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In Moscow, Xi and Putin Bury Pax Americana
Pepe Escobar • March 22, 2023

What has just taken place in Moscow is nothing less than a new Yalta, which, incidentally, is in Crimea. But unlike the momentous meeting of US President Franklin Roosevelt, Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in USSR-run Crimea in 1945, this is the first time in arguably five centuries that no political leader from the west is setting the global agenda.

It’s Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin that are now running the multilateral, multipolar show. Western exceptionalists may deploy their crybaby routines as much as they want: nothing will change the spectacular optics, and the underlying substance of this developing world order, especially for the Global South.

What Xi and Putin are setting out to do was explained in detail before their summit, in two Op-Eds penned by the presidents themselves. Like a highly-synchronized Russian ballet, Putin’s vision was laid out in the People’s Daily in China, focusing on a “future-bound partnership,” while Xi’s was published in the Russian Gazette and the RIA Novosti website, focusing on a new chapter in cooperation and common development.

Right from the start of the summit, the speeches by both Xi and Putin drove the NATO crowd into a hysterical frenzy of anger and envy: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova perfectly captured the mood when she remarked that the west was “foaming at the mouth.”

The front page of the Russian Gazette on Monday was iconic: Putin touring Nazi-free Mariupol, chatting with residents, side by side with Xi’s Op-Ed. That was, in a nutshell, Moscow’s terse response to Washington’s MQ-9 Reaper stunt and the International Criminal Court (ICC) kangaroo court shenanigans. “Foam at the mouth” as much as you like; NATO is in the process of being thoroughly humiliated in Ukraine.

During their first “informal” meeting, Xi and Putin talked for no less than four and a half hours. At the end, Putin personally escorted Xi to his limo. This conversation was the real deal: mapping out the lineaments of multipolarity – which starts with a solution for Ukraine.

Predictably, there were very few leaks from the sherpas, but there was quite a significant one on their “in-depth exchange” on Ukraine. Putin politely stressed he respects China’s position – expressed in Beijing’s 12-point conflict resolution plan, which has been completely rejected by Washington. But the Russian position remains ironclad: demilitarization, Ukrainian neutrality, and enshrining the new facts on the ground.

In parallel, the Russian Foreign Ministry completely ruled out a role for the US, UK, France, and Germany in future Ukraine negotiations: they are not considered neutral mediators.

A multipolar patchwork quilt

The next day was all about business: everything from energy and “military-technical” cooperation to improving the efficacy of trade and economic corridors running through Eurasia.

Russia already ranks first as a natural gas supplier to China – surpassing Turkmenistan and Qatar – most of it via the 3,000 km Power of Siberia pipeline that runs from Siberia to China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province, launched in December 2019. Negotiations on the Power of Siberia II pipeline via Mongolia are advancing fast.

Sino-Russian cooperation in high-tech will go through the roof: 79 projects at over $165 billion. Everything from liquified natural gas (LNG) to aircraft construction, machine tool construction, space research, agro-industry, and upgraded economic corridors.

The Chinese president explicitly said he wants to link the New Silk Road projects to the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU). This BRI-EAEU interpolation is a natural evolution. China has already signed an economic cooperation deal with the EAEU. Russian macroeconomic uber-strategist Sergey Glazyev’s ideas are finally bearing fruit.

And last but not least, there will be a new drive towards mutual settlements in national currencies – and between Asia and Africa, and Latin America. For all practical purposes, Putin endorsed the role of the Chinese yuan as the new trade currency of choice while the complex discussions on a new reserve currency backed by gold and/or commodities proceed.

This joint economic/business offensive ties in with the concerted Russia-China diplomatic offensive to remake vast swathes of West Asia and Africa.

Chinese diplomacy works like the matryoshka (Russian stacking dolls) in terms of delivering subtle messages. It’s far from coincidental that Xi’s trip to Moscow exactly coincides with the 20th anniversary of American ‘Shock and Awe’ and the illegal invasion, occupation, and destruction of Iraq.

