastern EU. All went quite well with bunch of future trade agreements. European parliament and major powers were content. All went fine. The theory west vs. Euroasian multi polar world order is out of the door.
Clue13- Erdogan received Putin at his majestic palace with ceremonial cavalry. That was first in modern Turkish history. Right after, Erdogan went to London to meet some prominent bankers. He did not forget to visit the lovely Queen. Yet financial times announced that Erdogan did not arouse “investor” confidence and Turkish Lira started dropping like a rock until a few days ago. Now it seems like Lira is stabilized and even bouncing back. Merkel has invited Erdogan to Berlin, wishing he would be elected for another term. Europeans started loving Erdogan again. Strange indeed.
Clue 14- Libyan warlords (Haftar and his opponent) met in Palais de l’Élysée. Little Macron was the host. Macron had a caviar meal with Mr.Putin just a few days before. Russia was quite interested in Libyan affairs until then. Seems like those days are gone. However good news is that Total Oil cut a billion dollar deal with Russia. Interesting.
Clue 15-Saudi Prince Salman was wounded a few weeks ago if you believe some rumors. It was an assassination attempt while he was in his palace. Why did that happen, if true indeed? Was Salman contemplating change of alliance away from the Trump camp? What was the meaning of Russia’s offer to Salman to sell him state of art S400 system? Was it a carrot? Think about it along with the dismissal of Tillerson.
Final thought: Please connect all these dots and you will realize that the real geopolitics is not as simple as just an Anglo-Zionist singleton plot. The equation has many variables and the formula is much more complex. One thing, I can say with confidence is that the world is definitely NOT on the brink of WW3 and there will NOT be a nuclear exchange between Russia and the west, as some pessimists suggest. It is business and the centuries old power game as usual and all will lead to a bi-polar world order at the end. China is firmly the new and indisputable king of the east, yet we don’t know who will be enthroned as the king of the west. Will it be the British house or the Yankee Doodle? We live in a transitional time and it looks confusing and baffling at times. Just follow the clues, we may see the light.
With great respect to Paul Craig Roberts, and despite being myself a natural born risk taker, I think this advice — “Putin should put his foot down” — reminds me of Diderot at the court of Catherine:
“A philosopher can write what he pleases because he writes on paper, and paper is patient; but pity a poor empress who must write on human flesh”.
I tend to agree. There is no doubt the US/Zionazi cabal is at war with Russia. For the moment it is a cold war, but let’s be clear that victory has a different appearance from the US side versus the Russia side.
For the US, victory means open hostilities in Syria, Iran and hopefully Russia to the extent that great nation is broken into pieces that can be carved up by multinationals. To the extent that Putin can weave and dodge and remain the only adult in the room, prevents a US victory.
For Russia, victory looks like a certain amount of peace building where Iran, Iraq and Syria form a stable transportation and trading corridor, and Russia gets to continue its progress towards a safe and civilized nation throughout the century. To the extent the US and its destructive allies are thwarted in their plans to destroy everything except for Israel and the US, Russia wins.
Russia wins by avoiding war until the US/Zionazi beast falters under its own weight.
I also think that Putin is being so pragmatice shows a characteristic on this level that is simply not there in other leaders in the West. People are not used to seeing this type of politics and take it as a weakness.
““A philosopher can write what he pleases because he writes on paper, and paper is patient; but pity a poor empress who must write on human flesh”.
A very wise person said that.
““I talked much and frequently with him,” said Catherine, “but with more curiosity than profit. If I had believed him, everything would have been turned upside down in my kingdom; legislation, administration, finances—all to be turned topsy-turvy to make room for impracticable theories. Yet as I listened more than I talked, any witness who happened to be present, would have taken him for a severe pedagogue, and me for his humble scholar. Probably he thought so himself, for after some time, seeing that none of these great innovations were made which he had recommended, he showed surprise and [109] a haughty kind of dissatisfaction. Then speaking openly, I said to him: Mr. Diderot, I have listened with the greatest pleasure to all that your brilliant intelligence has inspired; and with all your great principles, which I understand very well, one would make fine books, but very bad business. You forget in all your plans of reform the difference in our positions; you only work on paper, which endures all things; it opposes no obstacle either to your imagination or to your pen. But I, poor Empress as I am, work on the human skin, which is irritable and ticklish to a very different degree. I am persuaded that from this moment he pitied me as a narrow and vulgar spirit. For the future he only talked about literature, and politics vanished from our conversation.”[85]”
Not sure I buy all this doom ‘n gloom from what sounds like a deeply embittered Mr Roberts… but I can’t comment on Atlanticists or why re-employing his previous PM was a betrayal of the Russian people so I look at “other things.”
Since 2000, mostly under the leadership of the Roberts-disappointing Vladimir Putin, Russia has moved from “economy-what’s that” and enough national debt to sink the iceberg that sank the Titanic to a viable, growing economy and, for the last 10 years, has maintained a trade surplus. This despite vicious American and EU attempts to return them to their previous western-preferred status of ripe for pillage and plunder.
The country now has little to insignificant national debt and is increasing its gold reserves at a rate than can modestly be described as phenomenal, as opposed to Western nations that are finding it easier to pull hen’s teeth than get their gold back from the US. (Their own gold that they may not see or audit – I guess the US doesn’t have anything to brag about in that dept…)
They are building (not breaking) lots and massive trade agreements across the world and remain the largest producer of oil, have increased export of natural gas, have become the largest exporter of wheat, have more than halved the poverty rate, increased median income and social benefits and are building roads, rails, pipelines and …. pyramids. Well – at least one pyramid : the Crimean Bridge – a monumental achievement that came in under time and under budget.
…When last did anything built by the Atlanticist beloved West come in “under time” and “under budget?” …. In fact – when last did any of them even “build a pyramid?” I can’t think of one unless you want to pretend that F-35 that certainly gets kudos for pyramid levels of time and money spent?
They provide their citizens with (what certainly appears to be) effective universal healthcare and education to tertiary level, have built weapons that are years if not decades ahead of any any other country has and are still the nation that provides the US with the rockets it needs to reach space. They are also actively assisting an ally regain its sovereignty and rebuild its country – this despite the fact the battle is ongoing and any hopes of financial return on that investment must wait.
So I’d say whatever it is the Russians are doing economically – it’s not what The West is doing…
Perhaps Mr Roberts – like the US – sees Russia’s resolute determination to avoid war, especially war with the US, as weakness … and failure?
There is much to agree with in what you say and I have little doubt that Paul Craig Roberts would go along with that sentiment.
But as you indicate Roberts sees some of Putin’s more recent actions or inactions in Syria as having the potential to further embolden the neocrazies, which might well bring war closer rather than staving it off. This view has some merit and cannot be dismissed lightly.
I still take the view that Putin is well aware that his “appeasement” policies are not going be overly popular in many circles and that he is using the time they buy to finish off the modernisation of Russia’s already formidable military.
World Cup.
Putin is probably running around with a fist in his pocket, but he cannot have his World Cup marred by boycotts or a terrorist attack. Both would happen instantly, if he showed even a hint of backbone. I firmly believe that things will look different as soon as that dumb football event is over…
“Neoliberal economics produces domestic economic crisis, because it diverts employment in high-productivity, high-value added activities, such as manufacturing and tradeable professional skills such as software engineering, from developed economies, such as the US, UK, and Europe, to economies where wages are much lower.”
