Index

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 

A

Acupuncture

Afghanistan

Africa / Congo

Alchemy - Waidan / Neidan

Arab World - Arab Spring

Archeology

Armenia

Artificial Intelligence - Cybersecurity - Cryptocurrency

Asia and Cold War

Asian Religions

Asia’s Secret Networks

Asia’s WWII

Astrology

Atlantis

Australia

Ayurveda

 

B

Blavatsky, H.P.

Brazil

Buddhism

 

C

Cayce, Edgar

Celts

China

China – Movie Industry

China - Rome

China - Taiwan - Hong Kong

China / US - South-East Asia

China - Oceanic Powers

Climate Change

Cold War

Colonianism

Conspiracy Theory

Coronavirus Crisis, Pandemy

 

D

Dalai Lama

 

E

East Asia

Economy, see World - World Economy

Edgar Cayce, see Cayce, Edgar

Egypt

Empires

Enlightenment

Eric Vandenbroeck, see Interviews with Eric Vandenbroeck

Esoterics

EU - Europe

Europe

Extremism

 

F

Fascism, see Second World War

First World War, see also WWI

Freemasonry

 

G

 

Globalization

Global Jihad

Greater Han-Han Zhou Dynasty

 

H

Hawaii

Hitler, see Second World War

Homeopathy

Human Origins - Humanity

 

 

I

 

India

International Relations

International Systems

Interviews with Eric Vandenbroeck

Iran

Iraq

Islam

Israel - Palestine - Jerusalem

 

J

 

Japan

Jesus Christ / Dead Sea Scrolls

Jihad, Global, see Global Jihad

 

K

Kurds

 

L

 

Latinoamerica, see also South America

 

 

M

 

Middle East

Miscellaneous

Myanmar - Rohingya Crisis

 

N

Napoleon

NATO

North Korea

Nuclear Peril

 

O

Oman

Order of St. John – Malta Order – Russian Survival Myth

 

P

 

Pacific War

Pakistan

Palestine: see Israel – Palestine – Jerusalem

Polish Spies

Political Qigong

"Prince Michael of Albany"

Psychology - Psychiatry

Putin: see Russia - Putin

 

Q

 

Qatar

 

R

Reincarnation

Religious Politics

Russia - Central Asia

Russia - Putin

Russia - Tsar

Russian Survival Myth: see Order of St. John

Rwanda Genocide, Arab Spring etc.

 

S

 

Scientology

Second World War, see also WWII

Slavery North America

South America

South Asia

Spy Agencies - Secret Intelligence Services

Stuarts

Syria Crisis – Lebanon, Yemen

 

T

Taiwan

Terrorism

Tesla

Thailand

Turkey

Twitter

 

U

UFO-Report – Aliens

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United Nations, UN

United States

Utopianism

 

V

 

Venezuela

Venice

 

W

 

Warsaw Pact

World - World Economy - History - Politics

WWI, see also First World War

WWII, see also Second World War

World Order

 

Y

Yoga

 

Z

Zionism

 

A

Acupuncture

Afghanistan

Africa / Congo

Alchemy - Waidan / Neidan

Arab World - Arab Spring

Archeology

Armenia

Artificial Intelligence - Cybersecurity - Cryptocurrency

Asia and Cold War

Asian Religions

Asia’s Secret Networks

Asia’s WWII

Astrology

Atlantis

Australia

Ayurveda

 

 

Case Study:

Why acupuncture is a placebo based on pre-scientific mysticism

 

Alternative Medicine in Context

 

 

Afghanistan Still Threatens The Region And Beyond.

 

Why Pressure Is The Best Way.

 

The Forces That Could Threaten The Taliban’s Control.

 

What can be said about US involvement and the current situation in Afghanistan

 

What next with Afghanistan

 

Predicaments of Pakistan in Afghanistan

 

 

A Sort Of 'Out Of Africa’.

 

The Youthful Continent.

 

Africa’s Ukraine Dilemma.

 

From Past To Next Fifty Years.

 

Deep-Rooted Factors. (Part 3)

 

Trade, Colonialism And Uneven Development. (Part 2)

 

The New Out Of Africa Theory. (Part 1)

 

Belgium’s Africa Museum Had a Racist Image. Can It Change That?

 

Head of UN, Ban Ki-moon, seeks to appoint investigator for fatal crash of Dag Hammarskjöld

 

Case Study:

The French Rwanda File:

 

South Africa and AFRICOM

 

The Hamitic theory of race and the role it played in the Rwandan Genocide:

 

Case Study P.1:

The Creation of Belgium

 

Case Study P.2:

The Start of Belgian Empirialism: When Texas was to be a Belgian Colony

 

History of the former Belgian Congo

P.1: Egypt in Central Africa

 

History of Central Africa

P.2: King Leopold's Media

 

our earlier comment about Blood Diamonds

 

 

2020 20 April:

Major Case Study: 

From Waidan (External Alchemy) to Neidan (Internal Alchemy)

 

 

The UAE And Its Talest Building In The World.

 

Why A Spate of Diplomatic Deals Won’t End Conflict.

 

Key To The Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

 

How To Deal With The Saudi Arabia Problems.

 

What Needs To Happen Next.

 

The Making Of The Middle East.

 

The Making Of The Modern Middle East Part 2.

 

The ‘Arab’ And The Syrian Question.

 

Enter: Arab Spring 2011

 

Archeology

 

Göbekli Tepe revisited part three

 

Göbekli Tepe revisited part two

 

The world’s earliest cities and what it means for today

 

Ancient Globalization

 

In the Beginning

 

Genes or Behavior?

 

The Archeology of Worldwide War and Peace

 

They Built the First Temples?

 

The Earliest States

Truth In History: Inventing Archeology

 

Case Study:

Archeology of the Middle East Today

 

Nationalism: Ancient Egypt, Judea, Armenia, Japan?

‘King Arthur’

 

Click to enter:

 

Fringe Archeology Update

 

'Archeological Fantasies' continue:

 

The Mother of all Theocratic States: Lemuria

 

September 2004, Cult Archeology: Civilization One Book (excerpt)

 

Neo Paganism

 

From Mircea Eliade to Carlos Castaneda

 

The Truth About Carlos Castaneda

 

The Myth of the Noble Savage

 

Reader Comment: The Myth of the Noble Savage

 

Celts and Druids Speaking

 

From N. Pennick to Celtic/Northern Literature

 

The Temple of a Nation, Stonehenge

 

And Who Owns Ancient Remains?

 

Neo-Shamanists and Pagans Today

 

Why We Never Found Atlantis

 

The Atlantis Syndrome P.1

 

The Atlantis Syndrome P.2

 

The Atlantis Syndrome P.3

 

Cuba's Gateway To Atlantis P.1

 

Cuba's Gateway To Atlantis P.2: Cocaine

 

Gateway to Atlantis P.3: Seven Cities, El Dorado

 

Gateway to Atlantis P.4: Urheimat der Arier

 

Cuba's Atlantis

 

Armenia

 

Why, and what happened

 

Major Case Study:

So what really happened in Armenia

 

(Updated version)

Case Study:

Armenian Genocide

 

 

The New Threat.

 

Generative Artificial Intelligence.

 

How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform The Military.

 

The Ramifications Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Part Two.

 

The Ramifications Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Part One.

 

There Is No Time To Waste.

 

Get Ready For Artificial Intelligence.

 

An Extensive Overview Of How Crypto-Currency Fraud Functions.

 

The Illusion Of China’s AI Prowess.

 

The Battle For Brains.

 

But There Is A Solution.

 

Blockchain Analysis.

 

Cryptocurrency-Based Crimes Part Four.

 

Cryptocurrency-Based Crimes Part Three.

 

Cryptocurrency-Based Crimes Part Two.

 

Cryptocurrency-Based Crimes.

 

Tackling The 2023 Problem Of Cybersecurity.

 

Weaponized Artificial Intelligence.

 

The logic of human nature and causal networks

 

Dismantling the myths of AI Part Two

 

Dismantling the myths of AI Part One 

 

The question about current medical efficiency and that of digital authoritarianism versus liberal democracies

 

 

Introduction

 

P.2 The Malay Theatre

 

P.3 The Vietnam Theatre

 

P.4 The Korean Theatre

 

P.5 Indonesia and China Burning

 

P.6 1945-1950

 

P.7 Vietnam War and World Decolonization.

Was the Cold War inevitable?

 

…investigae in the following part

 

Introduction: Gorbachev's Last Days

 

Was the Cold War Predetermined? Investigating the Beginning of the Cold War P.1.

 

Was the Cold War Predetermined? Investigating the Beginning of the Cold War P.2

 

Investigating the End of the Cold War P.1

 

Investigating the End of the Cold War P.2

Investigating the End of the Cold War P.3

 

 

Child Mediums in Asia

 

Research Report P.2

 

transition from Waidan to Neidan alchemy

 

Introduction

 

Tantra in China P.1

 

Buddhist Dream-Yoga in Tibet, P.1

 

Buddhist Dream-Yoga in Tibet, P.2

 

Buddhist Dream-Yoga in Tibet, P.3

 

The Dance of Lives: The Tulku Game

 

Chan Buddhism

 

Visiting India P.1

 

Visiting India P.2: Beyond the Rope Trick

 

Psychiatry and Beliefs in Indonesia P.1

 

Psychiatry and Beliefs in Indonesia P.2

 

Psychiatry and Beliefs in Indonesia P.3

 

Psychiatry and Beliefs in Indonesia P.4:

 

Case Study:

Singapore’s neo-Confusianism: Democracy and Balance

 

Introduction to traditional Taoism

 

The Origins of Daoism

 

Enter Waidan:

 

From Waidan to Neidan: Religious-Meditative Alchemy

 

Introduction: Indian Tantra Anyone?

 

Tantra Unveiled P.1: Development

 

Tantra Unveiled P.2: Secret (Inner)Practice

 

Tantra Unveiled P.3: Sexual Tantra and Beyond

 

Tantra Unveiled P.4: Initiations

 

The Occult Connection

 

The Occult Connection P.2.

 

The Occult Connection of Nath Siddha Alchemy P.3

 

 

Major Case Study:

Asia’s secret networks Part Eleven

 

Major Case Study:

Asia’s secret networks Part Ten

 

Major Case Study:

Asia’s secret networks Part Nine

 

Major Case Study: 

Asia’s secret networks Part Eight

 

Major Case Study: 

Asia’s secret networks Part Seven

 

Major Case Study: 

Asia’s secret networks Part Six

 

Major Case Study: 

Asia’s secret networks Part Five

 

Major Case Study:

Asia’s secret networks Part Four

 

Major Case Study:

Asia’s secret networks Part Three

 

Major Case Study: 

Asia’s secret networks Part Two

 

Major Case Study:

Asia’s secret networks Part One

 

 

Major Case Study:

From hot to Cold War: Asia's WWII

 

 

But Astrology’s Politics Are More Complicated Than Any Simple Link To Left Or Right.

 

 

Genocide In Australia.

 

 

Why We Never Found Atlantis

 

 

The political and religious trajectory of Ayurveda

 

B

Blavatsky, H.P.

Brazil

Buddhism

 

 

The Secret Doctrine And The Inner Group.

 

 

Bolsonaro Redux.

 

Far-Right Movements In The Two Countries Are Deeply Interconnected.

 

The Current Situation.

 

Far-Right Rioters Invaded Brazil's Federal Representative Institutions.

 

Why the political climate in Brazil matters to the rest of the world

 

 

 

Discussion, Buddhism

 

A new understanding of Buddhist's past and at least one possible future

 

C

Cayce, Edgar

Celts

China

China – Movie Industry

China - Rome

China - Taiwan - Hong Kong

China / US - South-East Asia

China - Oceanic Powers

Climate Change

Cold War

Colonianism

Conspiracy Theory

Coronavirus Crisis, Pandemy

 

 

The Edgar Cayce Secret Files

 

Celts

 

Major Case Study:

The less-known aspects of early Irish and Scottish Nationalism

 

Recherche sur ce qui ne va pas avec les Celtes

 

 

Cold War China Xi Jinping And The United States.