In parallel, over 40 delegations from Africa arrived in Moscow a day before Xi to take part in a “Russia-Africa in the Multipolar World” parliamentary conference – a run-up to the second Russia-Africa summit next July.

The area surrounding the Duma looked just like the old Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) days when most of Africa kept very close anti-imperialist relations with the USSR.

Putin chose this exact moment to write off more than $20 billion in African debt.

In West Asia, Russia-China are acting totally in synch. West Asia. The Saudi-Iran rapprochement was actually jump-started by Russia in Baghdad and Oman: it was these negotiations that led to the signing of the deal in Beijing. Moscow is also coordinating the Syria-Turkiye rapprochement discussions. Russian diplomacy with Iran – now under strategic partnership status – is kept on a separate track.

Diplomatic sources confirm that Chinese intelligence, via its own investigations, is now fully assured of Putin’s vast popularity across Russia, and even within the country’s political elites. That means conspiracies of the regime-change variety are out of the question. This was fundamental for Xi and the Zhongnanhai’s (China’s central HQ for party and state officials) decision to “bet” on Putin as a trusted partner in the coming years, considering he may run and win the next presidential elections. China is always about continuity.

So the Xi-Putin summit definitively sealed China-Russia as comprehensive strategic partners for the long haul, committed to developing serious geopolitical and geoeconomic competition with declining western hegemons.

This is the new world born in Moscow this week. Putin previously defined it as a new anti-colonial policy. It’s now laid out as a multipolar patchwork quilt. There’s no turning back on the demolition of the remnants of Pax Americana.

‘Changes that haven’t happened in 100 years’

In Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350, Janet Abu-Lughod built a carefully constructed narrative showing the prevailing multipolar order when the West “lagged behind the ‘Orient.’” Later, the West only “pulled ahead because the ‘Orient’ was temporarily in disarray.”

We may be witnessing a similarly historic shift in the making, trespassed by a revival of Confucianism (respect for authority, emphasis on social harmony), the equilibrium inherent to the Tao, and the spiritual power of Eastern Orthodoxy. This is, indeed, a civilizational fight.

Moscow, finally welcoming the first sunny days of Spring, provided this week a larger-than-life illustration of “weeks where decades happen” compared to “decades where nothing happens.”

The two presidents bid farewell in a poignant manner.

Xi: “Now, there are changes that haven’t happened in 100 years. When we are together, we drive these changes.”

Putin: “I agree.”

Xi: “Take care, dear friend.”

Putin: “Have a safe trip.”

Here’s to a new day dawning, from the lands of the Rising Sun to the Eurasian steppes

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
If what Russia and China are offering other nations is real, I can see how it would be attractive to non-western nations.

Imagine being able to trade, nation to nation, without constant meddling in your internal affairs, politics, alliances, culture, etc. Or constantly being threatened with sanctions or regime change, or having seppuku demanded of you by the west in their never-ending quest for complete global control.

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Originally posted by JAYNEZTOWN:
SIGNYM you posted a zerohedge which some of our posters hate, not that I always disagree with zerohedge they sometimes make good points.

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I mentally trash 90pct of ZH's content. As ivi often posted, make sure your shit filters are firmly in place before swimming there.
You haven't hurt my feelings.

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I agree with 6IXSTRINGJACK, nobody will be nice in this world, Dragon's, Bears, Eagles whatever they have been symbols of predator creatures that eat others and maybe this symbol is there for a reason.

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Good point
OTOH looking out for your SELF interest doesn't necessarily mean being hyper-aggressive, especially when facing a near-peer.

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I'm not sure if more countries will leave the EU after British but the EU will remained damaged and the United Kingdom might not be so united with Scotland in a strange pro-independent position ad wanting back in the EU. Russia and the USA have been political rivals before so in a ways this isn't a new thing.