That’s a weird way of putting it. International trade does indeed allow poorer countries to develop by low-cost manufacturing being shifted to low-wage countries. High-wage countries can only compensate that by developing high-value added jobs. Thus, both benefit, poor countries get the opportunities to develop domestic industries while rich countries can maintain their living standard by developing high-value industries. To think that a high-wage country like Germany could maintain a high living standard by holding onto to low-cost manufacturing like bulk textiles manufacturing in competition with China or Bangladesh is absurd. Economists and ideologues generally don’t understand the function of technological innovation in the economy.
High-wage countries can only compensate that by developing high-value added jobs. … To think that a high-wage country like Germany could maintain a high living standard by holding onto to low-cost manufacturing …
That’s why I see Eastern Europeans doing all those high-value added jobs (at construction sites, manually harvesting asparagus or strawberries, in slaughterhouses working piece-rate) for less than the minimum wage of the local population.
Economics of Scale has already put many out of work (local bakers, farmers, butchers, …) Technology will put many more out of their jobs. (With regard to jobs in banking I’m not too saddened about that development.) Amazon will push even more shops out of business. Probably travel agents will face hard times as well, since booking can be done online way easier.
Economists and ideologues generally don’t understand the function of technological innovation in the economy.
I agree that economists and ideologues don’t understand many things. They don’t even realize that most office jobs don’t add anything of value. Just think of banking: Bankers earn way too much for creating money out of nothing and lending it for interest. Skilled craftsman are driving the economy, but that’s way too complicated for economists to understand.
Talpiot program: Database Terrorism for Israeli World Domination (updated)
Unit 8200, the NSA is a joke in comparison
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/05/29/talpiot-program-database-terrorism-for-israeli-world-domnation/
https://russia-insider.com/en/putins-big-economic-conference-very-big-deal-year/ri23591
By Gilbert Doctorow….as usual a very good read particularly in conjunction with the above.
More attacks coming…
Gladio 3.0
https://vimeo.com/266657401
in french
https://vimeo.com/265741563
https://www.docdroid.net/pCNWQWR/affaire-skripal-uk-et-les-attentats-de-2015-a-2018.pdf#page=13
I wonder if Russia was awarded the opportunity to host the World Cup, by the West, purely to serve as a distraction that the West can take advantage of in some way.
Otverzhenniy
You mean a Ukrainian/NATO attack against the Donbass ? Won’t work. The Russians in the Donbass had three years to dig in and are prepared. They are expecting the attack.
https://russia-insider.com/en/russias-gold-hoard-soars-putin-warns-us-sanctions-hurt-trust-dollar-reserve-currency/ri23599
Tyler Durden article
yandex translation to english then original russian in cryllic…. removed Russian written in latin characters … mod
Greetings to all from Russia! I apologize in advance for bad English, I use Google translator, because I do not speak the language well.
You have an excellent site for interesting articles and analyzes, but there are moments about which little is said in the media about what is happening inside the country, hence some analyzes seem to me to be almost completely incomplete.
The most important thing that you need to understand is that Russia is playing black. For what it will need to be more clear from what I list below:
1) Russia is dragging out time, that war is inevitable in any case, many understand both inside the country and in its leadership, as our president himself understands this, the country is gaining strength, all resources are maximally mobilized.
2) The question of the economy, you must understand that all exports, including hydrocarbons, go in dollars, everything is done in rubles inside the country, the currency rate plays in this case on us, it allows even more rapid development. Gold is growing in foreign exchange reserves, from certain sources comes the information that approximately in the year 20-21 will be the nationalization of the central bank, the currency will be reinforced with gold.
3) Technologically, we are now leading, new technologies are being introduced wherever possible, industry, agriculture, construction, etc. (robotics, artificial intelligence, remote control).
4) Military power is growing at a great pace (new equipment is being built, the old equipment is being modernized), an echeloned defense system is being built in all directions, shock units are being created to break through the flanks and counter attacks.
5) Factories of different types of industry are being built all over the country, energy facilities and infrastructure are under construction.
6) Across the country there is a purge of corruption of detention and arrests, a change of heads of regions and so on.
7) Everything is not so bad as it seems to you, the revolution in Armenia showed this, the counter operation of our special services was masterfully done. We, unlike our enemies, do not leave traces in the form of non-profit organizations and funds, everything is done in cash, weapons are supplied to the forces opposing our enemy through third countries.
8) The new super weapon was not shown everything, but only what was needed. It takes a few more years to deploy these systems to the end and finish what is under development.
9) After the Great Patriotic War, in our military strategy the main rule appeared, we will never again tolerate war on our land, when the time comes the pre-emptive strike will be so strong that legends will build about it.
These are just the main points.
In my opinion, this strategy of the president is correct, because isolation for us is the worst enemy, the more there will be links and projects of the type Nord Stream 2 and Yamal LNG will be implemented before the main clash, the more allies or at least neutral states to conflict in eventually we get. The more correct and fair the image of Russia in the international arena, the better for us in the end will be. The stronger the army becomes and the better the weapon, the less willing it will be to try to fight it. Ultimately, all this international hype built on Russophobia plays us only by the hand, because under this noise the power silently builds up (just like with the army, or who did not know what was done to it until it showed itself in all beauty in the Crimea and in Syria)
PS: The biggest problem for our opponents is that they have not understood for so many centuries that we are a nation. We spent 1000 years in the war, we were tried to destroy many times, but we are still on this planet, on the richest and largest of its piece, and we are not going anywhere. They should often open a map of the world and look at the size of our country, and then on the size of their countries to understand one thing: we are great, and they are pygmies.
When will the time come, how many of them will go to war? We are all together on their own run to the nearest branch of the Ministry of Defense asking to give us weapons and send to the front, we have been at the genetic level is laid we are the only nation on this planet that really knows how to fight, we got this experience price mnogomilioonyh losses for our whole long history. Because we appreciate that life and the freedom that our ancestors have won for us for centuries shedding blood on our land.
There is an old legend that Russia is the sword of God on earth, that it is a country that is directly governed by God, because if it is not so, it is unclear how it exists at all.
Our president once said that you can only retreat if this ultimately leads to victory.
We will win, as always won.
in Russian:
Привет всем из России! Заранее извиняюсь за плохой английский, использую гугл переводчик, потому что плохо владею языком.
У вас отличный сайт интересные статьи и анализы, но есть моменты о которых мало говорится в СМИ о том что происходит внутри страны, отсюда некоторые анализы кажутся лично мне чуть не полными.
Самое главное что вы должны понять это то, что Россия играет черными. Для чего это нужно будет более понятно из того, что я перечислю ниже:
1) Россия тянет время, то что война неизбежна в любом случае понимают многие как внутри страны так и в ее руководстве, как собственно и сам наш президент это прекрасно понимает, страна набирается сил все ресурсы максимально возможно мобилизованы.
2) Вопрос экономики, вы должны понять что весь экспорт в том числе углеводородов идет в долларах, внутри страны все делается в рублях, курс валюты играет в данном случае на нас, это позволяет еще более сильными темпами развиваться. Наращивается золото валютный запас, из определенных источников приходит информация о том, что ориентировочно в 20-21 году будет национализация центрального банка, валюта будет подкреплена золотом.
3) Технологически сейчас мы лидируем, новые технологии внедряются везде где только возможно, промышленность, сельское хозяйство, строительство и тд, (робототехника, искусственный интеллект, дистанционное управление).
4) Большими темпами наращивается военная мощь (строится новая техника, модернизируется старая), строится по всем направлениям эшелонированная система обороны, создаются ударные подразделения для прорыва флангов и контр атак.
5) По всей стране строятся заводы разных типов промышленности, строятся объекты энергетики, инфраструктура.
