A New World Order ? Russia and China’s plans for a new world order - by Gideon Rachman

The western alliance has threatened the Kremlin with “massive” and “unprecedented” sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine. But, as the Ukraine crisis reaches boiling point, western efforts to isolate and punish Russia are likely to be undermined by the support of China — Russia’s giant neighbour.

When Vladimir Putin travels to Beijing for the beginning of the Winter Olympics on February 4, the Russian president will meet the leader who has become his most important ally — Xi Jinping of China. In a phone call between Putin and Xi in December, the Chinese leader supported Russia’s demand that Ukraine must never join Nato.

A decade ago, such a relationship seemed unlikely: China and Russia were as much rivals as partners. But after a period when both countries have sparred persistently with the US, Xi’s support for Putin reflects a growing identity between the interests and world views of Moscow and Beijing. According to the Chinese media, Xi told Putin that “certain international forces are arbitrarily interfering in the internal affairs of China and Russia, under the guise of democracy and human rights”.

As Xi’s remarks to Putin made clear, the Russian and Chinese leaders are united by a belief that the US is plotting to undermine and overthrow their governments. In the heyday of communism, Russia and China supported revolutionary forces around the world. But today Moscow and Beijing have embraced the rhetoric of counter-revolution. When unrest broke out in Kazakhstan recently, Putin accused the US of attempting to sponsor a “colour revolution” — a term given to protest movements that seek to change the government — in a country that borders both Russia and China. Senior Chinese ministers echoed those remarks.

Read more at: https://www.ft.com/content/d307ab6e-57b3-4007-9188-ec9717c60023

China-Russia, a new World Order? : What will keep China and Russia from building a new world order?

Russia's geopolitical show in eastern Siberia this week with special guest China combined a dramatic display of military hardware with diplomatic trappings, summit pageantry and an executive-level cooking show.

In two separate events - the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) being held in Vladivostok and the Vostok (East) 2018 military games - Russia and China signaled to the West that they are working closer together to counterbalance US "unilateralism."

Read more: Russia and China to reduce use of US dollar in trade

The American tariff showdown with China and continued sanctions on Russia have pushed Beijing and Moscow closer together. And US President Donald Trump's protectionist course for the US also gives Chinese and Russian presidents, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, the chance to portray themselves as heroes of bilateral cooperation and globalization.

Ahead of this week's events, China's ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, told China's official Xinhua news agency that Sino-Russian relations were at their "best in history." The report also touted Chinese President Xi as a proponent of regional cooperation amid "anti-globalism and protectionist trends," while ushering in a new age of diplomacy with Russia.

What will keep China and Russia from building a new world order? | Asia| An in-depth look at news from across the continent | DW | 14.09.2018

EU: Making plans for a new world order - by Heiko Maas

Europe's relationship with the US was changing even before Donald Trump and his provocative Tweets came along. Germany now sees the current trans-Atlantic antipathy as a historic opportunity to redefine the EU's role, writes Germany's foreign minister.

If we go it alone, we will fail in this task. The outstanding aim of our foreign policy is to build a sovereign, strong Europe. Only by joining forces with France and other European nations can a balance with the US be achieved. The European Union must become a cornerstone of the international order, a partner for all those who are committed to it. She is predestined for this, because compromise and balance lie in her DNA.

“Europe United” means this: We act with sovereignty at those points where nation-states alone cannot muster the level of power a united Europe can. We are not circling the wagons and keeping the rest of the world out. We are not demanding allegiance. Europe is building on the rule of law, respect for the weaker, and our experiences that show that international cooperation is not a zero-sum game.

A balanced partnership means that we Europeans take an equal share of the responsibility. Nowhere is the trans-Atlantic link more indispensable to us than in terms of security. Whether as a partner in NATO, or in the fight against terrorism, we need the US. We must draw the right conclusions from this.

It is in our own interest to strengthen the European part of the North Atlantic Alliance. Not because Donald Trump is always setting new percentage targets, but because we can no longer rely on Washington to the same extent. But the dialectic of the trans-Atlantic also means this: If we take on more responsibility, then Americans and Europeans can continue to rely on each other in the future.