 

President Xi's Thought.

 

From Moscow To China.

 

But It Can Still Prevent Chinese Hegemony.

 

Chinese Spy Operations.

 

But Where Is This Going?

 

Will Xi’s Military Modernization Pay Off?

 

Beijing Seeks To Extend The Hegemony Of Mandarin.

 

More Likely To React To External Threats.

 

The Real Toll Of Beijing’s Belt And Road.

 

Why America And China Will Be Enduring Rivals.

 

Berlin’s Delicate Balance With Beijing.

 

The End Of China’s Economic Miracle.

 

A Form Of Preparation For War.

 

The Global South.

 

Living On The Edge.

 

Blinded By The Fight.

 

How Institutional Balancing Promotes Stability In Asia.

 

U.S.-Chinese Rivalry.

 

China’s Affinity With Russia Is Over.

 

The Virtue Of Low Expectations.

 

China Is Ready For A World Of Disorder.

 

What Does The West Know About Xi’s China?

 

Why China Is Rewriting The Law Of The Sea.

 

The Technology Trap.

 

The U.S.-Chinese Economic Relationship.

 

Lifelines And Chokepoints.

 

The Consequences Of China’s Peace Deal.

 

The Consequences Of China's Demographic Decline.

 

How To Spy On China.

 

The Bad Advice Plaguing President Xi.

 

The Question Of Chinese Military Support For Russia.

 

Russia And China Behind The Scenes.

 

The New Age Of Great-Power Competition.

 

Spy Ballons TikTok And Chinse Intelligence.

 

Xi Jinping Preparing China For War.

 

China Will Lead The Next Technological Revolution.

 

Sweeping Belt And Road Initiative.

 

Solidify Global Divisions For The Coming Decades.

 

China Is Practicing How to Sever Taiwan’s Internet.

 

Possibility That Chinese Spy Balloon’s Path Over The US Was Accidental.

 

Why Are Meteorologists Tracking The Location Of The Chinese Balloon?

 

China’s Indo-Pacific Folly.

 

On The Leaks Of A War With China Plus A Recension In Europe.

 

What The Cities Of The Future Will Look Like.

 

The Looming Taiwan Crisis.

 

Detention Camps.

 

The Story of Why The Chinese Can Travel Again.

 

What Made Taiwan Understand How Perilous This Situation Is.

 

Can China Take Taiwan?

 

Why It Is Of Importance.

 

The Skirmish In Arunachal Pradesh Reflects Beijing’s Confidence, And New Delhi’s Diminished Deterrence.

 

The Meaning Of China’s Dangerous Decline.

 

Why Saudis Don’t Want To Pivot To China.

 

The Nowhere Road With An Answer To It.

 

It Took Just Seven Words That NBA-China’s Viewership Approaching Pre-Banned Levels.

 

How China Manipulates The Media.

 

We Address Why There Is No Inevitability In China's Decline To India's Rise.

 

China's Economy.

 

Will Xi Learn From History?

 

What Is Achievable In East Asia?

 

China The Global Power And Russia The Junior Partner.

 

Why XI Might Prefer Détente. 

 

What To Expect From Xi's Third Term.

 

What To Expect From The Xi-Biden Meeting.

 

China’s Past And Xi’s Future.

 

Reactions To China's Spy Operations. Part 5

 

The Circumstances That Allow Chinese Spy Operations To Thrive. Part 4

 

The Way To The White House. Part 3

 

The Chinese Police Service Stations. Part 2

 

Chinese Spies Part One. Part 1

 

How To Build A Better Order.

 

We Analyze The Reasons Why.

 

Can A War Over Taiwan Still Be Avoided?

 

The Revelations Of Document Number Nine.

 

Large And In Charge

 

The World According To Xi. 

 

China's COVID-19 Politics To The Test.

 

China's Growth In Peril.

 

China's Global Security Initiative.  

 

The Forbidden History

 

The Future War Between China And The US.

 

Xi Jinping And  Present-Day China.

 

Point Of No Return.

 

The United States Does Not Need To Beat China.

 

Whereby The Truth About Taiwan Is.

 

China Needs To Reach An Understanding And Russia Does Not.

 

Nancy Pelosi’s Visit To Taiwan.

 

What Is Happening Here?

 

Xi Unleased.

 

Whose China Sea Is It?

 

Facing A Window Of Vulnerability Over Taiwan.

 

China Could Invade Taiwan.

 

China’s Motivations.

 

Geopolitical Consequences Of Taiwan War.

 

Why Should Taiwan Be Seen As A Part Of China?

 

What the situation looks like going forward

 

China's pursuit of greatness part two and conclusion

 

China's pursuit of greatness

 

China the Pandemic and Sovereignty

 

 

The Actual History Behind The Seven Years In Tibet With Brad Pitt.

 

How The Movie Industry Became Chineses Diplomacy Part Four.

 

How The Movie Industry Became Chineses Diplomacy Part Three.

 

How The Movie Industry Became Chineses Diplomacy Part Two.

 

How The Movie Industry Became Chineses Diplomacy.

 

 

led to the end of the Roman Empire

 

differences in the state-systems that China and Rome developed to manage their empires

 

Roman contact with China

 

Major Case Study:

When after the Romans went to China the Huns came to Rome

 

Major Case Study:

When the Romans went to China part two

 

Major Case Study:

When the Romans went to China part one

 

 

The Taiwan Conundrum.

 

Taiwan Today.

 

Once More The Question Of Taiwan.

 

The Trouble With The South China Sea.

 

Taiwan Is An Important Partner.

 

Xi Jinping's Hawkish Forces He Can’t Control.

 

How To Avoid Catastrophe.

 

Don’t Panic About Taiwan.

 

The Looming Taiwan Crisis.

 

What Made Taiwan Understand How Perilous This Situation Is.

 

Can China Take Taiwan?

 

Major Case Study:

The lead up to present-day China and the making of the ChinaTaiwan crisis

 

After Hong Kong deterrence vs Taiwan?

 

Taiwan going forward

 

What the real future of Hong Kong might look like

 

Mapping the new reality of Hong Kong

 

How China will handle its future development

 

Understanding modern China

 

From Vancouver to Auckland and Hong Kong understanding the new Chinese nationalism

 

Will China now crush the protests in Hong Kong?

 

What does it all mean

 

Increased friction in the South China Sea and why

 

Outlook for the world China, US, Europe, N.Korea,Venezuela, and the way forward with Iran

 

Today’s legacy of the Tiananmen crisis

 

Unveiling China’s big science

 

Is China planning to take Taiwan by force?

 

Thus has China’s new Silk Belt and Road failed? Updated 15 Feb. 2019

 

China’s ticking time-bomb. Updated 4 Jan. 2019

 

China’s New Nationalism

 

China has “no historic rights” in South China Sea: Continue

 

From Chinese Yuan adjustment to the fall of world markets; the lesson to learn

 

.. the Huns to their Mongol related origin in what is now China Continue ...

 

 

The Philippines In The South China Sea.

 

How concerned should we be when Chinese growth runs out?

 

The importance of South and East Asia

 

Which way will the West turn? Left or right?

 

Understanding the 100 years of the current regime in China Part Two

 

Understanding the 100 years of the current regime in China

 

China’s multifaceted great power projection

 

The rivalry between America and China in South-East Asia

 

Where will the China/US competition lead the world? 

 

Major Case Study: 

Investigating the India-China standoff Part Three

 

Major Case Study: 

Investigating the India-China standoff Part Two

 

Major Case Study:

Investigating the India-China standoff Part One

 

South-East Asia between China and the US

 

Major Case Study:

Developmental forces in East and West as drivers of psychological change

 

Major Case Study:

The re-invention of Chinese History, Nation, Language, and Territory Part Three

 

Major Case Study:

The re-invention of Chinese History, Nation, Language, and Territory

 

Major Case Study:

The secrets of China’s new maps unveiled

 

Will a coming conflict make the military disasters of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq pale in comparison?

 

China’s new claim about the border with Bhutan

 

China’s larger geostrategic game

 

The fall out from the current crises

 

Are the U.S. and China headed for a Cold War?

 

The 21st Century Arms Race

 

From bloody nose attack to nonmilitary options? Plus update 18 January.

 

Will the Standoff Lead to a Second India-China War? With Update 29 Aug. 2017

 

South China Sea: Risks of a clash caused by China’s paramilitary ships that could bring U.S. forces to bear in defense of U.S. allies

 

Uighur terrorist attack in China, a shoot-out between the Koreas along their disputed maritime border and, to top it off, a coup in Thailand

 

..China considers its territorial waters

 

..We must go to war with Japan…History as a political weapon:

 

China Today

 

The Why of Khmer Rouge Terror

 

 

The East Asian World Order

 

The concept of Han Chinese

 

China's New Nationalism

 

The Early Chinese Empires

 

The true voyages of Zheng He

 

There now might be increased diplomatic pressure on Beijing to reduce its presence in the South China Sea

 

Globalization and Empire:

Introduction

 

P.1 Indian Ocean's Business as Usual

 

P.2 Indian Ocean From Business to Power Broker

 

Oceanic Powers, US/China: Conclusion

 

Case Study

Chinese Religion: Daoism:

Historical Overview of Daoism

 

Origin of Daoism

 

Daoist secrets of ritualized alchemy to internal Neidan meditative alchemy

 

Tantric ‘internal’ alchemy P.1

 

Tantric practice in China P.2

 

The Politics of Qigong:

The Taiping Rebellion, Boxer Uprising, and Falung Gong

 

From Red Turban to Ming Tax Collecting

 

The Island of Seven Cities:

Research Report:

China Beyond Zheng Hi

 

From Persia to China

 

Research Report P.4:

China's Reinvented Historic Legacy

 

Case Study:

When China Woke Up to the World

 

Chinese and other Empires of the World

 

What Next with China? P.1.

 

What Next with China P.2.

 

 

Their Failure To Act Fast Enough On Climate Change Violates Their Human Rights.

 

Preparing For A Future Of Extreme Weather.

 

Measure The Harm Of Climate Change.

 

The search for Nextpolis

 

Apocalypse Never:

 

Why Planet earth is shutting down

 

A history of the end of the world 

 

From climate change denialism to the Brazilian rainforest fires and solutions going forward

 

Here is a blueprint as to how to approach the problems:

 

The Weather as influenced by El Nino going forward

 

The world going forward:

 

 

Putin and the Cold War Part Two

 

Putin and the Cold War Part One

 

 

The economy of Colonialism: 

Major Case Study: 

Part one, Part two, Part three

 

The economics of colonialism part three

 

The economics of colonialism part two

 

The counterfactual view that explains colonialism

 

 

Update: Article about the great replacement conspiracy theory

 

 

New Resentment How Rich Countries’ Selfish Pandemic Responses Stoked Distrust.

 

What next with mRNA

 

China the Pandemic and Sovereignty

 

A plethora of authors writing about the Covid fallout

 

Analyzing the Wuhan Lab Theory

 

Papers, please, and then:

 

What vaccines mean for the return of the travel

 

Chinese vaccine and patriotic drive

 

Will people start to be inoculated by mid-December as is claimed?

 

The Coming COVID-19 Economic Crisis

 

Why governments get COVID-19 wrong

 

Vaccine Nationalism and its alternatives

 

How the coronavirus pandemic will play out in the next few years

 

How strongman leaders exploit the coronavirus crisis

 

The impact of Coronavirus

 

Why Planet earth is shutting down

 

Why Covid-19 is killing globalization as we know it

 

How governments can best deal with the pandemic

 

The current situation confirms our earlier assessment here.