6) По всей стране идет чистка коррупции задержания и аресты, смена глав регионов и тд.
7) Все не так плохо как вам кажется, революция в Армении это показала, контр операция наших спец служб была проведена мастерски. Мы в отличии от наших врагов, не оставляем следов в виде некоммерческих организаций и фондов, все делается наличными, оружие поставляется силам оппозиционным нашему врагу через третьи страны.
8) Новое супер оружие было показано не всё, а только то что было нужно. Нужно еще несколько лет чтобы до конца развернуть эти системы и доделать то что в разработке.
9) После Великой Отечественной Войны, в нашей военной стратегии появилось главное правило, мы больше никогда недопустим войны на нашей земле, когда придет время упреждающий удар будет такой силы, что о нем будут слагать легенды.
Это только основные моменты.
Данная стратегия президента на мой взгляд правильная, потому что изоляция для нас это самый страшный враг, чем больше будет связей и проектов по типу Северный поток 2 и Ямал СПГ будет осуществлено до начала основного столкновения, тем больше союзников или как минимум нейтральных государств к конфликту в конечном итоге мы получим. Чем правильнее и справедливее образ России на международной арене, тем лучше для нас в конечном итоге будет. Чем сильнее станет армия и лучше оружие, тем меньше желающих будет попробовать с ней воевать. В конечном итоге вся это международная шумиха построенная на русофобии играет нам только на руку, потому что под этот шум молча наращивается мощь (точно так же как с армией, ни кто не знал что с ней сделали до тех пор пока она не показала себя во всей красе в Крыму и в Сирии)
ПС: Самая большая проблема наших оппонентов в том, что они так за многие прошедшие века не поняли, что мы за нация. Мы 1000 лет провели в войне, нас пытались уничтожить множество раз, но мы до сих пор на этой планете, на самом богатом и большом ее куске, и уходить мы никуда не собираемся. Им стоит почаще открывать карту мира и смотреть на размер нашей страны, а потом на размер своих стран, чтобы понимать одно: мы великие, а они пигмеи.
Когда придет время сколько из них пойдет воевать? Мы же все дружно по собственному желанию побежим в ближайшее отделение министерства обороны просить дать нам оружие и отправить на фронт, у нас уже на генетическом уровне это заложено мы единственная нация на этой планете, которая действительно умеет воевать, мы получили этот опыт ценой многомилиооных потерь за всю нашу длинную историю. Потому что мы ценим ту жизнь и ту свободу которую завоевали для нас наши предки веками проливая кровь на нашей земле.
Ходит одна старая легенд о том, что Россия это меч бога на земле, что это страна которая напрямую управляется богом, потому что если это не так, непонятно как она вообще существует.
Наш президент однажды сказал, что отступать можно только в том случае, если это в конечном итоге приведет к победе.
Мы победим, как побеждали всегда.
Nonlinear equation
Your presentation is certainly appreciated. What you have written certainly makes sense. I too have similar opinions and conclusions. Поздрави Великој Русији из Србије.
Thanks. Greetings fraternal Serbia! You’re the only brothers who stayed and never betrayed us. We remember this, and we are very sorry for the fact that we were weak in 1999, that we could not stop what happened. But I think that the truth is still ahead of us, and the time will come and they will get what they deserve. I really hope that when we solve all of our problems, we can help you to solve all of yours. Retribution always comes to those who commit evil, history a clear the Reaffirming.
Nonlinear equation
Thank you. Very much appreciated. In the same way that Russia was reunited with Crimea, so will Serbia with Kosovo and Metohija. Looking forward to seeing Serbia join the Eurasian Economic Union. Велики поздрав.
Nonlinear equation
Большое спосибо за ваше интересное писмо. Я люблю Россию,
её людей, литературу, музыку, народные песни и так далее.
Мой любимый роман “Униженные и Оскорбленные” Федора
Достоевского.
Привет из Швейцарии
Азорка
A big thank you for your interesting letter. I love Russia,
her people, literature, music, folk songs and so on.
My favorite novel is “The Insulted and Injured” Fedor
Dostoevsky.
Greetings from Switzerland
Azorka
“They should often open a map of the world and look at the size of our country, and then on the size of their countries to understand one thing: we are great, and they are pygmies.”
Problems is that “pygmies” like this guy
https://972mag.com/is-sheldon-adelson-behind-trumps-decision-on-jerusalem/131218/
sitting in his gilded offices with the rest of those Anglo-Zionist pygmies simply can not internalize that other nations have something to say in how this planet is run. It was so easy for them in the past to fool a lot of people to shed blood for nothing, that they just can’t imagine that anything has changed and they can’t do it again. A dangerous situation for sure.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-10/american-dunning-kruger-epidemic-or-why-ignorant-people-are-so-sure-theyre-right?page=1
Naturally this is a problem, but it does not mean that we give up or give up. This is a very difficult multi-level game. Russia is on a very narrow path, on a very thin ice. And if anyone can play it, it’s our President. Another person who can do it I do not see. Hence the need to play black, every step must be verified and calculated.
Dr.Paul Craig Roberts is an excellent analyst, especially when it comes to Washington’s and NATO’s policies towards Russia. However, when it comes to the internal situation in Russia and Kremlin’s foreign policy plans, the impression is that he does not have all the facts, making exaggerated and inaccurate claims. For example, he has years back correctly stated that NGO’s in Russia could instigate a color revolution. Well, they tried that and failed miserably, as the pro-Western liberal opposition in Russia is not that strong, while Russia expelled quite a number of subversive NGO’s, which he failed to mention.
When it comes to Russia’s economic policies, there is no way that I can accept what he has written in this article. The Russian economy is not focused on Western liberal economies as such, but is diversified, being focused on China, the EU, the US and others, especially after sanctions were introduced. This article gives the impression that Russia depends primarily on the US for it’s economic survival, which is just not the case.
Russia is part of Europe, while the US is on the other side of the Atlantic. China and the EU will always come first to Russia in importance, while the US will come second. Putin knows what he is doing. He is playing the waiting game, waiting for Europe to come to him, as it will. Throughout the EU you have increased demands that sanctions be terminated, as they are hurting the EU more than Russia. By the second half of 2016 the EU lost 100 billion euros in trade with Russia. Washington demanded that the Nord Stream – 2 gas pipeline be terminated. Germany refused. France is again making investments in Russia’s Arctic. Both Merkel and Macron recently went to Russia and spoke with Putin. Bad sign for Washington.
When it comes to Syria, Russia did not lose face. Dr.Roberts should have read what other Western analysts have written about that attack made by the US,UK and France. When the attack was made, Russian bombers were in the sky, armed with the latest Russian high tech. Result ? The two Russian bases were not attacked, only Syrian, with pathetic results. The US,UK and France fired 103 cruise missiles and guided bombs, and the Syrians shot down 71 and captured 2, which makes a total of 73. Yes, Russia did not interfere with it’s expensive S-300 and S-400 missiles systems. There was no need to. Those two missile systems were held in reserve in order to protect the two Russian bases. The Syrians responded with upgraded Soviet era missile systems and the new Pantsirs, achieving an impressive result. Yes, they did not shoot down all the missiles. However, after the attack, Russians beefed up Syrian defenses with additional Pantsirs and other high tech. As analysts have stated, Russia has confidence in Syrias abilities to defend itself from cruise missile attacks.