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I see a lot of reasons for the EU to fracture. 1) USA-enforced deindustrialization leading to lower standard of living and falling Euro value 2) political and military disagreements over things like immigration and Russia

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Across North Africa, the Middle East Arabia and Afghanistan it is a mess and if Russia gets weaker or more distracted all those Ex-Soviet Stan

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which don't include the Middle East, N Africa or Afghanistan. So i'm not clear which nations you're referring to

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places can start going insane, as 'Strong' as Russia always said it was it always had a huge territorial border and a weak underbelly. It has been a pity the relationship between the USA and Russia is so terrible and it has been long before Putin's stupid Ukraine invasion, after 911 there was a lot of good will with the USA but that will was wasted or lost.
The calmer relationship with North Korea 'rocket-man' is also long over, hit with sanctions Kim might go back to launching missiles and blowing off nukes to try bribe his way to get more money to shut up.
It could be possible that a lot of nations have tried stuff because they see Biden not strong or as old and therefore think the Joe Biden Kamala Harris Admin as lacking experience or weak,

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I think the big change is that non-western nations now see Russia as a military peer to the USA and also a necessary commodity supplier, and China as a production superpower.
It's not just that Biden* is mentally feeble and Harris is inexperienced, it's that other nations have come into their own

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Trump's unpredictable nature might have kept people uncertain.
Maybe it was Russia's political expansionism, maybe it was the Bush invasion of Iraq maybe it was Putin killing journalists but for whatever reasons it

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It? America's global dominance? Influence? Reputation? All of the above?

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continued getting worse. The economic center of gravity would not stay in the Atlantic between London and NewYork forever, it is moving back to where it has been for thousands of years past Rome and Greece and Egypt and along a silk road where most of the population of Earth has been for thousands of years with China, India, and all those other countries — which alone account for around most of the global population. Australia, Japan, Europe, Canada and the USA have sanctions on Russia's invasion but a lot of the world also has not joined the sanctions.

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True.

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I don't see Brics as united but it is a different route and people can trade something else, forms of cyrpto and other bond currency does offer an alternative to the whole US Dollar, Euro, British pound Bretton Woods system of global finance management, the West might be weaker but they are still stronger than other groups.

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Actually I think the "other group" i.e.the non-western world, has suddenly realized that their collective weight has reached a tipping point. I know I've mentioned this before but IMHO power behaves gravitationally. Here's an example: There's a playground bully and his two henchmen. All of the kids are scared if him. Then two boys and a little girl successfully stand up to the bully and a few of the other kids realize that maybe they can gang up together, and the move kids join the more powerful they become.

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China is probably the big player it can compet with tech, military sats, manufacturing, energy and AI but it does not have the same ambition to rule Earth and set up bases as other Empires have done, they already have a Billion of their own so why take more people. Russia, India, China, South Africa, Brazil are not a true family, they probably more like a gathering of convenience because they want something different to the Anglo-American system. The USSR and Russia in past times were the big players but Putin has destroyed Russia's future by throwing men into a war of attrition, maybe neither Ukraine nor Russia will leave without generational misery and pain.

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I think you read too much Kiev propaganda. INDEPENDENT estimates of Russian dead (by the BBC andMeduza) estimate Russian dead at- so far- approx 16,000. It's definitely not WWII-scale misery. It is for Ukraine, tho.

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India perhaps could have been friendly but for some reason they were seen on the wrong side in the Coldwar, the USA giving Pakistan weapons, the Hindu Patriot type probably also hold historical grudges against British. Balsonaro ruled he resisted Covid Lockdowns and Lula went to jail then all of a sudden Lula stages astonishing comeback to beat what media described as 'far-right' Bolsonaro then Balsonaro people went Trumpet like, the 2023 'Brazilian Congress attack' people shared pics of Brazil flags, guys wearing flags some even dressed native MesoAmerican Tribal patriot with face paint or horns, then Brazil Soccer T-shirts...it could not be real or this stupid?
Some Latin America countries are pro-Western but some are not, perhaps more fallout from Coldwar politics.

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And also invasions, destabilizations and assasination squads. I think, on balance, the USA hurt our neighbors to the south far more than Russia or China did. So, on balance, Central and South America might be more favorably inclined towards Russia and China than to us. There is a Mexican saying: "Poor Mexico. So close to the USA and so far from God". That kind of give you an idea of what a lot of people there think of us. They prolly look at us the way the ex-Soviet nations look at Russia.