 

Update: The impact depends on how far the virus spreads beyond its current location:

 

Following what will happen with the virus in the world going forward:

 

D

Dalai Lama

 

 

The Next Dalai Lama.

 

The future Dalai Lama

 

E

East Asia

Economy, see World - World Economy

Edgar Cayce, see Cayce, Edgar

Egypt

Empires

Enlightenment

Eric Vandenbroeck, see Interviews with Eric Vandenbroeck

Esoterics

EU - Europe

Europe

Extremism

 

 

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Part One Of Two.

 

What Is Achievable In East Asia?

 

 

 

Countdown Egypt: Why Egypt's Mursi will either resign or be sacked on 3 July

 

What next with Egypt and Syria to Jordan

 

Consequences for the balance of power between the Brotherhood and the military

 

Protesters Storm Muslim Brotherhood Offices

 

Empires

 

Ghosts Of Empires Past.

 

This Is Particularly True For Empires.

 

The transformation of the Russian Empire part two

 

The transformation of the Russian Empire part one

 

The Holy Roman Empire, the Reformation, and the birth of the Netherlands

 

Beginnings and endings of Empires

 

The concept of Han Chinese

 

The East Asian World Order

 

 

Enlightenment

 

Whose Enlightenment?

 

 

 

"The Esoteric: Crossing Over"

 

EU - Europe

 

When Europe Fell Apart.

 

The Promise And Peril Of EU Expansion.

 

The Truth About European Colonialism In The New World.

 

How The EU Will Learn To Wield Its Power.

 

Europe’s Geoeconomic Revolution.

 

Coudenhove-Kalergi And The Pan-Europa Movement.

 

Berlin’s Delicate Balance With Beijing.

 

Time To Expand The UN Security Council.

 

Europe’s Real Test Is Yet To Come.

 

Poland 1941.

 

Europe And Russia’s Aggression In Ukraine.

 

On The Leaks Of A War With China Plus A Recension In Europe.

 

The German Connection.

 

How The War In Ukraine Will Remake The Continent.

 

The Gripping Story Of How A Plot Would Take Over Germany.

 

Germany’s Unlearned Lessons.

 

Germany Just Averted Its Own Jan. 6, And Maybe The Fourth Reich.

 

Inflation And Economic Uncertainty.

 

Why This Could Last For Years.

 

Greece expected to strike a deal with the EU

 

The fate of Europe in 2013

 

Will the European Crises soon be over?

 

The Start of Europe’s fragmentation

 

Why the European crisis has been solved  (for a while).

 

Europe’s Crises Worsening

 

The financial crisis Europe faces it has not wanted to admit even exists (with graphs)

 

Eurozone’s Debt crisis no longer just about Greece. Continue…

 

Europe - EU

 

Introduction

 

Critical Investigation:

 

Research Report: Conflict and Ethnicity

 

Research Report: Ethnoclass in Eastern Europe

 

Religion and Modern Politics P.1: Bakunin's Christianity

 

Religion and Modern Politics P.2: From 'New Right' to Habermas Today

 

P.1: The New World of  'Sociology'

 

P.2: Signor Mazzini I Presume?

 

P.3: Social Democrats, A Political Religion

 

Updated:

P.4: The 1914 Clash of Civilisations

 

True History of the European Community, P.1: Its WWI Origin

 

True History of the European Community, P.2: Which Europe?

 

P.1 Globalization and Economics: A Search for the Holy Grail?

 

Cold War and Modern Historiography

 

Including major case study "From Belgium to Kososovo and back"

 

Towards a New Sociology of Religious Nationalism P.1

 

Towards a New Sociology of Religious Nationalism P.2, Part 3-a, Part 3-b:

 

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Religion P.1

 

The Future of Democracies Around the World

 

 

How To Understand Extreme Right-Wing Parties.

 

F

Fascism, see Second World War

First World War, see also WWI

Freemasonry

 

 

 

 

Revisiting the First World War Part Three

 

Revisiting the First World War Part Two

 

Revisiting the First World War

 

Major Case Study:

A new investigation about the First World War

 

Major Case Study:

Revisiting the Origins of the First World War

 

Major Case Study:

Beyond the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 2020 new complex patterns and alliances were formed (many of them in the Middle East)

 

an interesting section about “The Flemish Lion”

 

The tribulations and consequences of the Treaty of Versailles                       

 

Why World War I was pivotal to the creation of the modern Middle East

 

World War I became known as the war to end all wars

 

A complete timeline of what happened

 

Shantung the Versailles Treaty and the Manchurian episode

 

A Somewhat Hidden History of the Balfour Declaration

 

How the First World War started P.9

 

How the First World War started P.8

 

How the First World War started P.7

 

How the First World War started P.6

 

Leading up to the First World War P.5

 

Leading up the First World War P.4

 

The almost First World War P.3

 

The almost First World War P.2

 

The almost First World War P.1

 

The conspiracy theory that gave rise to Hitler:

 

P.1 Reparations and the famous Article 231

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.8:

British rule, Arab Spring-revolt, and the Syria crisis today

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.7:

The unresolved sectarian issue in Lebanon today

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.6:

The importance of oil, the ‘Arab question’, and the British

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.4

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.3

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.2

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.1

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.6:

The Paris Peace Conference deliberations

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.5:

The Syrian question

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.4:

The ‘Arab’ and the ‘Jewish’ question

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.3:

The Menace of Jihad and How to Deal with It

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.2:

The Arab question and the ‘shocking document’ that shaped the Middle East

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.1:

The ‘Arab revolt’, Britain, and the Collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East

 

The second First World War

 

The Real Russian Origins of the First World War

 

A new investigation why the First World War broke out

 

 

Italy's underground Freemasonry

 

Major Case Study:

Investigating Freemasonry today

 

Major Case Study:

The war against Freemasons in Spain

 

Major Case Study:

Freemasonry during the Nazi state

 

What was the Scottish Rite to begin with?

 

G

 

Globalization

Global Jihad

Greater Han-Han Zhou Dynasty

 

Globalization

 

Is this the end of Globalization?

 

The 'out of Eden' peopling of the earth

 

For example:

 

Historical Overview

 

Historical Truth in the Age of Globalization, P.1

 

The Myth of 1492 - Historical Truth in the Age of Globalization, P.2

 

The Myth of The Industrial Revolution - Historical Truth in the Age of Globalization, P.3

 

What the East Thought the West - Historical Truth in the Age of Globalization, P.4

 

P.1, Mutual Contact

 

P.2, Violent Occupations

 

P.3, Broken Treaties and the Sex Trade

 

P.4, Disease and Changing Worlds

 

P.5, Controlling Landscapes

 

P.6, Administering People

 

P.7, WWII of Indigenous Populations

 

P.8, Enter the 21st Century

 

History of Globalization: In and out of India P.1: The First Trade-Wars

 

History of Globalization: In and out of India P.2: The First Multinational Companies.

 

"Globalization Flat or Round?"

 

What do Naomi Klein's "No War" have in common with with two other recent books: "The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf" or "The Iraq War : A Military History"?

 

others are in complete denial of what is happening to them or soon will happen

 

Postscript: Where did all the Money Go?

 

Global Jihad

 

Why this complicates the reaction to the Paris attacks:

 

Paris and the end times of ISIS:

 

why Islamic history

 

The Future of the Islamic State:

 

The Salafist Resurgence

 

Jemaah Islamiah and Global Jihad

 

Case Study:

Beyond Terror and Martyrdom: The Future of the Middle East

 

Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and Salafi Jihadism: Interview with Eric Vandenbroeck

 

Radical Islam and Global Jihad Today

 

Report:

Beyond Terror and Martyrdom: The Future of the Middle East

 

The Islam Code P.1.

 

The Islam Code P.2.

 

Conclusion:

The Islam Code P.3.

 

An Exact Overview of the Growth of Modern Radical Islam P.1

An Exact Overview of the Growth of Modern Radical Islam P.2

 

An Exact Overview of the Growth of Modern Radical Islam P.3

 

Pictural Overview of the Middle East Today

 

Global Jihad P.1

 

Global Jihad P.2

 

Global Jihad P.3

 

Global Jihad P.4

 

Global Jihad P.5

 

Global Jihad P.6

 

Global Jihad P.7

 

Conclusion and Implications:

Global Jihad P.7

 

The apocalypse within:

 

Updated

Case Analysis:

SA in Indonesia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Chechnya

 

Future World Jihad P.1

 

Future World Jihad P.2

 

Future World Jihad P.3: The Nazi Connection

 

Future World Jihad P.4:  Jerusalem’s Armageddon

 

Future World Jihad P.5: What Now?

 

Evidence

 

Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, plus more

 

Global Jihad

Case Study:

Central Asia P.1

 

Central Asia P.2

 

Central Asia P.3

 

Major Researchproject: Future World Jihad P.5 

 

The Quest for World Jihad: Introduction

 

The Quest for World Jihad P.1.

 

The Quest for World Jihad P.2.

 

we described the significance of the Ottoman Empire in the context of today's world jihad

 

let alone an inevitable, consequence of World War 1. The Quest for World Jihad P.3

 

six part investigation of British encounters with Islamic warfare

 

The Quest for World Jihad P.4

 

Bin-Laden’s Bookshelf p.1 and 2

 

2006 30 Jan. al-Qaeda nr.2 on bin-Laden's Truce''

 

Updated

The Background Story of 7/7/2005 in the UK:

 

Today's War on Terrorism

 

A New 'Jihad' Wave?

 

Pakistan

 

The Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad P.1: Egypt and the Sudan

 

The Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad P.2: Somalia and Lebanon

 

The Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad P.3: Wahhabi's and Shi'ites

 

The Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad P.4: Iraq

 

The Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad P.5: Afghanistan

 

The Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad P.6: Strategic Lessons

 

From Hitler to the "Arab Reich"P.1

 

From Hitler to the "Arab Reich" P.2

 

From Hitler to the "Arab Reich" P.3

 

From Hitler to the "Arab Reich" P.4

 

A Convergence of Militant Islam and the New Right?

fringe groups not yet mentioned

 

 

The concept of Han Chinese

 

The East Asian World Order

 

H

Hawaii

Hitler, see Second World War

Homeopathy

Human Origins - Humanity

 

 

From Pearl Harbour On.

 

The True Story Of Hawaii.

 

2020 9 July: 

Rediscovering Hawaii's place in the pacific

 

Rediscovering Hawaii's place in the pacific

 

 

 

 

Case Study:

The little known background of Homeopathy

 

 

And Then It Got Cold.

 

The Mystery Of Inequality.

 

The Myth of Human Origins

 

When humanity almost got wiped out

 

 

I

 

India

International Relations

International Systems

Interviews with Eric Vandenbroeck

Iran

Iraq

Islam

Israel - Palestine - Jerusalem

 

 

 

The Teacher To The World.

 

The Story How Hardeep Singh Nijjar Was Killed In Canada, September 2023.

 

India’s Massive Military Restructuring.

 

Will India Surpass China To Become The Next Superpower?

 

India As It Is.

 

India Won’t Side With Washington Against Beijing.

 

India’s Great-Power Opportunity.

 

Kashmir Today.

 

The Urgent Issues That Preoccupy Much Of The Developing World.

 

Why It Is Of Importance.

 

The Skirmish In Arunachal Pradesh Reflects Beijing’s Confidence, And New Delhi’s Diminished Deterrence.

 

A Critical Look At Narendra Modi's India Today.

 

India’s Ruling Party Is Losing Control.

 

Why I Killed Gandhi.

 

A New Look At The History Of Partition.

 

Major Case Study:

A movie, a new book, and what India stands for today

 

Ladakh fighting

 

Major Case Study:

The Hindu right in context

 

Could India and China Go to War?

 

Kashmiri militants

 

What is really happening in India?