Dr.Roberts neglects to mention the debt of the US and EU, which in Russia does not exist. Analysts are constantly pointing to the fact that this debt – especially in the US – cannot be maintained on a permanent basis, and that the time will come when the entire financial system will crack, as it will. Putin knows this. Both Russia and China have large amounts of gold, waiting for the appropriate time to introduce gold backed rubles and yuans. When that happens, what will happen to the dollar and euro, both of which are printed backed by nothing ? According to one analyst, the US is already making preparations for the introduction of a new, domestic dollar.
When it comes to the Donbass, the Ukrainian military has on numerous occasions made local attacks, testing Russian defenses, and each time has received a bloody nose. The Donbass Russians have openly warned Ukraine that hey are dug in and prepared for any Ukrainian attack, having more than three years to do. I don’t think we should worry too much about the Donbass. Yes, Poroshenko might well be tempted to attack the Donbass during the World Cup. The results will be horrendous for him, starting a chain reaction inside Ukraine, where the impoverished population is sick of war, openly saying so. This year Poroshenko saw two demonstrations against him in Kiev.
We can conclude that Putin knows what he is doing. As I have mentioned above, he is playing the waiting game. No, he is not being drawn into the Western liberal economic order, so that Russia could be turned into an imperial stooge. What we will see is a rift between American and European elites, with Europe in the end turning towards Russia. It’s going that way. Washington has overplayed its imperial hand.
I am just going to comment on the last sentence. What’s wrong with saving Sochi Olympics?
It has been a continuous American policy to destroy any International event held in USSR and now Russia. This brings us to the subject at hand: Money invested in those events and deciding whether they should be thrown in the garbage. The point is no matter how much money Americans throw into Ukraine, soon it will fall into Russian hands or sphere of influence and it will be the American who will have lick their financial wounds and write off the losses.
Anonius
The US made a huge mistake in Ukraine. It destabilized the country using the same methods it used in Latin America. It placed puppets in power, and these puppets support oligarchs and foreign corporations who are plundering the country. A minority controls the majority. This situation cannot last too long, as the population is becoming impoverished. Poroshenko’s days are numbered.
They don’t always throw money IN. The Anglo-Zionist vassals Poland has been told to throw the money OUT,
““This proposal outlines the clear and present need for a permanent US armoured division deployed in Poland,” states the document. “Poland is committed to providing significant support that may reach 1.5–2 billion US dollars to establish joint military installations and providing for more flexible movement of US forces. Together, the United States and Poland can build an even stronger bond – one which guarantees the safety, security and freedom of its people for generations to come.”
Poland will put up the money !!!!!
https://emerging-europe.com/in-brief/poland-willing-to-pay-for-permanent-us-military-presence/
But !!!!
“Parents of disabled children on strike in Poland
For the past two weeks, parents of grown-up disabled children have occupied the corridors of the parliament. They demand higher pensions and a rehabilitation benefit of 500 zlotys (115 euros) per month.”
https://newsmavens.com/news/aha-moments/1475/parents-of-disabled-children-on-strike-in-poland
I bet the parents of the handicapped don’t know about the 1.5–2 billion US dollars to establish joint military installations that will allow them to sleep more soundly as their family budget falls apart with constantly rising prices.
“Cost of living in Poland: average income and expenditures
The average level of available monthly income (personal income minus taxes and insurance contributions, the money that you can actually spend or save) per capita in a household was 1475 PLN in 2016.
The level of monthly expenditures per capita was 1132 PLN.
In 2016 expenses accounted for 76.7% of available income.”
https://www.justaskpoland.com/cost-of-living-in-poland/
“No Longer Addicted to Oil Money Russia Wants End to Production Cuts, Lower Price”
“Russia does not need the oil money as much as it used to. It would prefer a stable price to another boom and boost”
https://russia-insider.com/en/no-longer-addicted-oil-money-russia-wants-end-production-cuts-lower-price/ri23622
Russia knows exactly what kind of game is in progress… and it is playing very well
PCR’s arguments are always entertaining, as is satire, self-satire, caricature and self-caricature. They usually have the distinct quality of preaching to the choir, replete with fire and brimstone overtones and undertones. The preacher defines the terms, the preacher dares to lecture Putin about “globalism” and churns out a big long story about it, but to sustain the entertainment and the humor of it all, we need only imagine Putin grinning and replying, “all I said was that we are all residents of the same planet.” But PCR – I do not recall exactly, but on the basis of preaching to the choir – would likely continue with the script that says, “Thou shalt not call the Americans your ‘partners’ for they are your foes.”
It is easy to complain that “the Americans” do not listen to what “the Russians” or Putin say, as if listening were not merely the precondition to understanding, but equivalent to understanding. And the ones we complain about are usually the hyper-aggressive neocons, and these are the ones who – PCR tells us – are convinced Russia / Putin are weak, can be forced into submission, etc. That may all be true. I leave neocon profiling up to PCR, but the question is not what they believe, the question is whether they understand the “real world” Russia has shaped. They do not need to understand what the Russians say in order to understand that world, they only need to try to do something, only to find that the Russians have built a “red-line” which annuls American impunity and imposes high costs and risks. And on this score, while PCR believes he understands the neocons, he also has not listened to the Russians, nor has he understood them. And instead of simply reporting what the Russians say, and maybe even attempting to explain it to people who do not understand, PCR prefers to report his impressions of what they say, without examining the basis of those impressions in reality.
So let me explain something quite simply. And I explain it by pointing out something we probably all know, and then turn it on its head because what we all know is likewise what very few understand.
Remember Putin recalling, a long time ago, I don’t recall exactly when, with his typical angelic grin, that Churchill had once said of ”the Americans” that they eventually do the right thing, but only after trying everything else? – Now, if you think that Putin was asserting some sort of quasi-optimistic faith in American goodness, you have made a typical “American” (actually “western”) mistake. I will now say/write something you will not understand, not to be sarcastic, but to get to the reason for the non-understanding: Putin never says anything that does not have operational significance.
The problem with writing, in contrast to a direct discussion, is that I now have to follow with a new paragraph, whereas I should give you 10 minutes or several hours, even days, … years to wonder about what operational significance Putin’s recollection of the Churchill-quip has. On the other hand, if you have been watching Russian operations since, let’s say, 2007, since Putin’s Munich Security Conference speech that year, you may have already come to the idea that the Russians have been circumscribing the miserable cacophony of “everything else” with an ever denser web of “red lines”. And what is left over after all of the “everything else” is exhausted, is “what is right.”
Years later, in 2016, the former German foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier visited a Russian University and he held a speech: he complained that Russia is unpredictable for the Wes, the West was ”surprised” by Russia’s move against Georgia in 2008, “surprised” by Russia’s move in Crimea, and then likewise “surprised” by Russia’s engagement in Syria. Now, to admit to being so surprised, is imply o admit that you have bad intelligence on Russia, but Steinmaier added that he had said these things to “Russian experts, “ and they answered that, if he had listened carefully to Putin’s 2007 Munich speech, he would have no reason to be surprised.
If you have not been watching Russian operations, then you are in no position to understand Russia, no anything Putin says.
PCR says, “For example, the neoconservatives read Putin’s standdown in the face of Trump’s missile attack on Syria, an attack based on an obvious fake news event, as a lack of nerve. Putin’s acceptance of Washington’s attack was very damaging to Russia’s credibility with Washington’s neoconservatives. What they saw was Putin accepting an attack on an ally to whose defense Russia had committed armed forces. What is the point of clearing Syria of American supported jihadists and then allowing Washington and Israel to attack Syria?”