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All jihadi islamo 'Stans' will probably destabilize, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan etc the US Military Airforce Police is the region is gone, the environmental climate is different, some have old grudges, ISIS and the Taliban are coming back and Russia's influence on old Soviet States is dropping, if they have huge Oil and Ores and Gas resources they might survive longer or weather the storms.

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Ithink you have this bass-akwrds. The USA isn't "keeping the peace", it FUNDS jihadists/separatists in ALL of those nations to destabilize current governments and keep the pot boiling.

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I don't believe in a possible US Dollar collapse its predicted every few years and it just never comes, however there will be nations that refuse to support US Debt or De-Dollarize, Russia and a numbers of Arabs have always made threats to use Yen or Chinese yuan or 'Euro' or something else instead of US Dollars,

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They already are

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but remember British already said no to the 'Euro' and later quit the EU with Brexit.

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Not sure what this has to do with anything. Britain was able to quit the EU BECAUSE it said "no" to the Euro, the Euro (like the dollar) being just another vector of control.

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I do not see a Dollar Collapse I would see a Russian Ruble collapse first each Russian tank and plane and young generation blow apart will cost Putin a lot, in fact I would say Putin's Russia sucks and has been terrible for the Russian people.

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Like I said, I think you're reading too much propaganda. The British pound didn't disappear when Britain lost its empire. It became a currency among other currencies. The dollar will probably gain in value compared to other western currencies, but its sphere of use will become more and more limited. It will be quarantined, if you will. Eventually (in 5-10 years) it too will become just a currency among other currencies, and not a particularly valuable one, but it won't disappear.

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On top of all this the world is running out of its old cheap energy, shutting down research into Thorium or 'Cold Fusion'....if discovered would be a 'Green' solution and instead we are sending people back to Solar Panels and Windmills, not that these are always bad but the Math does not add up if you want to power cities and industry on this Solar or Wind stuff.

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
At the end of the day, somebody is going to be in control of everything, and they don't care at all about any of us.

Personally, I'd rather have our corrupt government in control than any other corrupt government.

Unless it all fails and we end up living in Mad Max world, life really isn't that bad even with them in control.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
At the end of the day, somebody is going to be in control of everything, and they don't care at all about any of us.

Personally, I'd rather have our corrupt government in control than any other corrupt government.

Unless it all fails and we end up living in Mad Max world, life really isn't that bad even with them in control.

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Isn't bad FOR WHO?

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

And besides, if we're not the ones doing it, somebody else will gladly fill that void.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

If what Russia and China are offering other nations is real, I can see how it would be attractive to non-western nations.

Imagine being able to trade, nation to nation, without constant meddling in your internal affairs, politics, alliances, culture, etc. Or constantly being threatened with sanctions or regime change, or having seppuku demanded of you by the west in their never-ending quest for complete global control.

I know the Glaziyev is working on a common non-dollar trade currency. IMHO that won't happen until the various nations have had a decade or so of trading in their national currencies over non- SWIFT lines. But once a common currency happens, the AIIB bank will come into its own and displace the IMF.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Oh, there isn't much you or I can do, SIX. The neocons and globalist neolibs are firmly in control of every aspect of America: military, trade, financial and economic policy; the media and communication; the so-called justice system, Congress...

I think Trump instinctively understood this from an American perspective.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Placeholder no longer!

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

And the USA achieved near-hegeminy by being the only industrial nation not destroyed in WWII. I don't see that circumstance, it the environment that favored other exploitative empires, re-forming anytime soon.

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

And the USA achieved near-hegeminy by being the only industrial nation not destroyed in WWII. I don't see that circumstance, it the environment that favored other exploitative empires, re-forming anytime soon.

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The US was "the only industrial nation not destroyed in WWII" because it was the only nation being run competently.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

If what Russia and China are offering other nations is real, I can see how it would be attractive to non-western nations.

Imagine being able to trade, nation to nation, without constant meddling in your internal affairs, politics, alliances, culture, etc. Or constantly being threatened with sanctions or regime change, or having seppuku demanded of you by the west in their never-ending quest for complete global control.