Read more: Making plans for a new world order

Is the new World order dead? The Geopolitics Of Chaos - by Javier López

The new world disorder is under way while speculation about what President Trump would do has given way to a spate of executive orders. The cocktail of reactionary withdrawal from previous commitments (Trump + Brexit is imposing a change of guard on international relationships, leaving the northern hemisphere turned upside down.
 
The neoliberal economic and geostrategic consensus has broken down and left in its wake an ocean of uncertainty. The Trump administration has shown itself hostile to European integration and has moved close to Putin. Xi Jinping “saved” the Davos forum and has become the standard-bearer of globalization. A wave of protectionist nativism could lead to trade wars with serious consequences. 2017 is the year with the greatest political risk since the end of World War II (Ian Bremmer).

The USA is starting a new era with shades of isolation and unilateralism. This compromises the Atlantic Alliance, the centre of gravity of the twentieth century. A new “special relationship” with post-Brexit Great Britain is sought while fantasizing over the end of the Euro and calling the EU a “vehicle” for Germany. It looks down on supranational organizations, the safeguards of multilateralism, while at the same time escalating tensions with China that may end in triggering the greatest danger the world now faces.

The USA is starting a new era with shades of isolation and unilateralism. This compromises the Atlantic Alliance, the centre of gravity of the twentieth century. A new “special relationship” with post-Brexit Great Britain is sought while fantasizing over the end of the Euro and calling the EU a “vehicle” for Germany. It looks down on supranational organizations, the safeguards of multilateralism, while at the same time escalating tensions with China that may end in triggering the greatest danger the world now faces.

Internally, its democracy is beginning a new chapter based on Schmitt’s Dezisionismus. A sovereign power that does not respond to legal norms or rational discussion. Without checks and balances, without judges or press. In the field of economics, trade barriers are foreseen. Care must be taken as, what do these targets (Mexico, Germany and China) of the new President all have in common? They are great exporting powers. The hostility of the White House is a reflection of one of its greatest weaknesses: its current account deficit. And also one of the greatest global macroeconomic imbalances. Once again, economy and international relations are intertwined.

Putin’s Russia feels strong and has reason to do so. After a gradual loss of domination over the strategic ‘rimland’ (Spykman), Russia has shown that is prepared to do anything, even cyberattacks, to maintain its position. All of its latest moves in the Caucasus, Ukraine or Syria have led to an increase in its influence. Putin’s authoritarianism has masked its economic problems and it seems that the electoral results in the Western world are a fortune smiling in his favour.

And Putin also now hopes that, with an American administration that is more than favourable, trade sanctions will be eased or even lifted. Trump and Putin speak the same language and their connections are more than evident. But be careful, the USA may be using the Kremlin against the Asian giant, just as Kissinger did in the opposite direction during the Cold War. A new anchor to hold down, in this case, the Chinese ascent. Trump is a dangerous character – folkloric and ridiculous, yet it would be wise not to dismiss everything he does as stupid.

The old continent can see these changing international relations as a party to which it has not been invited. Fragmented, terrified and left without the Atlantic umbrella, suffering the worst hangover after the Great Recession, and all in a year of electoral heart-attack. The biggest risk is that a great Troika made up of Washington, Moscow and Beijing will find a new international balance ignoring Europe.

At the same time, as Europeans, we have the opportunity to occupy an enormous hole in a world looking for reference and left by a retreating USA. We could take on the role of defending Enlightenment values: rule of law, democracy, tolerance and open societies. These continue to be attractive and enlightening values, but even the best ideas need to be defended. That is why the EU must restore its undermined social model, equipping it with a shield in terms of security and defense.

We need to activate a flexible Europe, through enhanced cooperation, to unblock the process of integration and end the paralyzing tug of war between capitals.

It is more vital than ever to look for allies who share our vision of the world: laws, dialogue and multilateralism. Our relations with Latin America and Canada take on a new significance. It would suit us to find a new equilibrium with Russia and strengthen ties with China. We will also need to pay special attention to the candidacy for German Chancellor of the social democrat and pro-European Martin Schulz. His victory would have a huge impact on the hegemonic power of the continent.

Read more: The Geopolitics Of Chaos

New World Order Equals "Global Disorder": as the frail structures of peace are collapsing around us - by RM

Nuclear War Looms

What was sold to the world as "the New World Order" by George Bush, the father of  George W.Bush can only be described today as a total failure and should really be known as the "World Corporate Takeover".