If this is true, i.e., if the profile of the neocons is true, let them tell us what they achieved with Putin’s standdown. Did they change the course of the war Syria is waging against the Takfiris? – No. – Did it cause any painful costs in terms of loss of military capabilities or personnel? – No. – Did it help Israel? – No. – Did it demonstrate that Israel can afford to take the risk of war against Syria over the Golan Heights? — No. – Did it prove that NATO is a militarily powerful and politically united war machine? – No. – Did it demonstrate the prowess and advantages of US military technology? – No. Who stood down? Was it Russia? – No.
The problem with PCR’s paragraph cited above is not that it is moralistic, it is that it is immoral. –Russia, in his dreams, should simply not allow Washington to do certain things. There is no room in his dream for the Russian operational approach of acting such that the US / the West learns what “everything else” is, ending up with what is right. No, PCR seems to yearn for the war to end all wars, and now. Everything else is temporizing, making concessions at the expense of some pure moral doctrine. But it should be a war by the ”right people” for the “right cause”. The Russian military should be the new world policeman in a one-world government that lays down the rules to all and sundry. So PCR argues as the anti-neo con neocon, as aggressive as they are, just for a moral cause, he argues for Russia to take over the position of American “exceptionalism,” and he argues as the arch-globalist anti-globalist.
Not only is his dream not practical, it is not good.
GeorgeG
Excellent analysis.
Actually, there has been a lot of very interesting discussion in the comments after this PCR article.
PCR always thinks in terms of the essential weakness of Russia and of the imaginary all-powerfulness of the ‘Atlanticiscts’. I simply can’t imagine that in case of war, any move against Russia’s defense would land them to the cooler climates of the Arctic if not before a firing squad, as it happened to the Trotskyites and their co-conspirators in the time of Stalin. And I imagine that they know that as well.
Great discussion here on this crucial issue of Russia’s path.
The upshot is that no one knows how this will play out, or what the winning strategies might be. To a great extent Putin must fly by the seat of his pants, as must also his competitors in this final game for the life of humanity.
My own opinion is that those who play by the truest principals of what is best for all people and sentient beings will fare the best in the long run – even if they should all be destroyed in a global holocaust. Whether one wins or loses in the games of survival is not as important as what you were fighting for. Veritas semper vincit.
After reading PCRobert’s articles for years, I conclude that he is Mr. Worse Case Scenario but his warnings are wise although real events have played out differently than how he feared. The Deep State is already stirring the pot in Ukraine with “Now they killed him/Now they didn’t/But they could have/Soon the will” I call it Operation Stop Before They Kill Again. In the hands of the Bozos in Ukraine it requires the Botched Operation Clean Up Crew to be in the air ASAP.
If you think L’Affaire Screwpal was irritatingly obvious, this Babchenko character is strictly Three Stooges quality.
Sigh…if there is anything like late night comedy in Russia, they should have a field day with this. Let us hope the rest of the world catches on quick and replies, “Really?”
Done to “expose Russian assassination agents”….
The Tragic Sense of Life is a result of a species with so much wonderful promise being destroyed by it’s most evil members, and the good souls within this species of humans being inadequate to prevent this nightmare from happening.
Mr. Roberts is wrong. Not on the definitions of Globalisation, Neoliberalism etc. but on how all those things play out when it comes to Russia, and what “Putler” is actually doing.
Russia is on the “lower wages” side of that equation, so that’s where manufacturing is and will be moving, especially seeing how China’s wages quadrupled in the last ten years.
Russian government has setup special terms for western companies, so when they come over they will not be able to own the majority of shares, let alone the totality of newly setup companies. They will be whining and sulking, but they will accept those terms, because the other choice is to piss off and earn no profit at all.
Consequently, Russian government owns large parts of many companies, for example out of 28 largest banks in Russia, the government owns shares in ALL of them, and is a majority owner in 23 of them. And so on.
And as for military matters, I think that Saker has said it best: Russia is afraid of the war, because they know very well what it entails. They are determined not to provoke it, and it is a wise decision. Better to have a war of words than that of missiles. Yes, very few will understand this, yes, the west will see it as weakness, etc. etc.
Russia isn’t just a European country but also Asian country too. There is some Oriental mentality there, patience and long-term planing. “Putler” knows what he’s doing, and good on him.
Agree with everything you said Mikie, except your last line.
Russia is not a “European country” nor is it an Oriental country. Russia is a Russian country.
Why is it that westerners can only see others in their own light?.
They talk of someone being the “Russian Rambo”, or the “Russian Lincoln” and so on.
Well, they can shove such terms,
There is Russia who has Russians, and they do things their way, because they are Russian.
For example, Europeans invaded Russia multiple times over the years: invented the Inquisitions: concentration camps; burning alive of women [called witches] and invasion all over the world, destroying the native cultures in the proccess.
Russia has done none of this.
Oh – and now Europe is busy fighting its neighbours [like the last 1000 yrs] and has sold out to become a vassal of Mordor over the Sea.
Also dead opposite to Russia.
There is nothing in common between Germany / France and Slavs and Tartars except that the Slavs are a Caucasian Christian civilisation like Germany / France et al.
That’s about it.
The others of Russia are MiddleEarth Muslims. There are some Oriental-like peoples who live in yaks, herd reindeer and make tepees. None of these resemble Franco Germanics either.
Remember – all the peoples of the Northern Continental Massif are Caucasian Christian, [with some Middle Earth Muslims and Shamans living thousands of miles away from Germany / France].
And that’s it.
Isabella,
People able to read the Schwallers and the Griaules gain invaluable insights into the fate of ‘civilizations’. Of course real Russia is anything but the mental projections of the ‘clash of civilizations’ ideologists or of those stuck into a leftoid mentality.
Dogon Mask
I am impressed at finding someone else familiar with those names and their works Anonymous. And yes, one learns to see the fate of civilisations differently. Even Dynastic Egypt knew her fate, and wrote it out more accurately than anything I have seen predicted for ours.
Yet they will go the same way.
” I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Isabella,
I was the first to be impressed that someone can bring Sch. into a discussion, and I commended you from behind other mask on another site (in use only there). Good on you!
I am not seeing Russia throwing in the towel. I would not like to play chess with either Mr V. Putin or Foreign Secretary Mr. Lavrov. These people are quite unique, as far as I recall they have not told lies. I am in no worry about Russia, China is not going to abandon its key ally on the eve of the fight, China cant handle the US right now alone. So Russia will provide the military power, which it undisputedly has got and China will finance it if need be.
The Beast will be brought down. But why seek a military conflict, when the Beast is on a slow course to self induced suicide? “Never interrupt a stupid move by an opponent” something like Sun Tzu said 200 years ago.
It is utter laughable that this nation of robbers, thieves and murderers can believe to continue.
Just fence the whole shit off, tech and food embargo, like Iraq and see Americans die in droves. Who cares I don’t.
Go see list of US interventions to understand my ice-cold blood.
The Us is down, consumed by: GREED.
Looks like PCR wants one more war . Sir. , that won#t happen ! Russia will go another way .
Your assumptions are wrong ,Sir.
More , I was surprised to see Free Syrian Army / terrorists Flag ( there is a difference in color stars ) while you were talking about Syrian army in one of you articles. Which is a shame for a politician.
The Russians will never fall to provocations and start a war with the west . They are ready. I think they can win any war thrown at them. They just do not like the way their victory will look. Unlike the empire, they have a heart and a conscience. They love our planet and humanity and our collective responsibility to God and the human race. What kind of world will it be if there is nobody else to play and love with.