I know the Glaziyev is working on a common non-dollar trade currency. IMHO that won't happen until the various nations have had a decade or so of trading in their national currencies over non- SWIFT lines. But once a common currency happens, the AIIB bank will come into its own and displace the IMF.

THUGR: Again sig posts and reveals she has no respect for the rule of law and the common good. She only considers it a nuisance.

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You poor child. Don't you know that our elites break criminal, civil, national and international law WHENEVER IT SUITS THEM?
That's what other nations are reacting to.
Seriously, dood, how FUCKING deluded ARE you?



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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

The USA was the only industrial nation not to be destroyed in WWII bc of geographic accident: it's called two big oceans on either side. The oceans made it impossible for the Axis powers to fight their war on our soil. It was distance and logistics that protected us, not competence.
Don't you know ANYTHING???

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND, apparently you overlooked some of America's major advantages pre- and during WWII, one of which was easy oil, and another was continent-sized resources (coal, iron,copper etc)
Germany lacked oil and other critical resources, Japan lacked... well, everything.

Engaging in alternate history, as you do, doesn't change it.

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The Embargoes That Blocked Japanese Expansion and Led to War
...
But Japan’s breathtaking rise had two important consequences, one emotional and the other practical. Japanese leaders resented Western nations’ patronizing of the “clever” Japanese. More importantly, the rapid industrialization revealed a crucial weakness affecting national growth and security: Japan was a heavily populated country barely capable of feeding itself and bereft of natural resources vital for industry. Maintaining the status quo of importing from the West the raw materials and commodities it needed would lock Japan into a dependent role with the United States and other Western nations rich in foodstuffs and natural resources. To ultranationalists who had risen to power in the 1930s such a position of inferiority was intolerable. In addition to military parity, they sought to replace Western presence in the Pacific Rim with the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a vaguely defined economic military defense bloc dominated by Japan.

... America, first under President Herbert Hoover and then Franklin D. Roosevelt initially responded [to Japan's occupation of northern China] with diplomatic protests. When they failed to curb Japanese aggression, Roosevelt upped the ante. In 1938, the State Department advised banks at home and abroad not to extend credit to Japanese businesses. In 1939, the United States terminated the 1911 commercial treaty between the United States and Japan. This led to an American embargo initially of airplanes, parts, machine tools, and aviation gasoline. The embargo was expanded in 1940 to include oil, iron and steel scrap, and other commodities. Sharing America’s concerns, Great Britain and the Netherlands joined in the economic embargo.

Japanese leaders had already done the math, and the numbers were ugly. If the situation remained unchanged, Japan faced economic ruin within two years.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

If Japan were to be embargoed against any significant resource it would collapse like a house of cards. It has a tremendous industry but no natural resources. It can offer the world one thing: skilled, efficient labor. But it depends on raw material imports (oil, gas, steel, chemicals etc) so that it can export finished products to the world. Did you knowthat the USA embargoed significant raw resources destined for Japan pre-WWII, and that was one of the causes of Japan going to war?

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The Embargoes That Blocked Japanese Expansion and Led to War
...
But Japan’s breathtaking rise had two important consequences, one emotional and the other practical. Japanese leaders resented Western nations’ patronizing of the “clever” Japanese. More importantly, the rapid industrialization revealed a crucial weakness affecting national growth and security: Japan was a heavily populated country barely capable of feeding itself and bereft of natural resources vital for industry. Maintaining the status quo of importing from the West the raw materials and commodities it needed would lock Japan into a dependent role with the United States and other Western nations rich in foodstuffs and natural resources. To ultranationalists who had risen to power in the 1930s such a position of inferiority was intolerable. In addition to military parity, they sought to replace Western presence in the Pacific Rim with the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a vaguely defined economic military defense bloc dominated by Japan.