 

The empire within an empire that changed the future fate of India

 

The impeachment of the first governor-general of Bengal

 

Jammu and Kashmir

 

What happened with Kashmir and why it matters

 

“I think it is probably a god-gifted ability”

 

A concern is that it might leed to more violence in Sri Lanka

 

The 10th anniversary of an assault that raised fears of war with Pakistan and why in the end it was about Kashmir

 

Revisiting India’s Harappan civilization .. where the Indo-European languages came from, enter:

 

..."Indian Mujahadeen" like recent attacks in Ahmedabad and Jaipur

 

Why Orissa

 

Introduction

 

What is happening in India today?

 

What happened with Kashmir and why it matters.

 

Update

India's tech sector following explosions

 

began on Wednesday, 26 November

 

repercussions in reference to Kashmir

 

including that the Indian air and missile forces were placed on war footing

 

Kashmir is a victim of the disputed division of British India during the transfer of colonial power in 1947.

 

Partition of British India's Geostrategic Cause.

 

Through Burma and Back

 

India: The Clash Within: The World's Largest Democracy?

 

Deciding to go for facts rather than fiction today:

 

The Eurasian Industrial Revolution.

 

Bose movie, published in: Return of the Swastika, 2007 P.1

 

From Japan to Burma, P.2

 

From Nagaland to Burma, P.1

 

From Nagaland to Burma, P.2

 

sometimes also encountered in our research report about Europe

 

Politics in S.Asia P.1

 

Politics in S.Asia P.2 post-1966 Indira Gandhi

 

Politics in S.Asia P.3 Competitive Populism

 

…in Madras Henry Olcott stated

 

Political Religious Violence in Asia P.1

 

Political Religious Violence in Asia P.2

 

Political Religious Violence in Asia P.3

 

Fascism and Communism

 

 

Matthew Specter And Jonathan Kirshner’s New Books.

 

International Systems

 

…the rise and fall of a principle of hierarchical sovereignty. See:

 

…vassalage system employed in Europe some fifteen hundred years later. See:

 

S.America that led up to the League of Nations Conference at Montevideo. See:

 

…most likely resulting in failure. See:

 

…boundaries between political units will increase. See:

 

The state is not the only form of political unit to have existed…See:

 

… former Yugoslavia … See:

 

… crisis in Yugoslavia -- the question we next answered is why. See:

 

… a nascent American imperial that represents the status quo. See:

 

The Past and Future of the Nations

P.1: Introduction

 

The Past and Future of the Nations

P.2: China and Tibet

 

The Past and Future of the Nations

P.3: Islamic Empires

 

The Past and Future of the Nations

P.4: Christians and Pagans in Europe

 

The Past and Future of the Nations

P.5: Protestant Reformation

 

The Past and Future of the Nations

P.6: From God To  Proto-Nationalism

 

The Past and Future of the Nations

P.7: Demand for increased boundaries

 

The Past and Future of the Nations

P.8: Federalism and its Consequences

 

…disintegration of Yugoslavia…

State Behaviour in the International System P.1

 

…legal tradition…

State Behaviour in the International System P.2

 

…during 2003 Iraq Standoff.

State Behaviour in the International System P.3

 

The Kyoto Protocol and Africa.

State Behaviour in the International System P.4

 

United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Sierra Leone.

State Behaviour in the International System P.5

 

Conclusion and Outlook:

State Behaviour in the International System P.6

 

From Belgium to Kosovo P.1

 

From Belgium to Kosovo P.2

 

From Belgium to Kosovo P.3

 

From Belgium to Kosovo P.4

 

From Belgium to Kosovo P.5

 

From Belgium to Kosovo P.6

 

From Belgium to Kosovo P.7

 

Introduction

 

Conclusion

 

Interviews with Eric Vandenbroeck

 

Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and Salafi Jihadism: Interview with Eric Vandenbroeck

 

Science, race, religion, witch hunts, and the difference between East and West: Interview with Eric Vandenbroeck

 

Iran

 

Escalation Could Set Israel And Iran On A Collision Course.

 

What Narges Mohammadi’s Nobel Means For Iran.

 

Iran’s New Patrons.

 

The Iran Gamble.

 

We Investigate A Sorbid History Under Pressure.

 

Israel’s Dangerous Shadow War With Iran.

 

An Even More Intransigent Regime.

 

Iran’s Question Of Legitimacy.

 

Iran’s Anti-Veil Protests Have Already Succeeded.

 

The enduring relationship between China and Iran

 

What next?

 

What to make of the Iran protests? 

 

Why Tehran Is Winning the War for Control of the Middle East

 

Iran - Gaza Offensive: Why the Iranian connection will complicate the situation

 

Iran threatens to block Strait of Hormuz oil route, yet why they will not

 

Military steps up plans for Iran attack?

 

Introduction

 

Modern Iran P.1

 

Modern Iran P.2

 

The Iran Papers P.1

 

The Iran Papers P.2

 

The Iran Papers P.3

 

The Iran Papers P.4

 

The Iran Papers P.5

 

Conclusion: The Iran Papers

 

…Iran…

 

Iran-Chinese relationship

 

Iran and its conspiracytheories

 

Iraq

 

What is to follow after Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi's resignation

 

Islam

 

 

The End of the Islamic Republic As We Know It Part Two.

 

The End of the Islamic Republic As We Know It Part One.

 

Early Islam and the decay of Rome part two

 

Major Case Study: 

Early Islam and the decay of Rome part one

 

Israel - Palestine - Jerusalem

 

How Israel Fights.

 

Israel And Hamas.

 

America’s Hypocrisy On Gaza.

 

The Path To A Regional Order.

 

The Measure Of Their Effectiveness Will Be In How The Houthis Respond.

 

Gaza Makes A Nuclear Iran More Likely.

 

Regional Conflicts Resemble World War II.

 

Why Peace Remains Possible.

 

The Ongoing Houthi Attacks.

 

The Choice Cannot Be Clearer.

 

Gaza Historical Role.

 

But Far Greater Risks May Emerge If He Doesn’t.

 

Why Israel Will Remain In Gaza.

 

Researching Israel’s Goals And Strategy.

 

How Hamas Has United Israelis Behind The War.

 

The Iranian-Palestinian Marriage Of Convenience.

 

The Way Going Forward In Gaza.

 

The Future Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

 

Why Israel Won’t Change.

 

Protest The Netanyahu Government.

 

What Does It Mean To Defeat A Terrorist Group?

 

The Gaza Case.

 

It Is A Pattern That Is Already Playing Out Again.

 

Why Did Antony Blinken Attend A Meeting In Doha?

 

The No Blueprint Assault.

 

The Protests In Israel.

 

Duelling Speeches.

 

The End Of Israel’s Gaza Illusions.

 

What To Do About Gaza, And What Gazans Think.

 

Israel Enter Gaza Imminent.

 

Misinformation About The Israel-Hamas War Is Flooding Social Media.

 

Erdogan And The Hamas-Israel War.

 

Escalation Could Set Israel And Iran On A Collision Course.

 

The Israeli/Hamas Conundrum.

 

Return The Gaza Strip To Palestinians.

 

A Strategy Beyond Revenge.

 

Why Washington Should Restrain Israeli Military Action In Gaza.

 

Time To Step Back From The Brink.

 

Hamas Rise To Power.

 

How The Conflict In The Middle East Came About P.1.

 

Crises In The Middle East.

 

Gaza Redux Part One.

 

Hezbollah, Israel, And Tehran.

 

The Why And How Of The Surprise Attack On Israel.

 

Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

 

What A Saudi-Israeli Deal Could Mean For The Palestinians.

 

Debating Israel’s One-State Reality.

 

Confronting A One-State Reality.

 

The US Is Indispensable To Israel’s Safety And Security.

 

Israel’s Dangerous Shadow War With Iran.

 

How To Prevent A Third Intifada.

 

The Holy Land and its contestants

 

Major Case Study:

A critical history of Palestine P.2

 

Major Case Study:

A critical history of Palestine P.1

 

The story of British Policymaking at the End of Empire and the Creation of Israel P.2

 

The story of British Policymaking at the End of Empire and the Creation of Israel P.1

 

Jerusalem Unveiled

 

Paris Peace Conference redux 15 Jan.2017

 

The Hajj, Muslim worshipers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca: What two million people are about to do here

 

The Palestinians' Real Enemies

 

The Gaza offensive: Egyptian-Israeli relations, other groups than Hamas, wider relevance or importance

 

A Brief History of the Jerusalem Problem

 

The Problems with Israel and Palestine P3: The Palestinian Challenge Beyond Israel

 

The Problems with Israel and Palestine P2: Geostrategy of the Palestinians

 

Israeli military incursion

P1: Geostrategy of Israel

 

J

 

Japan

Jesus Christ / Dead Sea Scrolls

Jihad, Global, see Global Jihad

 

 

Japan

 

Tokyo Aims To Counter Growing Chinese And North Korean Aggression.

 

The Consensus From Canberra To Tokyo.

 

The Japanese Attempt to Solve the Mongol Question

 

Major Case Study:

Asia after China

 

Japans dealing with China

 

Identity in Japan

 

Anglo-American ascendance

 

The U.S. financial siege of Japan:

 

The U.S. Oil Shortage that never was

 

…Turkish and Japanese foreign policies, and why: Continue...

 

Cold War Japan

 

demanded that Japan open its doors to foreign trade

 

The U.S. financial siege of Japan:

 

The U.S. Oil Shortage that never was

 

Making the New Japan:

 

The New Japan P.1:

 

The New Japan P.2:

 

Asia-Pacific Rim Hegemony:

An Assessment P.1.

 

Asia-Pacific Rim Hegemony: From Japanese to Chinese Containment?

An Assessment P.2.

 

Jesus Christ / Dead Sea Scrolls

 

Major Case Study:

Jesus Christ and the Dead Sea Scrolls

 

 

K

Kurds

 

Kurds

 

What next with the Kurdish conundrum?

 

L

 

Latinoamerica, see also South America

 

 

Who Will Lead Haiti?

 

Bolsonaro Redux.

 

When The Past Does Not Go Away.

 

The Haitian Government Is Dependent On International Power.

 

Far-Right Movements In The Two Countries Are Deeply Interconnected.

 

The Current Situation.

 

Far-Right Rioters Invaded Brazil's Federal Representative Institutions.

 

A History Of Making Bad Situatiuations Worse.

 

Latin America 2022.

 

Democracy Or Authoritarian Populism?

 

M

 

Middle East

Miscellaneous

Myanmar - Rohingya Crisis

 

Middle East

 

The Path To A Regional Order.

 

The Measure Of Their Effectiveness Will Be In How The Houthis Respond.

 

The Problems With The Middle East.

 

Part One:

 

How The Conflict In The Middle East Came About P.1.

 

Crises In The Middle East.

 

Why A Spate of Diplomatic Deals Won’t End Conflict.

 

Key To The Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

 

How To Deal With The Saudi Arabia Problems.

 

What Needs To Happen Next.

 

The Making Of The Middle East.

 

The Making Of The Modern Middle East Part 2.

 

The ‘Arab’ And The Syrian Question.

 

Making of the Middle East's hidden history Part Two

 

Making of the Middle East's hidden history Part One

 

Why World War I was pivotal to the creation of the modern Middle East

 

Why Tehran Is Winning the War for Control of the Middle East

 

The Syrian civil war and the Middle East going forward

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.8: 

British rule, Arab Spring-revolt, and the Syria crisis today

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.7: 

The unresolved sectarian issue in Lebanon today

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.6: 

The importance of oil, the ‘Arab question’, and the British

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.6:

The Paris Peace Conference deliberations

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.5:

The Syrian question

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.4:

The ‘Arab’ and the ‘Jewish’ question

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.3:

The Menace of Jihad and How to Deal with It

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.2:

The Arab question and the ‘shocking document’ that shaped the Middle East

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.1:

The ‘Arab revolt’, Britain, and the Collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East

 

Does the Middle East Need New Borders?