As a result things are escalating in the world today: tensions, wars, guns, refugee crises, poverty, economic crises, immigration, etc.

The world must solve these problems before they explode into  a Third World Nuclear War.

World leaders, politicians, people cannot continue keep silent on atrocities going on around the world, especially the Middle East and Africa, or even in our own Western cities and neighborhoods.

Only when enough voices are raised can something change.

Feel encouraged to use the social media, not only for pleasantries, culinary delights, travel, or navel staring, but also use it as a non-violent, but very effective weapon to criticize your elected leaders, corporations, the press, on issues that are important for your survival.

Those of you using Blogs or other communications tools, as an oversight to expose governments and corporate "hanky-panky" need to be cheered on and complimented.

The younger generation, reading this report, are also encouraged to use their energy and skills, not only to make money, but also to become an activists, by speaking their minds on issues they believe in.

After all as Alexis de Tocqueville once said said: "The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by its private citizens" .

Take the time to look around you and you will soon realize that the so-called "status-quo " enjoyed by only a few, is not sufficient to guarantee a productive living environment for all.

It is no longer acceptable before God, and people with conscience. Nations who have no voice in the world are being purged, gutted out and destroyed.

Today there is conflict all over the world. You name it, the Middle East, Africa, Central America, Ukraine, etc. Thousands have perished in Syria, and millions fled from their homes; thousands are perishing in Yemen, mostly children; thousand in Iraq and the destruction of an ancient city; thousands fled in Libya where another war is raging; 60, 000 just fled their homes a few days ago in South Sudan; Mali, Central African Republic, Somali, Congo all in conflict and millions in refugee camps. Thousands have perished and millions fled to seek refugee status in Europe, Turkey, Lebanon and even the US.

Something must be done soon before the frail structures still holding the world from collapsing into a Third World Nuclear War” also collapse.

Many of the areas where you have conflicts these days are usually the so-called Third World Nations or as somecall them, Developing Nations. They do, however, contain most of the natural resources in the world, but still remain among the poorest nations of the world.

The obvious question is why?

Mainly because the global centers of power in the world, including the US, EU, China, Russia, Britain, either use these developing countries to expand their political sphere of influence, or to control their natural resources, under all kinds of pretenses; including the setting-up of puppet leaders who do their bidding.

Once a grip is established by "an outside power", it will put a "friendly" Puppet Government in place providing it with weapons to control the people they govern.

When those leaders, however,  for one reason or another, are not able to meet the goals set for them by their "foreign benefactor", they are either exciled or assassinated, under whatever pretense.

This is the way leaders in Egypt, Libya, Iraq, etc. were toppled.

Consequently many of the world's Third World leaders are ruthless, wicked, and not able to develop these natural resources for the benefit of their own people, specially in Africa, blessed with just about every natural resource the world needs.

Our own Western leaders are not much better in that respect, specially when it comes to Democracy or governance.

They seldom show any remorse for the atrocities they have created around the world; are godless and immoral; will promise anything to keep control over the people, only to deceive, will not do what they promise and usually create more problems than opportunities for the people they are supposed to serve.

Poverty has spread across the globe, not only in Africa, but now also to the rich and powerful nations of the world, including, the US, India, Russia, China, Britain, Greece, France, Braxil, Venezuela and many more.

When it comes to politics, people these days the world over have a lot in common. From Fukushima to Athens, and from Washington to Shanghai, China, the collective refrain is that government is not to be trusted, or working the way it should, and that corporations are calling the shots today.

People in the so-called "civilized" world now pay dearly for energy, medicine,insurance, healthcare, banking, and telecommunications services.  In the past it was called Voodoo Economics and today it has become Strangle-Hold Economics.

Research reveals that people are paying more -- much more -- in a variety of ways that our business-friendly mainstream media won't talk about.

Just look at America's Middle class. It  is almost wiped out; either you are rich, or poor now; poverty levels stand at 46 percent and is increasing; millions are in shelters, and millions without jobs. 

To add insult to injury - The wide-spread availability of guns in America has killed thousands of Americans, and everyday, many more die from gun violence; yet, Congress doesn't want to pass gun control law. Mainly again because of the powerful NRA lobby, which has its hands on the pocketbook of just about every legislator in both major parties.