... America, first under President Herbert Hoover and then Franklin D. Roosevelt initially responded [to Japan's occupation of northern China] with diplomatic protests. When they failed to curb Japanese aggression, Roosevelt upped the ante. In 1938, the State Department advised banks at home and abroad not to extend credit to Japanese businesses. In 1939, the United States terminated the 1911 commercial treaty between the United States and Japan. This led to an American embargo initially of airplanes, parts, machine tools, and aviation gasoline. The embargo was expanded in 1940 to include oil, iron and steel scrap, and other commodities. Sharing America’s concerns, Great Britain and the Netherlands joined in the economic embargo.

Japanese leaders had already done the math, and the numbers were ugly. If the situation remained unchanged, Japan faced economic ruin within two years.

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https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/the-embargoes-that-blocked
-japanese-expansion-and-led-to-war/

Japan's essential weakness remains unchanged. In order to maintain its position as an industrial society with a hgh standard of living, it depends on foreign raw resources and foreign markets. It needs to be integrated in a larger economic system in order t survive.
Shit. SECOND, you pretend to be so smart but you don't even have grade-schooler's knowledge of world geography.

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND, apparently you overlooked some of America's major advantages pre- and during WWII, one of which was easy oil, and another was continent-sized resources (coal, iron,copper etc)
Germany lacked oil and other critical resources, Japan lacked... well, everything.

Engaging in alternate history, as you do, doesn't change it.

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Does that mean Japan is NOT an industrial power, because "Japan lacked... well, everything"? Meanwhile, Venezuela has all resources Japan lacks, but Venezuela is not an industrial power. It is impoverished. The difference is that the Japanese are very unlike Venezuelans. The people make the difference, not what minerals are in the ground.

Country comparison Japan vs Venezuela
https://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/japan/venezuela
GDP per capita $39,246 Japan / $3,423 Venezuela

The way the Venezuelan government sees it is that the US is holding them down. Funny that Japan doesn't see that the US is holding down Japan. I wonder what is going on in Venezuela? I know! Venezuela is Russia's most important trading and military ally in Latin America. Thinking like Russians is what is killing Venezuelans' prosperity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Venezuela_relations

If it was all about minerals, the poorest country in Europe would be Switzerland, known only for its goat cheese. But the last time I was there, they were more prosperous than anywhere else I have been. Check out Switzerland compared to the world:
GDP (nominal) per Capita
https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/gdp-per-capita/
Switzerland wasn't always rich, despite always being in the exact same spot. The Swiss know as a hard fact that their prosperity depends on their people, not on real estate and minerals buried underground. Americans should learn that, but I don't think they will.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
If Japan were to be embargoed against any significant resource it would collapse like a house of cards. It has a tremendous industry but no natural resources. It can offer the world one thing: skilled, efficient labor. But it depends on raw material imports (oil, gas, steel, chemicals etc) so that it can export finished products to the world. Did you knowthat the USA embargoed significant raw resources destined for Japan pre-WWII, and that was one of the causes of Japan going to war?

Quote:

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The Embargoes That Blocked Japanese Expansion and Led to War
...
But Japan’s breathtaking rise had two important consequences, one emotional and the other practical. Japanese leaders resented Western nations’ patronizing of the “clever” Japanese. More importantly, the rapid industrialization revealed a crucial weakness affecting national growth and security: Japan was a heavily populated country barely capable of feeding itself and bereft of natural resources vital for industry. Maintaining the status quo of importing from the West the raw materials and commodities it needed would lock Japan into a dependent role with the United States and other Western nations rich in foodstuffs and natural resources. To ultranationalists who had risen to power in the 1930s such a position of inferiority was intolerable. In addition to military parity, they sought to replace Western presence in the Pacific Rim with the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a vaguely defined economic military defense bloc dominated by Japan.

... America, first under President Herbert Hoover and then Franklin D. Roosevelt initially responded [to Japan's occupation of northern China] with diplomatic protests. When they failed to curb Japanese aggression, Roosevelt upped the ante. In 1938, the State Department advised banks at home and abroad not to extend credit to Japanese businesses. In 1939, the United States terminated the 1911 commercial treaty between the United States and Japan. This led to an American embargo initially of airplanes, parts, machine tools, and aviation gasoline. The embargo was expanded in 1940 to include oil, iron and steel scrap, and other commodities. Sharing America’s concerns, Great Britain and the Netherlands joined in the economic embargo.