 

The contradictory web that fuels conflicts in the Middle East

 

Forecast for Asia, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Former Soviet Union, Middle East/North Africa, South Asia, Latin America

 

Case Study:

Beyond Terror and Martyrdom: The Future of the Middle East

 

Pictural Overview of the Middle East

 

conflict in Yemen seems anything but over:

 

Jerusalem Unveiled

 

Paris Peace Conference redux 15 Jan. 2017

 

The Syrian civil war and the Middle East going forward

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.1

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.2

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.3

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.4

 

Geopolitical Implications

 

The Shi’ite-Suni Devide

 

Case Study:

Shi'ite Lebanon and Hezbollah

 

The Occupation and its Legacy, P.1

 

The Occupation and its Legacy, P.2

 

The Occupation and its Legacy, P.3

 

Unknown to most we checkep up who and what Hezbollah really is

Who/What Hezbollah really is: The Larger Picture

 

…the new conflict between the post-Christian West and Islam…Case Study

 

Research Report:

The Iran US Conflict

 

also in the case of China

 

Research Report:

The Iran US Conflict Today

 

Israel is the 'Zion' of prophecy, part of God's plan

 

We frequently pointed out

 

Case Study:

Pan-Arabist Media

 

The New Pan-Arabism P.2:

 

Research Report:

Saudi-Arabia and Terrorism:

World Jihad

 

 

The Mystery Surrounding Mozart's Requiem.

 

The disputes about Quantum Mechanics

 

Major Case Study:

The outlook of the world in 2020

 

Queen Victoria's curse?

 

The wine report

 

The keystone of a worldwide movement

 

White Supremacists as a growing menace

 

The collapse of Oil today

 

What is the matter with the Gregorian calendar

 

What to Watch for

 

untangles the who, what, where, and why of the case

 

Cultural interaction, ethnic conflict, the workings of race and gender, social stratification

 

Some products have been shown to be more dangerous at times

 

How languages have been lost through Nationalist projects

 

Why the mystery of Hammarskjöld murder might soon be solved

 

Belgium’s Africa Museum Had a Racist Image. Can It Change That?

 

About Hard health data, waste, and how a proper google search might help you

 

... the Holy Roman Empire, Nationalism, and today Presentism...historical approach, enter:

 

Head of UN, Ban Ki-moon, seeks to appoint investigator for fatal crash of Dag Hammarskjöld

 

The Secret Wine Report

 

Myanmar - Rohingya Crisis

 

The Future Of Myanmar.

 

Major Case Study: Myanmar and the looming war for its borderlands Part Five

 

Major Case Study: Myanmar and the looming war for its borderlands Part Four

 

Major Case Study: 

Myanmar and the looming war for its borderlands Part Three

 

Major Case Study: Myanmar and the looming war for its borderlands Part Two

 

Major Case Study:

Myanmar and the looming war for its borderlands Part one

 

What Myanmar as a failed state may look like:

 

What next with Myanmar

 

The ongoing tragedy that faces the Muslim Rohingya communities of western Myanmar

 

Major Case Study:

The consequences of the Arakan Campaign

 

in reference to faulting Myanmar

 

...where she is planning to deny any wrongdoing by the armed forces and defend Myanmar against charges of ethnic cleansing or genocide

 

The politics of statelessness investigation

 

The Rakhine/Rohingya Conundrum

 

What next with Myanmar and its Chinese influence  Plus update 2 February

 

Myanmar update

 

Myanmar P.6:

Mawlamyine and beyond

 

Myanmar P.5:

Past the Golden Rock to Karen (Kayin) State

 

Myanmar P.4:

The Challenge of Unity in a Divided Country

 

Myanmar P.3:

Two kinds of Monks

 

Myanmar P.2:

To Myitkyina and Kachin State

 

Myanmar P.1:

Discovering the background from where today’s Myanmar evolved

 

China/US, 2013 projection for Myanmar/Burma

 

Myanmar's Shame:

 

the Panglong agreement

 

Aung San was assassinated just over five months later.

 

…crisis or political uncertainty, was the military. Continue…

 

….most Burmese watched and waited, untroubled by the small flurries of activity among Europeans. Continue... 

 

…inter-communal hatred versus the Karen and others. Continue…

 

…and thus contributing to the confusion. Continue…

 

…Asia weighed heavily on the minds of the British. Continue...

 

…as they had been doing for years. Continue…

 

…or minority tribal leaders to hold out for too much. Continue...

 

…of a favorable conjunction of the stars. Continue...

 

…Burma soon had all but become one of the first 'failed states’. Continue...

 

The return of Japan post WWII. Continue...

 

N

Napoleon

NATO

North Korea

Nuclear Peril

 

 

Enter Napoleon:

 

 

 

 

The West Needs A Strategy For After The Counteroffensive.

 

How To Keep The Country Safe Without NATO Membership.

 

Today's NATO Meeting In Vilnius.

 

The Next Few Years Will Be Crucial.

 

NATO’s East Deterring Russia.

 

Let Ukraine Join NATO Now.

 

Why NATO Must Admit Ukraine.

 

The Leaked Documents.

 

How To Protect Ukraine Without NATO Membership.

 

Explaining The NEW NATO Strategic Concept.

 

What the situation looks like going forward

 

 

What Putin And Kim Want From Each Other.

 

A Form Of Preparation For War.

 

The Korea Model.

 

Today's Situation In Korea.

 

Major Case Study:

The Korean War in context

 

The news from N.Korea

 

The USA “ready to fight tonight” claim

 

Will the U.S. accept a nuclear N.Korea or intervene P.1

 

....N. Korea … Continue

 

 

The Return Of Nuclear Escalation.

 

Confronting The New Nuclear Peril.

 

O

Oman

Order of St. John – Malta Order – Russian Survival Myth

 

 

Major Case Study: 

Charting the future of Oman

 

 

Alexandre Tissot And The British Association.

 

A Relevant Comment.

 

An Extensive Overview.

 

The hidden history of the Order of Malta and Orders of St. John Part Five.

 

The hidden history of the Order of Malta and Orders of St. John Part Four.

 

The hidden history of the Order of Malta and Orders of St. John Part Three.

 

The hidden history of the Order of Malta and Orders of St. John Part Two.

 

The hidden history of the Order of Malta and Orders of St. John Part One.

 

From tribulations of the Old Catholic Church to an alleged order of St. John

 

USA Malta Denmark and Great Britain

 

a non-existent "Russian Tradition"

 

can also include criminal elements

 

The Bruno Burzi Order

 

end of the discussion hereVatican's opposition to the Order of Malta

 

Contested as some of the following developments initially where they also contain some intrigue. The foundations of the National Associations of the  Order in England and Germany

 

The appointment of a new Grand Master

 

Case Study:

Malta and the Russian Usurpation

 

Self-styled Knights Of Today

 

P

 

Pacific War

Pakistan

Palestine: see Israel – Palestine – Jerusalem

Political Qigong

"Prince Michael of Albany"

Psychology - Psychiatry

Putin: see Russia - Putin

 

 

The five days that made Pearl Harbours as a key for the worldwide war

 

Part Eight Can a potential future Pacific War be avoided?

 

Part Seven Can a potential future Pacific War be avoided?

 

Part Six Can a potential future Pacific War be avoided?

 

Part Five Can a potential future Pacific War be avoided?

 

Part Four Can a potential future Pacific War be avoided?

 

Part Three Can a potential future Pacific War be avoided?

 

Part Two Can a potential future Pacific War be avoided?

 

Part One Can a potential future Pacific War be avoided?

 

Pakistan

 

Imran Khan’s Long March.

 

The 10th anniversary of an assault that raised fears of war with Pakistan and why in the end it was about Kashmir

 

Predicaments of Pakistan in Afghanistan

 

For an overview of Pakistan enter here:

 

Introduction:

to support an Islamic State in Pakistan

 

…controlled by British political officers with the help of tribal chieftains...

Continue P.1

 

…Blood and chaos were everywhere."

Continue P.2

 

…some ways to think about territory, history, and ethnic belonging. Continue P.3

 

…key theories of nationalism.

Continue P.4

 

Who Made Pakistan? P.5: The Militarization of Pakistan

 

P.6 India's Backlash

 

…under civil/military rulers before turning Islamic during the last decade and a half. Continue P.7

 

With the case of Indonesia, India, and Pakistan…

 

 

 

Poland and the lead-up to the Madrid conference

 

Polish spies and the lead-up to the Madrid conference part two

 

Polish spies and the lead-up to the Madrid conference part one

 

 

Case Study:

The Politics of Qigong

 

"Prince Michael of Albany"

 

Lafosse and the Královský řád Moravských rytířů svatých Rastislava a Kolumbana

 

Psychology - Psychiatry

 

Rationality and progress

 

The logic of human nature and causal networks

 

So what to do about bias?

 

The secrets behind the making of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Part Three

 

The secrets behind the making of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Part Two

 

The secrets behind the making of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Part One

 

So what is with Psychological Science?

 

Here are eight ways how we can form more accurate views of the world

 

The Secret of Positive Thinking, Self Help books and Happiness

 

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Psychology and Psychiatry

 

From New Thought to Self Improvement Books

 

 

 

Q

 

Qatar

 

 

Two longtime rivals battle by proxy and why this crisis will get worse

 

Case Study:

Qatar's master strategy or opportunism?

 

R

Reincarnation

Religious Politics

Russia – Central Asia

Russia - Putin

Russia - Tsar

Russian Survival Myth: see Order of St. John

Rwanda Genocide, Arab Spring etc.

 

 

Finding Reincarnation

 

Religious Politics

 

Apocalyptic politics During the 20th Century and Beyond

 

The Human Sun:

 

Freemasonry and Political Radicalism in Ireland

 

Case Study:

N. Ireland a Catholic Rebellion?

 

Political Religion in the USA

New Religions P.1: Africa

 

Towards a New Sociology of Religious Nationalism P.1

 

Towards a New Sociology of Religious Nationalism P.2, Part 3-a, Part 3-b

 

P.1: The New World of  ‘Sociology’

 

P.2: Signor Mazzini I Presume?

 

Social Democrats, A Political Religion

 

Political Religious Violence in Asia P.1

 

Political Religious Violence in Asia P.2

 

Political Religious Violence in Asia P.3 

 

Political Religious Violence in Asia P.4

 

…‘political religions’ like Fascism and Communism

 

Political Extremism in S.Asia P.4:

Indonesia and Conclusion

 

The Pope Today:

Part of the Problem or Part of a Solution?

 

Case Study Religious Politics in Egypt P.1

 

Case Study Religious Politics in Egypt P.2

 

Case Study Religious Politics in Egypt P.3

 

W.B. Yeats’ Nationalist Occultism

 

Assessing the Spread of Early Christianity

 

…in the form of anti-Americanism. P.1

 

Russia – Central Asia

 

Too Many European Politicians Are Failing To Confront Russia.

 

Like In The First World War?

 

What Putin And Kim Want From Each Other.

 

What The West Still Gets Wrong About Russia’s Military.

 

What It Will Take To Break Putinism’s Grip.

 

The Wagner Paramilitary Group.

 

Russian Ethnonationalism Chauvinism.

 

The Dangers Of Russian Disorder.

 

Think Twice Before You Launch A Conflict.

 

The War Of Endurance.

 

Blinded By The Fight.

 

Crimes Without Punishment?

 

China’s Affinity With Russia Is Over.

 

The Treacherous Path To A Better Russia.

 

How Wars Don’t End Ukraine, Russia, and the Lessons of World War I.

 

Prepare For A Brutal War.

 

1984 In Russia Today.

 

Stalin’s Secret Force.

 

The Latest News.