In the meantime the corporate power structure has taken over most of the political decision making in Western Countries, and even more so in America. It now influences and controls just about anything  you can imagine. From the healthcare Industry to the food industry, even influencing what kind of hormones and pesticides are allowed in the food you eat, and all else in between. 

The Pharmaceutical industry uses sales agents, not only to peddle their drugs, but also to bribe Drs. with a variety of incentives, including money. 

Drs. are prescribing drugs and performing surgery on patients that don't really need those particular drugs or the surgery, while new effective and cheaper .drugs that can cure patient are delayed in being put on to the marketplace,t so that the Pharmaceutical Industry can continue selling expensive drugs which don't work. .    

A report by Battelle Memorial Institute determined that the $4 billion government-funded Human Genome Project (HGP) will generate economic activity of about $140 for every dollar spent. Although that estimate controversial, drug industry executives say it's just a matter of time before the profits roll in.

Big business has quickly made its move on this. 

One-fifth of the human genome is now privately owned through patents. Strains of influenza and hepatitis have been claimed by corporate and private university labs, preventing researchers from using the patented life forms to perform cancer research. This is not only bad it is plainly criminal.

As if to mock us, while taking over our public research, some of the largest drug companies haven't been paying much in taxes. Pfizer had 40% of its 2011-12 revenues in the U.S., but declared almost $7 billion in U.S. losses to go along with $31 billion in foreign profits. Abbott Labs had 42% of its sales in the U.S., but declared a loss in the U.S. along with $12 billion in foreign profits.

These alliances between the political establishment and the corporate world are now commonplace and even expanding further..

In the area of communications we see similar developments. 

In the US the CIA and NSA have been using public tax money to pay AT&T. Google, and other companies to access its data - basically your private data - for surveillance purposes. 

With almost no transparency or oversight, the CIA has been paying AT&T to monitor US citizens overseas phone calls. Hundreds of dollars per customer per month goes to Verizon for similar snooping. 

The NSA also compensated Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook for penalties accrued in the secretive Prism surveillance program.

Many US  corporations consequently feel very powerful as a result of the inequitable support they receive from their government when operating in other countries, and often act accordingly in an arrogant way, when dealing with foreign governments.

Recently Facebook rejected claims made by Germany's state authorities that it was reluctant to co-operate with them on criminal investigations, saying many of the requests it received for user data were incorrectly formulated.

Several regional interior ministers have complained that the social media group is hesitant to respond to requests for data and have called on the Federal Justice Ministry to introduce new laws.

German Police said the Ansbach bomber had six Facebook accounts including one held under a false identity. Traces of an online messaging conversation found on his phone also suggest he was influenced by an unknown person up until the time of the attack, said Bavaria's interior minister.

Germany's spy chief called on Monday for a more intensive exchange of information between social networks and security agencies in the fight against terrorism.

Bottom-line: The state of the world is not looking good, and maybe in this respect one should quote Scripture which says: “You will reap whatever you sow in life.” 

Mankind certainly can not be proud about what it sowed. 

The time of reckoning is fast approaching -and we must act before it is too late,

EU-Digest                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

the Guardian: "Que se vayan todos! - that's the global backlash talking - by Naomi Klein

For the complete report from The Guardian click on this link

"Que se vayan todos! - that's the global backlash talking - by Naomi Klein

Watching the crowds in Iceland banging pots and pans until their government fell reminded me of a chant popular in anti-capitalist circles in 2002: "You are Enron. We are Argentina." Its message was simple enough. You - politicians and CEOs huddled at some trade summit - are like the reckless scamming execs at Enron (of course, we didn't know the half of it). We - the rabble outside - are like the people of Argentina, who, in the midst of an economic crisis eerily similar to our own, took to the street banging pots and pans. They shouted, "¡Que se vayan todos!" ("All of them must go!") - and forced out a procession of four presidents in less than three weeks. What made Argentina's 2001-02 uprising unique was that it wasn't directed at a particular political party or even at corruption in the abstract. The target was the dominant economic model: this was the first national revolt against contemporary deregulated capitalism. It has taken a while, but from Iceland to Latvia, South Korea to Greece, the rest of the world is finally having its ¡Que se vayan todos! moment.