Japanese leaders had already done the math, and the numbers were ugly. If the situation remained unchanged, Japan faced economic ruin within two years.

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https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/the-embargoes-that-blocked
-japanese-expansion-and-led-to-war/

Japan's essential weakness remains unchanged. In order to maintain its position as an industrial society with a hgh standard of living, it depends on foreign raw resources and foreign markets. It needs to be integrated in a larger economic system in order t survive.
Shit. SECOND, you pretend to be so smart but you don't even have grade-schooler's knowledge of world geograph.

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Writing for Responsible Statecraft, Turse said since 2008, US-trained soldiers in Africa have "attempted at least nine coups (and succeeded in at least eight) across five West African countries, including Burkina Faso (three times), Guinea, Mali (three times), Mauritania, and the Gambia."

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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Writing for Responsible Statecraft, Turse said since 2008, US-trained soldiers in Africa have "attempted at least nine coups (and succeeded in at least eight) across five West African countries, including Burkina Faso (three times), Guinea, Mali (three times), Mauritania, and the Gambia."

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https://news.antiwar.com/2023/03/23/africom-says-african-coup-leaders-
share-core-values-with-us-military/

It's shit like this that gives America a bad name and conjures up blowback.

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Friday, March 24, 2023
I Don't Know What's The Deal.

But there is very little doubt that the US illegitimately occupies part of Syria's territory and conducts a favorite business of training terrorists.

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BEIRUT (AP) — A strike Thursday by a suspected Iranian-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded six other Americans in northeast Syria,

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and U.S. forces retaliated with airstrikes on sites in Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the Pentagon said. Activists said the U.S. bombing killed at least four people. While it’s not the first time the U.S. and Iran have traded strikes in Syria, the attack and the U.S. response threaten to upend recent efforts to deescalate tensions across the wider Middle East, whose rival powers have made steps toward détente in recent days after years of turmoil. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the American intelligence community had determined the drone was of Iranian origin, but offered no other immediate evidence to support the claim. The drone hit a coalition base in the northeast Syrian city of Hasaka. The wounded included five American service members and a U.S. contractor.

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I don't know who sent the "message", but this event is a great testament to a military fallacy of the American bases around the world, because not only they will continue to lose the "power projection" value but will continue to increase their value as fat and mostly indefensible targets against modern battlefield delivery systems. Nobody in their own mind would believe that US air defense systems such as Patriot PAC3 can handle a serious salvo of even relatively unsophisticated subsonic means of delivery.

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Meanwhile butt-hurt BSer Sebastien Roblin "reports" based on propaganda doctored "data" from 404 that Russia... finally ran out of tanks and reactivated T-54/55 ones.

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Russia is dusting off the cobwebs from military deep storage facilities in the country’s Far East, for the first time railing un-upgraded Cold War T-54B tanks westward, possibly bound for Ukraine. Now, a video of the T-54s transported by rail has surfaced.

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What uneducated hack Roblin doesn't know, because with degree in "conflict resolution" and "social and global studies" you can not know anything of value, is that Russia was using older T-54/55 since War in Chechnya not for tank operations but as a very helpful artillery units for... drum roll... block posts, thus increasing their combat stability and as a good caliber response in case of attacks on numerous block posts. Generally Western pseudo-academic fields in "strategic studies", "conflict resolution" or "foreign relations" produce unemployable office plankton with minimal skills even for 7/11 janitor, but when you are also getting paid by Ukies, what kind of "reporting" one provides becomes abundantly clear. In general, SMO exposed all, without exception, US MSM and popular "alternative" media as uneducated hacks and unprofessional losers, including a large portion of the US "military experts" with hefty C.V.s in "fighting" in Iraq and Afghanistan, but with minimal expertise in modern wars and combined arms operations of scale.

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Russia & China’s US-Provoked Payment Problems Caught Most BRICS Enthusiasts By Surprise

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