The empire can still inflict unconscionable damage. My advice to it is not to corner the Russian Bear. The Russians know we might be getting there…they are stalling for time until the S 500 is fully operational and deployed. You heard the man…” who wants to live in a world without Russia”.
It is very easy to state what should be done when one bears none of the responsibility for the consequences. How many more dead civilians that would inevitably arise from kinetic actions does PCR consider a price worth paying? Why should Russia (or China for that matter) do exactly what the Zionists want them to (respond disprportionately to provocations)?
“Perhaps someone in the Russian government will remember that it was its focus on the Sochi Olympics that delivered Ukraine into Washington’s hands…”
…which in turn delivered Crimea into Russia’s hands. Which way do you want to play this? ;)
Why should Russia “put its foot down” when all is has to do is stick its leg out and trip up the opposition, again and again and again?
The Psychopaths are capable of everything,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLLhBtrZ6FUs6OXusHEiXjYRFljxFbtudw&v=GZGIEDiRw-4
I’d been wondering if Putin’s inaction in the teeth of attacks on Russia’s personnel and planes was not perhaps a consequence of thinking it might be preferable to wait for the US to implode ‘unaided’, and the scenario might not be far off. He will surely have made early preparations for the repercusions on the rest of the world in terms of the US starting WWIII. If we go, everyone goes’, sort of thing.
But, as regards Russia’s reluctance to start WWIII over small incidents – tragic to those concerned and their families, of course – as PCR pointed out, Putin’s myopia about neocoliberal economiccs buttresses that rationale, doesn’t it ?
I am dismayed at the many negative comments about PCR’s article…and even more so in that they are quite uninformed about PCR’s core message…
That message being that Putin may indeed believe in neoliberal economics…
There are many who rightly share this concern because neoliberalism is a pox on humanity…and is in fact the greatest danger to economic sustainability…
I would suggest to those who have been quick to pull the trigger on this article to have a look at the PCR article that preceded this piece…
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/05/25/americas-fifth-column-will-destroy-russia/
Here is the crux of the matter…
‘….Neo-liberal economics has also brainwashed the Russian central bank with the belief that Russian economic development depends on foreign investment in Russia.
This erroneous belief threatens the very sovereignty of Russia. The Russian central bank could easily finance all internal economic development by creating money, but the brainwashed central bank does not realize this.
The bank thinks that if the bank finances internal development the result would be inflation and depreciation of the ruble. So the central bank is guided by American neoliberal economics to borrow abroad money it does not need in order to burden Russia with foreign debt that requires a diversion of Russian resources into interest payments to the West…’
This erroneous economic policy on the part of the Putin/Merdvedev regime is like a giant brake that is holding back Russia…
I am not the only one saying this…this very website published not so long ago a long interview with Sergei Glaziev…who tells us that Russia could be growing at 10 percent a year like China has been doing for the last three decades…if only the country would take economic decisions into its own hands…
/sergei-glaziev-the-full-extend-of-economic-manipulations-in-russia/
This is absolutely undeniable…the neoliberal ‘economic’ model is simply a Ponzi scheme based on the mathematics of exponential growth…the only two REAL economists that I recognize today are Michael Hudson and PCR…
Prof. Hudson, especially has done incredible scholarship on this issue, including the issue of ‘financialization’ ruining real economies going back to ancient times…
The bottom line is that this Ponzi scheme on which the entire Western economy is based is simply a Titanic that is already taking on water…like any Ponzi scheme it is a house of cards that is bound to collapse…and quite catastrophically…
Long story short…neoliberalism is a doomed ideology that will soon be on the ash heap of history…if Putin is placing his eggs in this basket then he is clearly wrong…
In the case of Russian economic life specifically…it is INSANE to have this Trojan Horse central bank…and have it run by globalists and Atlanticists like Nabiullina…[a favorite of the Western money cabal…]
The argument of PCR and Hudson as regards Russia is very simple…Russia does not need Western ‘investment’…its own central bank [honestly run] can provide all the investment required to pump into industrial development that is badly needed…
This economic and industrial growth will bring a whole cascade of positive effects such as increasing wages and living standard…and increased global clout that comes with economic heft…
PCR has been stating this one simple point for many years now…and I [and many others] have been waiting in vain for Putin to get the message and clean house…
Russia is not financially independent right now and is therefore vulnerable to economic warfare [sanctions] precisely because the government refuses to make itself the master in its own house…
This is quite insane and ridiculous…Russia can bulk economically in a very short time…if only…
For many years I have believed in vain that Putin is simply waiting for the right moment to make the necessary changes [constitutional as well as administrative]…but that time has never come…
So I have to conclude, regrettably, that Putin is indeed a believer in the neoliberal koolaid…
Yes I have noted the many fine comments here that rightly point out the miracle that Putin has achieved for the Russian people [and even people in other lands such as Syria]…
But that great achievement does not put him above honest criticism if he is doing something wrong…
Why not put someone like Glaziev in charge…?
I am encouraged by only one comment here…by ‘Nonlinear Equation’ who posits that in the 2020-21 timeframe the central bank will be nationalized with a gold-backed ruble…
Hopefully this will happen at last…perhaps PCR and people like myself are wrong [or just too impatient] and Putin knows what needs to happen, but is simply biding his time…for reasons that we may not understand…
This is the Number One crucial issue for Russia and it is economic…I do not see that Russia is in trouble in terms of being able to defend itself militarily…but is VERY vulnerable to being crippled financially and economically…for the reasons stated above…
As for PCR’s comments about Putin looking ‘weak’ to the US neocon warmongers after the numerous missile attacks on Syria…well he is correct, at least partly…in that this may in fact encourage the psychopaths to be even bolder in testing the waters…
It is like a boxing match…both fighters are cautious at first because they respect each other’s punching power…but if one guy keeps backing up it will embolden the other guy…
Those here who shriek that Putin taking a more muscular approach will immediately lead to WW3…or to US unleashing an attack on Russia in Syria that Russia will not be able to defend…they are simply uninformed about military/technical matters and quite wrong…
Syria shot down an Israeli F16 earlier this year and did the world end…?
Did Israel march on Syria and take it over…?
Of course not…and the same nothingburger would happen if Russian forces decided to bring down one or two Nato planes [British or French for example] while they are engaged in illegal aggression…
I’m not advocating sinking an aircraft carrier…but a measured kinetic response is needed in the face of continued lawlessness…
This would not result in anything bad…but would only bring very good results…
FB, before sparing it is good to do a bit of warm-up. – Did you hear about the world congress of western economists and meteorologists that ran parallel with the St. Petersburg Economic Forum? The weather people were delighted, because it turned out that their forecasts were accurate 50% of the time more than those of the assembled western economic wisdom. (It’s a joke, just in case that information is useful.)
I suggest that we need a bit more argumentative discipline. At the current level of argument, we are merely haggling over “do you belong to my choir or not?”
You suggest PCR’s core message is that “Putin may indeed believe in neoliberal economics.” – As for myself, I see no reason to publish such a message, if it is indeed the core message. If *I* suspect Putin “believes in” (please explain what that means, please explain and also show that belong to any belief-choir is of any interest to Putin) neoliberal economics, I do not publish my suspicion: I have no reason to suspect *anything* unless I have, at a minimum,, three “data points” I can try to map onto a “neoliberal economy” “model” (economists are great at generating models, which all seem to have mechanical outputs… at variance with reality). You provide no data points, nor does PCR.