 

The Question Of Chinese Military Support For Russia.

 

A Partial Victory Will Solve Little.

 

The Coming Russia Disintegration.

 

The Presence Of Kishida In Kyiv And Xi In Moscow.

 

Russia And China Behind The Scenes.

 

The Limits Of Economic Warfare.

 

How To Prepare For Peace Talks In Ukraine.

 

The Russia That Might Have Been.

 

Looting As A Potential War Crime.

 

How Long Can This Not-Quite-Total War Be Sustained?

 

Russia’s Anti-Jewish Dimension.

 

Europe And Russia’s Aggression In Ukraine.

 

The War Will Go On Into Next Year.

 

Russian Patriotic Death Cult.

 

Russia Is Losing The War.

 

Can Moscow Learn From Its Failures In Ukraine?

 

Export Control Cooperation From Allies.

 

They Can Do Business With.

 

2023 Is The Decisive Year.

 

Why The Sanctions In Russia Are Already Biting Hard.

 

How Putin Is About To Lose His War.

 

The War Will Likely Continue Until The End Of 2023.

 

To Prepare For Russia’s Collapse.

 

Russia's Target Of 300,000 Additional Troops.

 

The Russian Crisis.

 

To Know Stalin And What Followed.

 

To Recognize The Stakes.

 

We Have To Prepare For Russia’s Defeat But Also Its Return.

 

A Decentralized Entity Can Reform Itself From The Inside Out.

 

In 1954, Crimea Was Transferred From Russia To Ukraine.

 

A Re-Assessment.

 

Why Policymakers Around The World Should Take Note.

 

Revisiting the Ambassador-Lockhart Plot Part Four.

 

Revisiting The Ambassador-Lockhart Plot Part Three.

 

Revisiting The Ambassador-Lockhart Plot Part Two.

 

Revisiting The Ambassador-Lockhart Plot Part One.

 

What should not be taken off the table when talking with Putin

 

We show in seven maps how Ukraine came about

 

Major Case Study: 

Putin Has Long Tried to Balance Europe. Now He’s Working to Reset It

 

What the situation looks like going forward

 

Ukraine today

 

Why Putin believes Ukraine was given to Russia

 

Putin and the Cold War Part Two

 

Putin and the Cold War Part One

 

The transformation of the Russian Empire part two

 

The transformation of the Russian Empire part one

 

Why Putin claims that most of Ukraine “was given” to Russia

 

Gorbachev’s reforms

 

Imperial Russia and Qing China

 

Revealing Harbin’s interesting Russian history

 

Major Case Study:

Spys Invade Russia P.7

 

Major Case Study:

Spys Invade Russia P.6

 

Major Case Study:

Spys Invade Russia P.5

 

Major Case Study:

Spys Invade Russia P.4

 

Major Case Study:

Spys Invade Russia P.3

 

Major Case Study:

Spys Invade Russia P.2

 

Major Case Study:

Spys Invade Russia P.1

 

The Svalbard/Spitsbergen Saga

 

 

Major Case Study:

Was the Cold War inevitable?

 

A German and British plot to take the last Tsar  

 

Ukraine as a test case

 

Major Case Study:

When Spies invaded Russia P.6.

British spycraft in Bolshevist Russia

 

Major Case Study:

When Spies invaded Russia P.5.

What must develop into a civil war

 

Major Case Study:

When Spies invaded Russia P.4.

How North Russia evolved into its military phase

 

Major Case Study:

When Spies invaded Russia P.3.

The alleged protecting of supplies propaganda

 

Major Case Study:

When Spies invaded Russia P.2.

To mold irregular warfare into a method which honored the Imperial myth

 

Major Case Study:

When Spies invaded Russia P.1

 

Major Case Study:

Why is Ukraine so important to Russia

 

From Rasputin to little known aspects of Nicholas’s II abdication and the situation in Russia

 

British Imperial Agents invade Russia P.2: The British Banking scheme to control Russia’s economy and the Allied intervention

 

British Imperial Agents invade Russia P.1: here the lesser known aspects surrounding the events of 1918          

 

Captives of the Russian Civil War P.4: From White resurgence to the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement 

 

Captives of the Russian Civil War P.3: The rise and fall of Komuch’s People’s Army

 

Captives of the Russian Civil War P.2: The Counterrevolution and the Anatomy of Allied Intervention

 

Captives of the Russian Civil War P.1: Why and how the Czech Legion conquered the Siberian railway

 

Concerns Russia could use the alleged plot in Crimea to justify more military incursions into the Ukraine

 

…Russia vis a vis a US plane: We tell you why it happened

 

Russian Aristocrats, Putin, and European extreme right wing parties

 

The main question now is whether Russia will push back with what power it has left or find a way to compromise with this shifting worldview

 

Case Study:

The ‘decline of the West’ and a look behind Putin’s new Eurasianism

 

Intelligence scoop of what is happening with the Ukraine and the standoff between Russia the US and Europe:

 

Resurgence or is Russia Doomed? Continue:

 

Enter the Unfolding Crises in Europe and the Ukraine/Crimea:

 

The Qaddafi libel against Gorbachev and the last days of the Soviet Union

 

…Russia wants to increase its influence. …China might be concerned, plus… Continue:

 

Russian Eurasianism: A New Ideology of Empire?

 

Introduction

 

The Next European Battleground?

 

Russia’s Geostrategic Predicament and Power Today P1

 

Finding the West

 

following part

 

Introduction: Gorbachev’s Last Days

 

Case Study:

Russia’s Move Towards the Right

 

Global Jihad Case Study:

Central Asia P.1

 

Central Asia P.2

 

Central Asia P.3

 

Research Report:

Russia’s Geostrategic Roots Today

 

European policy that is about to change now …Comment

 

…more questions than answers.

Comment P.1

Comment P.2:

…transforming the face of Eurasia

 

Predicting the next half Year:

 

Russia’s New Map: The Third Rome

 

A History of Eurasianism

 

The New Map of Russia

 

Russia’s New Map P.2: A History of Panslavism

 

Russia’s New Map P.3

 

World Revolution: The Roots of Modern Russia

 

How the End of the Cold War Occurred

 

After the Cold War: America over the Brink

 

What Led To The Dissolution of The Soviet Union 1991

 

Central Asia: Why The Great Game Heats Up

 

Why The Great Game Heats Up P.2: Azerbaijan

 

 

Putin And The Right.

 

Bolshevik Rule.

 

Too Many European Politicians Are Failing To Confront Russia.

 

What Does Putin Want?

 

What Putin And Kim Want From Each Other.

 

What It Will Take To Break Putinism’s Grip.

 

Why There Can Be No Negotiations With Putin.

 

The Beginning Of The End For Putin?

 

Crisis Abates, But Questions Remain.

 

Is Worse To Come From Putin?

 

How Putin Revived Stalinism.

 

Dictator Without Borders.

 

Putin’s Forever War.

 

Putin, The Suspect.

 

Putin Remains In Day-To-Day Government.

 

Sanctions Can Help End Putin’s Imperial Pretensions If The West Keeps Its Nerve.

 

The War Started Due To Putin's Policy Failure.

 

War in Ukraine Has Revealed About Putin’s Regime.

 

Indications Putin Decided To Give The Missile That Downed MH17.

 

They Can Do Business With.

 

2023 Is The Decisive Year.

 

How Putin Is About To Lose His War.

 

Calling Out Putin's Excuse.

 

Russia As State Sponsor Of Terrorism And More.

 

Putin And Ukraine’s Nuclear Reactors.

 

The Ukrainian Saboteurs Behind Enemy Lines.

 

Divide And Conquer.

 

The Polish Incident That Is Changing It.

 

We Investigate The Nonproliferation Conundrum.

 

Why Putin Gladly Tells You Is No Khrushchev.

 

What Is Needed For The Russian Economy To Grow.

 

China The Global Power And Russia The Junior Partner.

 

Putin And Stalin.

 

Turkey And Russia: Friends For Now.

 

What To Do About Putin.

 

We Assess The Possibility Of Regime Collapse.

 

The Outcome Of Significant Wars Ultimately Comes Down To Attrition.

 

The Way Forward For Russia.

 

Putin Puts Faith In The Poor Man's Weapon.

 

The War Might Last Another Year And What That Means.

 

Our Source In The Kremlin Speaks Up.

 

What Happens To Russia’s Periphery.

 

Why Today It Becomes More Likely Putin Will Lose This War. 

 

A Fear Greater Than Putin.

 

The End Of Putin’s Bargain With The People.

 

Climbing The Escalation Ladder.

 

How To Build A Better Order.

 

Policy For A World In Crisis.

 

Putin's Private Army.

 

Why Is There Little Hope For A Quick Rebound.

 

Wait For The Tide To Turn.

 

They Will Be Front And Center In Domestic And Global Politics.

 

Naturally, There Can Be No Excuse, Only Ruthless Punishment.

 

Assessment Of How The Russia-Ukraine War Is Progressing.

 

Peter Took Russia Into The Future. Putin Pushing It Back To The Past.

 

Russians Are In For A Rude Awakening This Fall.

 

There Is A Risk Of Serious Harm.

 

China Needs To Reach An Understanding And Russia Does Not.

 

Bad Timing Of Global Agriculture And Food Supply Chains.

 

Russia’s Security Concerns And Allay Its Anxieties.

 

China’s Motivations.

 

Fantasy Is Not History.

 

When The Economic Recovery Comes.

 

Putin’s Entire Ukraine Invasion Hinges On The Coming Battle Of Kherson.

 

Convicted For The Usurpation Of Power.

 

This Will Put One Side At A Disadvantage.

 

Russias Fifth Service.

 

The Ukraine/Russia War.

 

Fighting Climate Change Through Trade.

 

Time For New Trade Agreements.

 

What Next With The World Energy Situation.

 

Whose Middle East?

 

What If The War In Ukraine Spins Out Of Control?

 

Can Austria Stay Neutral?

 

Explaining How Far NATO Can Go.

 

Western Fears Of Putin.

 

Why Libya Could Be Putin’s, Trump Card.

 

The Case For Diplomacy.

 

He Has None.

 

This Is Not A Victory.

 

The Key To Victory In Ukraine.

 

A Need To Build A Better World Order.

 

A Global Cold War.

 

Part Eight From 1917 To 2022.

 

Part Seven From 1917 To 2022.

 

Part Six From 1917 To 2022.

 

Part Five From 1917 To 2022.

 

Part Four From 1917 To 2022.

 

Part Three From 1917 To 2022.

 

Part Two From 1917 To 2022.

 

From 1917 To 2022.

 

The Hidden History Of The Glastonbury Festival.

 

Can Putin Survive?

 

Why The Russian Army Is Facing A Long, Grim Fight In Ukraine.

 

Why Do Russian Sanctions Persist As A Tool Of Diplomacy?

 

Why Ukraine Reached A Pivotal Moment.

 

Why Kyiv Needs An Immediate Solution.

 

The Why Of The Road To War.

 

The Putin Challenge.

 

Putin’s Challenge To The West.

 

Why Putin’s Ukraine War Is An Inflection Point For The West.

 

Why It Is Too Soon For A Lasting Diplomatic Settlement.

 

What Candidate Status Would Mean.

 

Russia’s Early Failures Doesn’t Make It Less Dangerous.

 

Russian Army Would Have To Collapse.

 

The End Of Climate Policy.

 

Why Does China Neither Endorse Nor Condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin’s War?

 

What The G7 Foreign Ministers Will Do.

 

Belgian Lessons.

 

What Will The Consequences Of Mobilization Be?

 

The Kremlin’s Questionable Worldview.

 

Understanding The Kremlin’s Worldview.

 

Putin’s Revisionist Worldview Part One.

 

The Re-Invention Of History And National Identity.

 

Why The War In Ukraine Is Shifting.