The pattern is clear: governments that respond to a crisis created by free-market ideology with an acceleration of that same discredited agenda will not survive to tell the tale.

gnmagazine: The New World Disorder: Where Is It Taking Us? - by John Ross Schroeder

"the party could be over?"
For the complete report from the GNMagazine click on this link

The New World Disorder: Where Is It Taking Us? - by John Ross Schroeder

Author and educator James Martin, founder of the Institute for Science and Civilization at the University of Oxford, soberly warns us: "At the start of the 21st century, humankind finds itself on a non-sustainable course—a course that unless it is changed will lead to catastrophes of awesome consequences. This could be humanity's last century, or could be the century in which civilization sets sail towards a far more spectacular future" (The Meaning of the 21st Century, 2007, preface). The choices and options of humanity are narrowing sharply. Intelligent observers of the world scene recognize that we must alter our ways soon or face eking out a bare existence in a shattered and disordered world. Either we are fast running out of time or we may have already passed the dreaded point of no return. Current affairs author and historian Robert Harvey previously articulated his own stark warning: "Unless action is taken as the warm glow of sunset on the twentieth century is replaced by the pale light of dawn on the twenty-first, we will gaze towards the same horizon of global horrors as our great-grandfathers, this time through a nuclear haze. The world is a much more dangerous place than it has been for nearly half a century" (Global Disorder, 2003, p. xxxii).

Czech patriot and former President Vaclav Havel has stated that "cultural conflicts are increasing and are more dangerous today than at any time in history" (quoted by Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, 1997, p. 28).

Fox Forum: America's economic power on the Global Stage Waning - by Mallory Factor

For the complete report from the FOX Forum click on this link

America's economic power on the Global Stage Waning - by Mallory Factor

The global stage may appear complex, but there are really just two kinds of players: creditor nations and debtor nations. Today, autocratic oil-rich Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and resource-rich states such as China and Russia are developing huge holdings in Western currency, debt, and industries, while democratic Western governments slip deeper and deeper into debt. Though these countries are not richer than the United States or other Western nations, they are now the creditors of those nations. The power is shifting. A new relationship is emerging, one that no longer favors the West. The West’s poor fiscal discipline and failed economic policies have allowed this shift to happen. The economic power of these rising nations began with their central banks purchasing excess reserves of dollars and duros and, later, U.S. and European debt. More recently, many countries have established new financial vehicles called Sovereign Wealth Funds to make direct investments in global companies and industries, thereby extending their nation’s financial influence. Guided by the best and brightest from Wall Street and making more and more sophisticated investments in our economy, these foreign governments are aiming for greater returns, both economic and political, from their investments.

Given their growing economic might, the new “creditor nations” will have the power to further their geopolitical ambitions by using a weapon of international diplomacy and warfare that hasn’t been seen in centuries: economic statecraft. In the emerging world order, global dominance will not be decided only by armies and aircraft, but by greenbacks and euros, rubles and renminbi as well. And the US can no longer simply impose their views on the world. Creditor nations are now projecting power with their economic might — and in new and innovative ways.

Daily Finance/EU-Digest - "Resistance is becoming morally justified" - With GM nearly bankrupt, can America manage?

For the complete report from the Daily Finance click on this link

"Resistance is becoming morally justified" - With GM nearly bankrupt, can America manage?

General Motors (GM) most likely has just a few days before it files for bankruptcy, marking the final death gasps of a company that once controlled 50 percent of the North American vehicle market and sported a peak market value (in April 2000) of $54 billion.While the bankruptcy is great news for America's bankruptcy lawyers and investment bankers -- the pilot fish of American business, snapping up the scraps of food left behind by the economic sharks who create new wealth -- GM's demise also raises a more troubling question: Can America manage? Or more specifically, can American managers still create world-leading industries or have we lost it? First, let's examine GM's pending bankruptcy and the huge amount of money to be made off it by those economic pilot fish. Weil, Gotshal & Manges, the New York firm handling the Lehman case, recently sought approval for billings of $55 million for just three months' work, and is expected to get more from GM.

GM, which has already gotten $19.4 billion in U.S. debt, will require almost four times more -- $40 billion to $70 billion in debtor-in-possession financing -- to create a new version of GM. Bankers will cash in on the GM bankruptcy gold rush as well.