As you cite PCR himself, “‘….Neo-liberal economics has also brainwashed the Russian central bank with the belief that Russian economic development depends on foreign investment in Russia.” Now, I am in no mood to go into rant-mode, so I am not going to whip the “brainwash”-horse, I merely ask for data points. I want to see data points for the last six years: formation of reserves, in what currencies, how much in gold, credit policies, credit generation, interest rates, inflation, etc. Then I would like to see data points showing foreign net investment inflow, in what areas, and I want to see for the period of Russian economic development under sanctions and the oil-price war data which demonstrates that Russia depended on this foreign inflow (or data that shows that foreign investment was seeking a “safe haven” in the least likely place, and banking on real-economic returns as opposed to evaporating speculative circus flows. Then show me data on the internally generated flows of money, including credit, to strategic sectors of the economy. Document tha actual interest on the credits for such purposes, show me the contrast to the “normal” Central Bank established rates. – In other words, provide data that proves what you claim, or PCR claims is the Central Bank’s “belief.” Lacking such data, I would recommend extreme caution slinging the term “brainwashed.” What should we call your or PCR’s ”belief” if you provide no data?
“This erroneous economic policy on the part of the Putin/Merdvedev regime is like a giant brake that is holding back Russia…” – Here I shall, just for the fun of it, revert to rant-mode: I say, wash your mouth out with soap!
“I am not the only one saying this…this very website published not so long ago a long interview with Sergei Glaziev…who tells us that Russia could be growing at 10 percent a year like China has been doing for the last three decades…if only the country would take economic decisions into its own hands…” and then you cite Glasiev’s interview published here, but, please *not* “not so long ago”: that was February 2016.
I enjoyed the interview when it was published, and I still enjoy it. It is mind-boggling to see you cite Glaziev to back up your above-cited contention about the “Putin/Merdvedev regime”, but that is typical of academic footnoting: I dare you to try to actually argue that Glaziev agrees with your assessment, given that he sat, maybe even still sits, next to Kudrin on the Presidential Economic Council. As far as I know, he is by no means unemployed. If you wish, just argue on the basis of what Glaziev says in the interview, nothing else. – It may seem obvious to you, but I am not of your choir, so talk to me or others who might have similar reservations.
But, another challenge, before closing: Glaziev tells us… 10%. Aha! – Do you know how he came up with that number? Do you know how he measured it? Do you know how to measure economic growth potential? – I do not know how. But I do have a suspicion: Go into import-substitution mode (not entirely voluntarily, let others help you turn that switch, help you in that sense, even if they do not know they are helping), turn off easy money flows, associated with resource-export revenues, then see what the internal economic machine can do, in war-mode, so to say (oh, and I thought the Central Bank “believes” they need external money for Russian economic development?! – Gag!). Then, I suppose, you can measure the results, break it down by sector, look at the acceleration curves, pick your strategic points, fine-tune where you want to get “breakthrough” performance. Seems to me quite feasible, but, then again, I am not yet qualified to sit in on the meetings of the Russian Security Council. It also seems to me quite feasible that now is the perfect time for Putin to announce the “breakthrough” program, because it is all based on known and proven performance capacities of the Russian people and their economy. As for financing it all, I expect to see many unexpected surprises.
I saw the “core message” PCR article you link to. I admit, it bothered me. First, the tone and structure bothered me. – To speak/write that way *to Russians*, without having in the back of your mind, “Beware of Americans bearing gifts of economic advice!”, is strange, to say the least. But the prelude bothered me. PCR leaves a wide space for speculation, and I do not understand why: Maybe you know. This piece, he says, was the presentation he *would have given* had he been able to accept the invitation to attend the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. So, he was invited, but he didn’t go. He does not explain why. Will this presentation be part of a compendium of speeches at various working groups subsequently published? Was PCR invited to make this presentation, or was he invited to go, see and listen? Were I Russian, and had I been in St. Petersburg, and had I listened to this presentation, I think I would have rolled my eyes and asked, ”What is this guy talking about? And what discussion does he expect, calling out leadership “brainwashed”? Who is he really talking to?” But I am not Russian, so I prefer to be careful, and I only pose questions in the space PCR leaves wide open.
George…your objections are quite silly…
It is quite plain that the Russian central bank is not doing anything right…[except for the globalists and enemies of Russia]
It is also quite plain that Russian industry and even small businesses cannot get the capital they need to help them grow…and must rely instead on foreign loans [aka ‘investments’]
You don’t need a lot of ‘data’ to see that a horse is a horse…
‘Economics’ is a pseudoscience at best…especially from the perspective of those of us who practice real science like Physics…
That is the first thing to keep in mind and is why there are jokes like the one you mentioned…
Still…there are some actual mathematical principles at play…I mentioned exponential growth…which is a mathematical construct that underpins our economic system…and is very dangerous…
It is very important to understand this central mathematical concept and Micheal Hudson explains very precisely how this leads to economic collapse…
Let me try to get this across in an understandable way…
If you look up the wikipedia entry on exponential growth you see under ‘examples’ the categories of ‘economics’ and ‘finance’…[along with others in physics, biology etc…]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth
In economics, exponential growth is when an economy grows year over year at a percentage rate…
I can explain the math if anyone is interested, but first let us ask ourselves why is it necessary for an economy to grow every year…in perpetuity…?
We note that our countries set a ‘target’ growth rate of 2 percent or whatever…and if we have no growth or even negative growth [contraction] for just six months we are in a ‘recession’…which is to be avoided at all costs…
Did you ever stop to think why this perpetual growth in our GDP is so vitally necessary…?
Well it is because we are trapped in a vicious cycle where the financial system grows year over year…simply due to the fact that all loans carry interest…and next year even more money needs to be present in the economy simply to pay that interest…
Now compound interest is also an example of exponential growth…so we have an increasing buildup of interest payments that increases every year…
Where is the money going to come from to pay that interest…?
It has to come from an economy that also grows every year…that is why having no growth is a catastrophe…
Now Prof Hudson has explained this situation which has repeated itself for thousands of years…where the real, productive economy is forced to keep up to the arbitrary exponential growth of money [due to interest]…
But at some point the real economy can no longer keep up because the money required by the debts and interest piled up starts to skyrocket as we see on this curve…
https://s20.postimg.cc/rgh899dq5/exponential_growth.jpg
We notice here the green line of exponential growth and note its characteristics…it starts off building slowly…but over time it begins to shoot skyward and approaches ‘asymptotic’…ie nearly straight up…
It becomes impossible for the real economy to produce enough real goods and services to keep up with such a jump in money required by the ‘finance’ sector…
Now you will notice in the wiki on exponential growth that right under economics where it talks about GDP growth year over year, there is a heading ‘finance’ and it include two examples…compound interest and Ponzi schemes…
Yes…you read that correctly the ‘magic of compound’ interest [as Warren Buffet aka Oracle of Omaha put it famously] is the same ‘magic” as the Ponzi Scheme, as Bernie Madoff figured out and milked billions for 30 years…
It all comes down to the math…
Exponential growth is the only ‘real’ math that matters in the whole pseudoscience of ‘economics’…naturally the fraudsters of neoliberalism…the Chicago School, Alan Greenspan etc…do not talk about this…instead they have invented a disneyworld of fake BS they call ‘scientific’..when it is nothing of the sort…
So your technical talk about ‘data’ points is quite meaningless…
Instead of wasting your time arguing here go and read some Michael Hudson articles…or better yet get one of his books…
It all comes down to this…the entire thing is a scam where the real economy is held hostage to the ‘finance’ sector, which, by its exponential nature, must at some point get out of control…
In other words the money men have taken control of everything…the real economy exists only to keep the finance bubble from collapsing…
This exact same model is being applied in Russia because the central bank is tightly integrated into this global system and because people like Medvedev [and apparently even Putin] see this as the way to go…
China is not doing things in this way…the Chinese money system is completely sovereign and about 70 percent of the productive economy is state owned also…as are many of the banks…
The Chinese central bank makes credit available to Chinese industry and small business by creating renmibi…not borrowing money from the West…
That is the big difference…
Your insistence that this is not the case is absurd…proof of this is that the Russian central banks is keeping borrowing rates so high [over 10 percent]…that no one can borrow…
How can you grow a business if you have a 10 percent per year interest rate…?