 

Understanding Putin’s Revisionist Worldview Part Three.

 

Understanding Putin’s Revisionist Worldview Part Two.

 

Understanding Putin’s Worldview Part One.

 

The Wargame.

 

How Serious A Treat Is Putin.

 

The War About Food Supplies.

 

Infiltrating The Highest Level Of Government.

 

Meanwhile, Russians Are Fleeing Their Country In Doves.

 

Revealing Putin’s Inconsistencies While Striving For A New Empire.

 

Geostrategy Of Russia.

 

Putin’s Victory Speech.

 

The Murder Of General Wrangel An Equally Famous Ballerina.

 

The Atomic Option.

 

A “New” War, Twenty Years In The Making.

 

Exposure To Russian Intelligence Services.

 

Major Case Study: 

The Mongolia Factor.

 

Moscow’s Suez Moment.

 

What Putin Has In Mind Next.

 

Who Is The Tsar Of Russia.

 

 

 

Life For The Tsar.

 

 

Major Case Study:

Investigating the real story behind the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis

 

Rwanda Redux

 

Major Case Study:

Rwanda revisited part two

 

Major Case Study:

Rwanda revisited today

 

When will Future Attacks take place

 

The Next Phase of the Mali Intervention

 

Al Quaeda and … Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Morocco, Lybia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal

 

The Intervention Force in Mali

 

…Rwandan genocide of 1994. But what are the real facts?

Case Study:  

The French Rwanda File

 

S

 

Scientology

Second World War, see also WWII

Slavery North America

South America

South Asia

Spy Agencies - Secret Intelligence Services

Stuarts

Syria Crisis – Lebanon, Yemen

 

 

Scientology

 

Case Study:

(updated July 2008): Scientology Unveiled

 

 

 

 

The Special Operations Executive In France And Elsewhere.

 

Hitler's Aristocrats Part Six.

 

Hitler's Aristocrats Part Five.

 

Hitler's Aristocrats Part Four.

 

Hitler's Aristocrats Part Three.

 

Hitler's Aristocrats Part Two.

 

Hitler's Aristocrats Part One.

 

Major Case Study: 

The Pearl Harbour attack and its consequences Part Two

 

Major Case Study: 

The Pearl Harbour attack and its consequences Part One

 

The post-WWII new order part two

 

The post-WWII new order part one

 

The old order is crumbling, and a new order is rising

 

Axis states understood they settled the moral low ground.

 

The Second World War created the conditions for transforming Europe and the entire global geopolitical order.

 

Creating a new world order part one.

 

How the various countries justified WWII Part One.

 

Major Case Study: 

From the Manchurian Incident to Word War II Part Four

 

Major Case Study: 

From the Manchurian Incident to Word War II Part Three

 

Major Case Study: 

From the Manchurian Incident to Word War II Part Two

 

Major Case Study: From the Manchurian Incident to Word War II Part One

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Sixteen

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Fifteen

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Fourteen

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Thirteen

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Twelve

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Eleven

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Ten

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Nine

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Eight

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Seven

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Six

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Five

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Four

Trianon (1919 and 1920)

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Three

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part Two

 

Major Case Study:

Russia, Germany, and Poland Part One

 

How Britain hoped to avoid war with Germany in the 1930s

 

Major Case Study: 

The Vatican archives and World War II

 

When Britain gave Hitler the go-ahead

 

Hitler’s Bolshevism and the myth of the Jewish Conspiracy

 

 

Slavery North America

 

Major Case Study:

London, Madrid, and the creation of Washington, D.C.

 

South America

 

Case Study:

S.America P.1: Overview

Case Study:

S.AmericaP.2: Economic Musings

 

Case Study:

S.America P.3:

The Road to Independence

 

Case Study:

S.America P.4:

Che and Castro

 

Case Study:

S.America P.5:

From Chile to Brazil

 

…and distribution networks: Research Report

 

Hugo Chaves

 

Anonymous activists threaten to expose Mexican drug cartel secrets, here the context:

 

South Asia

 

A Nuclear Collision Course In South Asia.

 

Introduction

 

... traders that "turned sovereign". And Burke sought the impeachement of the companies Governor, Warren-Hastings...

 

History of Globalization: In and out of India P.1: The First Trade-Wars

 

History of Globalization: In and out of India P.2: The First Multinational Companies

 

So let us start with the most important one, language

 

a gendered/racial categorization of the Indian populace by the British gave rise to several stereotypes like the manly Sikh, the devious Maratha, and the loyal Gurkha

 

a reaction to the warfare 'with France in Europe', that 'The British Company' proceeded to involve itself more actively with 'local politics.' This becomes particularly apparent when one doesn't only consult British, but also French sources

 

Hindutva

The Secret Backround of the Kashmir Problem

 

…overview of Atlantis and Lemuria:

 

'World Hindu Council'

 

Bengal: Making a New Hinduism:

 

Politics or Culture?: The Making of Religion in India Today, P.1:

 

Politics or Culture?: The Making of Religion in India Today, P.2

 

Politics or Culture?: Hindu and Muslim Fundamentalism Today

 

Reformed Aryans, in East and West

 

Reformed Aryans, in East and West: The Anti Aryan Myth

 

Reformed Aryans, in East and West: Seek Mason, Will Travel

 

Reformed Aryans, in East and West: Are you a Sikh?

 

Reformed Aryans, in East and West: Polynesian Aryans

 

Reformed Aryans, in East and West: The Orion Myth

 

Reformed Aryans, in East and West: Aryan Christianity

 

our overview about India

 

Spy Agencies – Secret Intelligence Services

 

The Noor Inayat Khan Story.

 

The Spying Program.

 

How To Spy On China.

 

The Harrowing Story Of A Double Agent.

 

Possibility That Chinese Spy Balloon’s Path Over The US Was Accidental.

 

Why Are Meteorologists Tracking The Location Of The Chinese Balloon?

 

Codename Madeleine.

 

The Secretive PWE Political Warfare Executive.

 

The Inside World About Spy Agencies Revealed.

 

Meet the new world today’s spy agencies part three

 

Meet the new world today’s spy agencies part two

 

Important Case Study: 

Meet the new world today's spy agencies

 

Stuarts

 

About a Polish art historian who claims to be a blood relative of Bonnie Prince Charlie

 

Syria Crisis – Lebanon, Yemen

 

 

The Path To A Regional Order.

 

The Measure Of Their Effectiveness Will Be In How The Houthis Respond.

 

Regional Conflicts Resemble World War II.

 

The Ongoing Houthi Attacks.

 

U.S. Strikes Targets In Syria.

 

Yemen's Humanitarian Crisis.

 

Time To Move On.

 

What Needs To Happen Next.

 

The Making Of The Middle East.

 

The Making Of The Modern Middle East Part 2.

 

The ‘Arab’ And The Syrian Question.

 

Making of the Middle East's hidden history Part Two

 

Making of the Middle East's hidden history Part One

 

..conflict in Yemen seems anything but over

 

The Syrian civil war and the Middle East going forward

 

Did Aleppo's Grozny moment arrive? If there was ever any hope of salvaging the latest cease-fire in Syria, there isn't anymore

 

Investigating the never-ending Great War

 

As suggested by me earlier International rivalry and the battle for Syria

 

...Aleppo, question is for how long

 

…entered the Ramouseh Artillery Base… Who are the rebels and how will Assad and Russia respond

 

.. Syrian Civil War…The make or break battle currently underway, rebels appear to be losing

 

FM denounces "cynical game" of Syrian regime and rebuked Moscow

 

How close is ISIS to defeat, and will Turkey invade Syria?

 

Does the Middle East Need New Borders?

 

Fighting in Syria seen problematic for Damascus while exit strategy for Assad under discussion

 

Obama’s Syria and What the Confrontation Will Look Like:

 

The Sunni-Shia struggle

 

The Arab World in Transition 2013

 

Why the War in Syria will not end with the removal of the al Assad regime

 

Why Assad Won’t Use Chemical Weapons, yet why we should still be worried

 

The contradictory web that fuels conflicts in the Middle East

 

Upcoming turmoil in Asia?

 

Lebanon and what next with Syria: Charting the course of future events

 

Background forms the rebel Free Syrian Army supply lines in Lebanon

 

T

Taiwan

Terrorism

Tesla

Thailand

Turkey

Twitter

 

 

Major Case Study:

The lead up to present-day China and the making of the ChinaTaiwan crisis

 

After Hong Kong deterrence vs Taiwan?

 

Taiwan going forward

 

Is China planning to take Taiwan by force?

 

 

White Supremacist Terrorism.

 

 

Twitter And Tesla

 

Thailand

 

Thailand, China, And The US.

 

Uighur terrorist attack in China, a shoot-out between the Koreas along their disputed maritime border and, to top it off, a coup in Thailand

 

Thailand and the Political and Economic Volatility in Important Markets  

 

The insurgency in Thailand: Multiple Dilemmas

 

Turkey

 

Turkey In Context.

 

Will Erdogan Stay in Power?

 

Erdogan’s Foot-Dragging On Sweden And Finland Is Causing Headaches For Western Leaders.

 

Turkey And Russia: Friends For Now.

 

Turkey in context today

 

Conclusion about what is really happening in Turkey

 

Turkey's government fears second coup

 

Turkey’s new Sultanate

 

Why Turkey shot down the Russian Jet

 

more than a year ago …Turkey and Armenia…

 

Turkish bid for EU membership ….  today:

 

Introduction

 

Evolving Turkey P.1

 

Evolving Turkey P.2

 

Evolving Turkey P.3

 

Evolving Turkey P.4

 

Evolving Turkey P.5

 

aligned itself

 

former Islamist

 

Conclusion and Bibliography

 

Case Study:

…Turkish and Japanese foreign policies, and why. Continue...

 

 

Twitter And Tesla

 

 

U

UFO-Report – Aliens

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United Nations, UN

United States

Utopianism

 

 

The Truth About UFO's.

 

From esotericism to alleged Science

 

Major Case Study:

The surprising history of the current UFO sensation

 

Secret Nazis and the return of the Ancient Aliens

 

Investigating the Ancient Aliens theory

 

Americas enduring fascination with UFOs

 

The aria 51 attack plan and the invention of UFO's

 

Why the initiative might rather be reeking of desperation

 

Investigating, UFOs Seeing is Believing

 

 

Why The War Might Defy Expectations.

 

Preparing For American Abandonment.

 

The Quiet Transformation.

 

The Ukraine-Taiwan Tradeoff.

 

All This Could Encourage Further Adventurism.

 

Negotiations Over Territory.

 

The Missing Escalation In Ukraine.

 

Will The West Abandon Ukraine?

 

What Ukraine Needs Right Now Is Time.

 

Ukraine And Next.

 

Back In The Ukraine Trenches.

 

The War Of Endurance.

 

Postwar Ukraine.

 

End In Sight For The Ukraine War.

 

Ukraine And The American War Machine.

 

How Wars Don’t End Ukraine, Russia, and the Lessons of World War I.

 

How The West Can Secure Ukraine’s Future.

 

What Really Happened To The Kakhovka Dam?

 

Let Ukraine Join NATO Now.

 

Vexing The Ukraine War On The Ground.

 

How Ukraine Learned To Fight.

 

Beyond Ukraine’s Offensive.

 

A Loophole In The Law.

 

Ukrainian War Going Forward.

 

Ukraine Today.

 

Why NATO Must Admit Ukraine.

 

A Partial Victory Will Solve Little.

 

Waiting On Weapons.

 

Ukraine And U.S. National Security.

 

The Presence Of Kishida In Kyiv And Xi In Moscow.

 

A Plan For Getting To The Negotiating Table.

 

The Promise Of Military Adaptation.

 

How To Protect Ukraine Without NATO Membership.

 

Ukraine’s Determination.

 

How To Prepare For Peace Talks In Ukraine.