America has recently proven itself to be a failure when it comes to sustaining an automobile industry and our finance industry has only succeeded in gaining control of the global economic system -- right before nearly wiping it out. So can the U.S. economic system still do anything right? Note EU-Digest: If the politicians like it or not, the buck stops with them. They have let this happen and they are still letting this disaster go on. Where is the regulation they promised to put in place around the world to reign in the "free wheeling" of the financial industry?. Maybe it's good to remind government leaders and politicians around the world on what Thomas Jefferson wrote to M. deStael in 1807, "When patience has begotten false estimates of its motives, when wrongs are pressed because it is believed they will be borne, resistance becomes morality". If changes today mean just re-establishing the status quo, millions of desperate people affected by the incompetence of their leaders could very well revert to revolution as the only valuable option for cleaning-up the mess the world finds itself in. Once the masses start moving it will be too late.

The farce continues: U.S. eases accounting rules as G20 acts - who is kidding whom?

EU-DigestThe farce continues: U.S. eases accounting rules as G20 acts - who is kidding whom?

As world leaders were meeting to find solutions to the financial crisis, the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board moved to give banks more flexibility in valuing troubled assets. The changes, to take effect in the second quarter, could reduce writedowns and soften blows to bank earnings. In London's heavily guarded Docklands region, world leaders were set to triple the war chest of the International Monetary Fund to fight the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and impose new curbs on financial markets, monetary sources said.The G20 nations also agreed to a crackdown on tax havens, asking the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to publish a list of tax havens, and promising to enforce sanctions on noncompliant countries. This was a long-standing demand of the French side.

France and Germany raised the stakes Wednesday in the run-up to the summit, saying an overhaul of global financial oversight was a "nonnegotiable" take away from the gathering and dismissing calls for further stimulus packages. "We would never have hoped to get so much. This is not the victory of one camp against the other, but shows the growing awareness that the world needs to change", Sarkozy said. Obviously since this was basically a political meeting, everyone needed to declare some kind of victory. If results stay out the politicians we saw and heard will have to pay the bill. The voters usually have little patience.

YouTube - Economy Collapse 2009 - New World Order Media Lies

To see the video report on YouTube click on this link

Economy Collapse 2009 - New World Order Media Lies

Some questions and answers to the question many people are asking, where do we stand today with the New World Order?

EU-Digest/La Stampa: A New World Order: EU - China - Russia? Why EU and China need Russia - by Nicholas Kimbrell

For the complete report from LASTAMPA..com.it click on this link

A New World Order: EU - China - Russia? Why EU and China need Russia - by Nicholas Kimbrell

It is necessary for the EU to go in a different direction, something which is already occurring with the idea of a Kerneuropa, which has its own constellation revolving around it, or the view of the EU as kind of super-market with some responsibilities which are shared and others which are kept rigorously separate. In any case, clarity is needed regarding the direction in which the EU, and not just Russia, is heading.

Note EU-Digest: Author and political analyst Parag Khanna of the New America Foundation set the tone at todays (Friday') opening seminar during a gathering of international scholars, diplomats and political analysts gathered in Beirut,when he said: "After the Uni-Polar Moment," suggesting that "the return to uni-polarity, American hegemony, is literally impossible." Advocating a more rigorous and collective analysis of multi-polarity, particularly in relation to Russia and India, Khanna cited the US, China and the EU as the incumbent and future "centers of gravity." Most of the speakers seemed to challenge the notion of US hegemony without questioning the still-dominant role Washington holds in much of the world. Indeed, featured speakers from rising powers sought to define their policies as distinct from the proactive US unilateralism, particularly in the Middle East. Chu Shulong, deputy director of the Institute of International Strategic and Development Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing, emphasized China's desire to end its historic isolation and win regional and global "friends" based on economic and diplomatic terms. It seems the EU will soon need to seek more strategic and economically practical alliances than its present Trans-Atlantic Alliance which has mainly made it a cost sharing partner of the US in military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

EU-Digest: : Special Report: Russia, Georgia and US: The infernal logic of mutual escalation

A special EU-Digest report on the escalating crises between Georgia and Russia

EU-Digest Special Report - Russia, Georgia and US: "The infernal logic of mutual escalation"

The blogosphere has been buzzing with comments about the escalating conflict between Georgia and Russia. Based on these circulating reports the following picture seems to emerge.