And they are keeping these rates high for what possible reason…?
It is because these high rates are attractive to offshore capital…
So right there we see the proof..Russia instead of financing its own development is relying on outside money, which must be paid back to OUTSIDERS at a handsome profit…
Excellent comments, FB! Thank you for exposing the evils of a system that demands the impossibility of exponential growth. I try to do the same, comrade. And thank you also for defending PCR.
It saddens me to see thisremoved – no attacking other commenters. Mod, particularly by those who did not understand his message: Putin’s acquiescence to USZION’s diktats reinforces its deluded belief in its invulnerability and its impunity for the crimes they have committed and will commit against humanity and such belief will likely lead to the war Putin is allegedly trying to avoid.
Hitler believed that his Lebensraum to the East would be a piece of cake or a walk in the park, particularly because of defective German intelligence about Soviets’ defences and obstinate resilience, but also because he was infected by the same beliefs held by the USZION’s ruling cabal. Belief in one’s invincibility in conjunction with insatiable greed for world domination will necessarily lead to the last war on Earth.
As an aside, the poor German intelligence about the USSR’s warlike capability was a consequence of Stalin’s purge of the high-ranking military, many of whom loyal to the treacherous Trotsky, hence there was a paucity of spies for Germany in the Red Army.
As to the propagated apocryphal tale that Stalin did not believe the Germans were invading (one of the many fables concocted by Khrushchev to demonize Stalin – another one was that Stalin used a desk globe to plan the USSR’s military operations!) suffice it to say that now many historians contend that – turning historical facts upsidedown – it was Stalin who wanted to invade Germany and conquer the whole of Europe! Damned if you do and damned if you don’t…
Gorbachev earned his sainthood for his role in dismantling the USSR, and precipitating the fall of the Warsaw Pact. For this, people of goodwill throughout the world are supposed to be eternally grateful, as this ended the “Cold War” and achieved “peace,” so long as one has a very skewered definition of the word. While conservatives quoted Lenin that “peace simply means communist world rule,” today we might paraphrase, “peace simply means capitalist world rule,” or alternatively, “US global hegemony.” We have “peace” only insofar as there is no longer a specter of nuclear holocaust poised over the world. Harmony between nations, tribes, ethnicities, cultures, and religions remains elusive, however, and this in no small measure because those who hurrahed the demise of the Soviet bloc have ever since been even more avid in promoting their globalist agendas by promoting wars, civil wars, and “spontaneous revolts” because they no longer have the restraining factor of the Soviet bloc. With the Soviet bloc gone the Yankee is now astride the Earth like a half-witted adolescent, devoid of tradition and High Culture; a child cut free and told to do as it likes; a spoilt brat with weapons of mass destruction.
The Reuters report states that the Russian view of Gorbachev is ambivalent. Quoted is a middle-aged Moscow lawyer who states: “To me he is a good-for-nothing-man [who] simply betrayed his people, he destroyed the mechanism of the state and sold his country for nothing.”
President Medvedev, on the other hand, awarded Gorbachev Russia’s highest honors, yet enigmatically stated that the “big work” Gorbachev did, “can be assessed in different ways.” What might one think of this “compliment” other than that Medvedev, while feeling obliged to pay tribute to someone so esteemed by the “rich and famous,” has to live with the quagmire that he inherited from Gorbachev.
President Shimon Peres, in his speech, said Gorbachev fought to regain what his country had lost to communism, adding that the former Soviet leader changed history.
Peres also called Gorbachev a good friend to the Jewish people, saying many Soviet Jews were permitted to make aliyah under his rule
It is evident from Peres’ statements that Gorbachev realigned the USSR in its official attitude towards Israel and Zionism, a factor in itself meriting his elevation to celebrity status among some influential quarters.
https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/04/03/mikhail-gorbachev-globalist-super-star/0/
The globalists have an upper hand in the Russian, Economy, Financing, Politics and Media.
While Iraq, Libya and Syria went under Globalism by Conquest, Russia accepted it by Consent
Yup…
Excellent comment…
Medvedev needs to be removed…in fact he should have been binned at the beginning of Putin’s previous term…
He is nothing but another Gorby…
Why Putin insists on keeping this traitor in office is perplexing and troubling…this is why people like PCR and others are voicing concern…
Whatever else the past might be telling us, it’s shouting out loud that given time the use of force fails every time. None has duration.
Whatever the present is saying it’s shouting that the Jewish state has destroyed any good reputation the Jewish people might have had, any sympathy they might have earned from WW2 – A century of war to create & maintain the ‘Jewish’ state & ‘Jewish’ international finance, huh? – (Ok, Zionist if you must, same thing) – Check out the Middle East. Check the economies for the masses.
Conflict forever? Theft forever? – And now it’s war against the planet itself. – Face it, humans are a bunch of losers. The species with the ‘most developed’ brain can’t live in peace with anything at all?
Come on, the US, UK, FR, EU, the ‘West’ etc & now Russia(what this article is about) have all been made the fool.
The Middle East, much of Asia & S America have been devastated. S African species wiped out.
Anything that isn’t you is nothing at all, except, that you are the other and the other is, more or less, just like you. No?
The jury is not yet assembled to judge if China will be able successfully establish another way, economically & ecologically for it’s billion & us, to enable a lasting life on earth, and i won’t be around to know, but i wish for something much much better than what has been.
Putin will continue with his strategy which is at least postponing WW3. Anyway whatever Russia’s strategy the neoconservatives will attack since Russia will not accept to be a US vassal. In which case it is best to be practical and accept we are all doomed – whether sooner or later!
Quite an up beat report
“WHAT SANCTIONS? Best Moments From Putin, Abe, Macron and Lagarde Meeting At SPIEF-2018 ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uTAwYw7jug
A single Finish firm invests billions in Russia !!!! More than presently France.
If Russia and US had gone at it in Syria as PCR suggests, it would have escalated and WWIII would have been on. The Saker admits Russia would have lost regionally. That would be worse, so things would have escalated. Putin doing OK at the bargaining table. Europe needs Russian resources and with Europe and US in a trade war and Junker saying stop the Russian bashing the Russian people are much better off without the nuclear war. In other words I don’t think PCR knows how close we came to WWIII. Why does he think Russia should fight his war for him?
Jimg:
PCR does not say that, at all.
Try reading, and comprehending, the article before slinging off with such a specious comment.
I do not think that “Putin’s prudent diplomacy is perceived in Washington as weakness.” The Americans have pushed up against Putin, but have never crossed any of the lines he has drawn, either in the Ukraine or in Syria. The fact that Trump has to use threats and tariffs against European allies who are intent on moving forward with the Nordstream pipeline agreement is proof that, at some level, the Americans understand Russia’s strength. Putin isn’t wasting his creds on picking little battles with the West (as Trump did at the recent G7 conference when he had a hissy fit and withdrew from the final statement). But he is quietly building trade relations throughout Asia and Europe, even as Trump is burning his bridges.