It is clear now that Georgia 'invaded' South Ossetia first to reclaim what they consider to be their territory. According to Reuters - they have also attacked Ossetian separatists with jets and troops. Also pretty certain now is that the pro-US Georgian leadership, which has ambitions to join NATO, had some sort of assent from Washington before it invaded South Ossetia. Georgia's accession to NATO would commit other NATO countries to defend Georgia's borders, even as independence movements in South Ossetia, Abkhazia - both of which have declared themselves separate from Georgia - and Ajaria take off.

The bottom-line seems to be that the escalation of violence in the area has also become a battle between Washington and Moscow over political control of the oil and gas rich Central Asian territories. It is clear to most observers that the US Administration used the opportunity supplied by 9/11 to position military bases across the region, encircling Russia's southern flank with their own "iron curtain" thereby giving the US crucial military leverage against potentially hostile popular movements.

In respect to Georgia, the Bush administration has always supported the so-called "rose revolution" of the pro-US Mikhail Saakashvili. The US National Endowment for Democracy was heavily involved in Mikheil Saakashvili's political campaign for the Presidency, while at the same time the US State Department halved aid to the country before the elections, in order to apply financial pressure to Saakashvili's oponent. Unfortunately, like the other color-coded 'revolutions', the Georgian one also represented a superficial change in leadership with a new global orientation towards Washington, not a substantial change in the society. In the meantime Saakashvili popularity dropped from an astonishing 94% in the autumn of 2003 to 23% two years later. Washington has consequently repeatedly bailed out the floundering "rose" leadership with aid, and grants, purportedly rewarding it for what they called 'democratic' reforms. These so called democratic reforms including Georgia sending troops to Iraq and allowing US forces to be stationed on their territory and train their military. In 2006 alone former Soviet states have received $565 million in aid programs courtesy of the US Senate, to protect them from "authoritarian Russia". Obviously given the pro-independence separatists trends in Georgia, which benefit the policies of the Putin-Medvedev government, the US is eager to stop this deteriorating situation.

Observers also have concluded that Russia is really not doing anything surprising here: its control of gas and oil in the region is one of its few strengths, and it is exploiting it in the same way the Pentagon does with their military strength. Russia's other strength has been its nuclear arsenal, which it has firmly tucked in its back pocket as a deterrent to other nuclear powers.

As to the conflict with Georgia, Russia can look at the US and refer to Kosovo, where the roles were reversed. South Ossetia has held independence referendums in 1991 and 2006 with no consequences on the ground in either case. Kosovo too did hold a referendum in 1992 without diminishing the apartheid-like Serbian power on the ground. On the other hand, internationally coordinated and recognized independence of Kosovo in February 2008 came through no referendum but by Nato Force. This clearly shows that what people on the ground wish for does not by itself make much of a difference at the end of the day. A factual difference between the two situations are the small population of South Ossetia with 70,000 people versus that of Kosovo with over 2 million.

Russia also knows and fears that the US government's policy seem to be focused on 'neutralizing' Russia's nuclear advantage in the region by aiming to develop a 'missile defense' system around the latter's perimeter, Russia consequently is working aggressively to escalate itsown weapons systems (which are still dwarfed in comparison to the American systems), intimidate rivals, and build up local support - forging new relations with Turkmenistan for example, with a new pipeline to import gas from this country, thus increasing its hold on supplies of energy to Europe.

As it stands now Washington could easily escalate the situation. Looking further into the future one can also see a potential new Brzezinski-advised Obama Administration focussing far more intently on shoring up US power in Central Asia than continuing to fight the costly Iraq insurgency. Present and future US Administrations, in pursuing a "new Cold War strategy", will continue to introduce an infernal logic of mutual escalation, so that even if this present Georgian crisis simmers down, a new one is bound to emerge somewhere soon. The much-vaunted new world order is increasingly resembling the old one, but with more nuclear weapons and less stability for the world.

The position of the EU in all this is negligible. Probably the only positive action some of its members took was to force a delay by the NATO to accept Georgia as a member. Unfortunately, by their own choice, and lack of long term vision by many of its leaders, the EU has no physical force or "spine" to back-up whatever they might decide. Unfortunately this weakness also means that most of the time the Europeans are relegated to follow policies established by Washington, which so far has had more negatives than positives for Europe.

USA Today: Stocks soar as US Fed, and some other central banks act - to take bad loans off the banks' books - "A desperate move to worsen turmoil"

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Stocks soar as US Fed, and some other central banks act - to take bad loans off the banks' books - "A desperate move to worsen turmoil"

Stocks rebounded sharply Tuesday after the Federal Reserve and other central banks said they will pump billions into the financial markets to help ease strain from the credit crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 150 points in afternoon trading after initially surge more than 250. The program is part of a worldwide effort to help struggling banks and mortgage providers. The Fed — acting in concert with the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank — agreed to loan banks ultra-safe Treasury securities in exchange for debt that includes slumping mortgage-backed securities.

"The big problem has been the financials, and this helps supply money directly to the banks and may take some of the need for aggressive rate cutting off the table," said Peter Dunay, chief investment strategist at Meridian Equity Partners. "The Fed is basically going to take the bad loans off the banks' books, and the market seems to be loving that idea."

Note EU-Digest: the above seems to indicate a great amount of desperation and panic by the worlds secretive financial community, who now seem to be helping their own before the walls come tumbling down?.

Global Research: The Crashing U.S. Economy Held Hostage - by Richard Cook

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The Crashing U.S. Economy Held Hostage - by Richard Cook

Remember when the U.S. was the world’s greatest industrial democracy? Barely thirty years ago the output of our producing economy and the skills of our workforce led the world. What happened? It’s hard to believe that in the space of a generation our character and capabilities just collapsed as, for example, did our steel and automobile industries and our family farming. What then are the causes of the decline? Here’s how I would put it today: our economy is on an artificial life-support system, a barely-breathing hostage in a lunatic asylum. That asylum is the U.S. and world financial systems which are on the verge of collapse. The inmates are the world’s central bankers, along with most of the financial magnates big and small. The fact is that the economy of much of the world is in a decisive downward slide which the financiers cannot stop because the systems they operate are the primary cause. As often happens, the inmates rule the asylum. The problems aren’t confined to the U.S. Unemployment worldwide is increasing, debt is rampant, infrastructures are crumbling, and commodity prices are rising. In such an environment, crime, warfare, terrorism, and other forms of violence are endemic. Only the most naïve, self-centered, and deluded jingoist could describe such a scenario in terms of the freedom-loving Western democracies being besieged by the “bad guys.”

Rather what is happening highlights the growing failures of Western globalist finance whose impact on political stability has been so corrosive. As many responsible commentators are warning, we are likely to see major financial shocks within the next few months. The warnings are even coming from high-flying institutional players like the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund. We may even be seeing the end of an era when the financiers ruled the world. At a certain point, governments or their military and bureaucratic establishments are likely to stop being passive spectators to the onrushing disorder. It is already happening in Russia and elsewhere. The countries that will be least able to master their own destiny are those like the U.S. where governments have been most passive to economic decomposition from actions of their financial sectors. The financiers are the ones who for the last generation have benefited most from economies marked by privatization, deregulation, and speculation, but that may be about to change. Whether the change will be constructive or catastrophic is yet to be seen.

The Seoul Times: New World Order Evolving - by Ivan Simic

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New World Order Evolving - by Ivan Simic

The term "New World Order" (Novus Ordo Mundi) has been used to refer to a new period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power. If we look back through history we can recount various attempts of several countries to create a New World Order or some sort of dominance among countries. Some of these attempts were led by great warriors such as, Alexander the Great (Macedonian Empire), Julius Caesar (Roman Empire), Genghis Khan (Mongol Empire), Napoleon Bonaparte (French Empire), Adolf Hitler, among others. From this we can see that every attempt to rule the world was needless and devastating.

In the very near future, in order to survive, keep national identity and to maintain economy, costume and culture it is more likely that more Unions and Alliances will be formed to create a New World Order; a bigger European Union with new member states such as: Macedonia, Croatia and Turkey. The Union of Asian and Eurasian countries Russia, Mongolia, China and India, The Union of Islamic countries from Middle East and Central Asia, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, stronger unity from The African Union, The Union of Central and South America; Panama, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela, and eventually The North American Union; USA, Canada and Mexico. After these Unions, we can expect even bigger ones.