 

The Conversations When Ukraine Wins.

 

Fortifying Ukraine.

 

Make The Position Of The Russian Military Untenable.

 

Key To The Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

 

The Urgent Issues That Preoccupy Much Of The Developing World.

 

The War Will Go On Into Next Year.

 

An Even More Intransigent Regime.

 

Ukraine’s Coming Electricity Crisis.

 

What Ukraine Needs To Liberate Crimea.

 

Breakthrough In Ukraine.

 

Kennan On Ukraine.

 

Reading Like A Spynovel This is What Happened.

 

Why Some Wars Don’t End.

 

Russia As State Sponsor Of Terrorism And More.

 

Putin And Ukraine’s Nuclear Reactors.

 

The Ukrainian Saboteurs Behind Enemy Lines.

 

Divide And Conquer.

 

How The US Can Help.

 

The Situation Ukraine Is Facing This Winter.

 

We Analyse What The Result Of The Airstrikes Will Be.

 

Putin's Atomic Gamble.

 

Game-Changer For Current And Future Conflicts.

 

How Ukraine Can Take Back All Its Territory.

 

Ukraine As A Poison Pill For Putin.

 

Putin’s Eventual Replacement.  

 

Putin Threated Nuclear Response.

 

The UNGA Meeting.

 

The Nuclear Strike Aimed At Shock?

 

Mobilize, Retreat, Or Something In Between?

 

Why Support For Ukraine Will Withstand Russian Pressure.

 

Is Ukraine Going To Win This War?

 

Africa’s Ukraine Dilemma.

 

Xi Jinping's Strategic Predicament And The View From Washington.

 

From Ukraine to Taiwan.

 

Putin's Victory Speech.

 

 

 

How The World Lost Faith In The UN.

 

 

The Secret History Of The Glastonbury Festival.

 

Sunak Hopes To Mend Fences With Europe.

 

The UK Today.

 

Why The House Of Windsor Will Ultimately Fall.

 

Can Sunak Save Britain?

 

The Limits Of Monarchy.

 

The UK Can Be Leading By Supporting.

 

The rise and fall of the Thomas Cook Group

 

Boris Johnson’s Majority Falls to One Seat, Heightening Chances of an Election

 

Boris is back…Today’s cabinet appointments sends a clear signal however

 

The next steps of Theresa May

 

"We're out", well sort of. The Implications and Germany's nightmare:

 

What will happen after Brexit:

 

United States

 

Japan Defense And China Springboard.

 

US New World War.

 

Explaining America’s Global Role.

 

The New American Way Of Trade How The USMCA Does What NAFTA Couldn’t.

 

Bracing For Trump 2.0.

 

The West Needs A Strategy For After The Counteroffensive.

 

Why America And China Will Be Enduring Rivals.

 

Can America Protect The Peaceful Transfer Of Power?

 

How To Boost Cooperation.

 

The Formula For Managing Migration.

 

The Overlooked Influences On Donald Trump.

 

Think Twice Before You Launch A Conflict.

 

The Global South.

 

Living On The Edge.

 

How Institutional Balancing Promotes Stability In Asia.

 

Ukraine And The American War Machine.

 

The Virtue Of Low Expectations.

 

The U.S.-Chinese Economic Relationship.

 

Spread Too Thin?

 

Ukraine And U.S. National Security.

 

A Plan For Getting To The Negotiating Table.

 

The New Age Of Great-Power Competition.

 

The Leaked Documents.

 

America Fill The Missile Gap.

 

The Promise Of Military Adaptation.

 

How Elites Misread Public Perceptions Of The War.

 

We Investigate A Sorbid History Under Pressure.

 

The US Is Indispensable To Israel’s Safety And Security.

 

China Is A Paper Tiger.

 

Technology Defines The Future Of Geopolitics.

 

Does Technology Win Wars?

 

Rattled By China, The U.S., And Its Allies Are Beefing Up Defenses In The Pacific.

 

How Biden White House Operated Under Cloak-And-Dagger Secrecy.

 

Far-Right Movements In The Two Countries Are Deeply Interconnected.

 

America Is Back.

 

U.S. To Boost Military Role In Philippines As Fear Of Taiwan Conflict Grows.

 

Export Control Cooperation From Allies.

 

What To Expect From Xi's Third Term.

 

What To Expect From The Xi-Biden Meeting.

 

Have Americans, As Is Claimed, Been Conned?

 

Is A Major War To Come?

 

The United States Does Not Need To Beat China.

 

A candid look at the why two atomic bombs

 

What the situation looks like going forward

 

Revisiting the Paranoid Style in American Politics

 

The election could be a highly fluid situation

 

The Cost of Chaos review

 

Major Case Study:

The secret background of the attack on Pearl Harbor part two

 

Major Case Study:

The secret background of the attack on Pearl Harbor part one

 

Major Case Study: 

The origins of Trumpology

 

Why Washington should push for a resolution to a disastrous war

 

The racist lie that is fueling the US terrorist attacks

 

Includes update 20 April 2019:  Why Robert Mueller is ending his report

 

How Israeli, Saudi, and Emirati officials influenced Trump to strike a bargain with Putin

 

What Robert Mueller Knows

 

The Trump/Russia investigation what can be said today

 

Woodrow Wilson, Versailles, and the making of Eastern Europe

 

American Ascendance P.1: Asia in the New Spatial Order

 

American Ascendance P.2: The China Blockade

 

American Ascendance P.3: The Japan Blockade

 

American Ascendance P.4: Opium War

 

The Anglo-Saxon Ascendancy: A Concise Overview P.1

 

The Anglo-Saxon Ascendancy: A Concise Overview P.2

 

over the course of the Mexican Revolution

 

...glaring misadventures in Iraq

 

America at a Crossroads P.1:

The Truth about the Cold War

 

America at a Crossroads P.2:

Superpower Politics

 

America at a Crossroads P.3:

Anti-Americanism

 

America at a Crossroads P.3:

The Last 'WWIII'

 

Possible Future Conflicts from a US Point of View

 

 

 

How Utopianism Becomes Real-Life Part Two.

 

How Utopianism becomes real-life Part One.

 

V

 

Venezuela

Venice

 

 

The worsening situation will make 2015 a crucial year for Venezuela:

 

 

The history of Venice beyond 2021

 

 

W

 

Warsaw Pact

World - World Economy - History - Politics

WWI, see also First World War

WWII, see also Second World War

World Order

 

Warsaw Pact

 

 

The abandonment of the Warsaw Pact part three

 

The abandonment of the Warsaw Pact part two

 

The abandonment of the Warsaw Pact

 

 

World - World Economy - History - Politics

 

The Rising Threat Of Illiberal Democracy.

 

Their Failure To Act Fast Enough On Climate Change Violates Their Human Rights.

 

Why Academic Links Are Essential In A Fragmenting World.

 

The World Outside The Great Powers.

 

Why It’s So Hard To Forecast Authoritarian Aggression.

 

How To Reduce The Vulnerabilities That Free Markets Create.

 

There’s No Such Thing As A Great Power.

 

The State Of The World.

 

The World To Come.

 

Why The World Still Needs Trade.

 

Political Violence In Authoritarian Societies.

 

The Defence Of Global Order And Address Global Crises.

 

Make The Center Vital Again.

 

How To Survive A Great-Power Competition.

 

Managing A Multipolar World.

 

How The Fight For Resources Is Upending Geopolitics.

 

Tackling The Opportunity For Change.

 

Counter Autocracy.

 

2023 Anual Forecast.

 

The World Has Changed.

 

Those Who Cannot Remember The Past Are Condemned To Repeat It.

 

Understanding The World By Means Of A Geopolitical Approach.

 

This Highlights A Socio-Economic Challenge That The World Needs To Tackle Before It Gets Worse.

 

The Long-Term Trend Is Concerning.

 

What To Expect In 2023.

 

Remaining Robust Enough When Malign Actors Are Denied Access.

 

The World Faces A Zeitenwende.

 

Let Us Be The Last Generation To Do So.

 

The Profound Economic And Financial Shift.

 

The Direction Of The World Economy.

 

The Global Effects Going Forward.

 

What the situation looks like going forward

 

China's pursuit of greatness

 

Economics and real-time revolution

 

From East to West and back to East?

 

A few countries to look out for the next six months

 

How the end of an age is not the same as the end of history

 

Major Case Study:

The outlook of the world in 2020

 

What 2020 will bring P.2

 

What 2020 will bring P.1

 

From new economics to new politics

 

Major Case Study:

North and South Korea, China, Russia, the US, Iran, Mexico, India, Central and South America, Turkey, and so on

 

A look at other developments going forward in 2017

 

Forecast for Asia, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Former Soviet Union, Middle East/North Africa, South Asia, Latin America

 

Apocaliptic Politics During the 20st Century and Beyond

 

World Finance

Introduction

 

World Finance Today:

Worldwide History of Stock Markets and Economics

 

World Finance Today:

Worldwide History of Inshurance Risks

 

World Finance Today:

Worldwide History of the Housing Bubble

 

Following an assessment of current finance crash; the international situation, Europe, China/Japan and S.America, plus Korea…Continue...

 

The Genetics of Finance: Putting the Credit Crisis in Perspective

 

WWI, see also First World War

 

The tribulations and consequences of the Treaty of Versailles

 

Why World War I was pivotal to the creation of the modern Middle East

 

Shantung the Versailles Treaty and the Manchurian episode

 

A new investigation why the First World War broke out

 

The Real Russian Origins of the First World War

 

Major Case Study:

What led to the Frist World War P.1

 

Major Case Study:

What led to the Frist World War P.2

 

Major Case Study:

What led to the Frist World War P.3

 

What led to the First World War P.4

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.1:

The ‘Arab revolt’, Britain, and the Collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.2:

The Arab question and the ‘shocking document’ that shaped the Middle East

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.3:

The Menace of Jihad and How to Deal with It

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.4:

The ‘Arab’ and the ‘Jewish’ question

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.5:

The Syrian question

 

From Versailles to the Making of the modern Middle East P.6:

The Paris Peace Conference deliberations

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.6:

The importance of oil, the ‘Arab question’, and the British

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.7:

The unresolved sectarian issue in Lebanon today

 

From Versailles to the Making of the Modern Middle East P.8:

British rule, Arab Spring-revolt, and the Syria crisis today

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.1

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.2

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.3

 

The true history of the Balfour Declaration and its implementations P.4

 

WWI's Religious Ideology

 

From Colonization to de-Colonization

 

…newly researched documents...took this a step further

 

From Shandong to Versailles: China's participation in the First World War

 

Why We were Entering a Century of Genocide

 

The second First World War

 

The conspiracy theory that gave rise to Hitler:

 

P.1 Reparations and the famous Article 231

 

Investigating the never-ending Great War

 

WWII, see also Second World War

 

 

From Hitler to Stalin P.1

 

From Hitler to Stalin P.2

 

From Hitler to Stalin P.3

 

From Hitler to Stalin P.4

 

From Hitler to Stalin P.5

 

The Nazi Documents P.1: The Russian Connection

 

The Secret War Between the Allies:

The Final Secret of WWII: The Murder of Hitler

 

The Secret Archive

 

Hess/Hitler overture to England

 

The Mistake of Peter Longerich

 

Alternative Histories of the 20 to 21 Century we start with the making of WWII today

 

…the Cold War: Continue:

 

Comment

 

Asia and Cold War

 

The Vatican’s War P.1

 

The Vatican’s War P.2

 

The Vatican’s War P.3

 

From Belgium to Kosovo Research

 

The Vatican’s War P.4 

 

The Vatican’s War P.5

 

The Nazi/Vatican Connection P.6

 

The Valkyrie Debate P.1

 

The Valkyrie Debate P.2

 

The Valkyrie Debate P.3

 

Protestant Nazi Hopes P.1

 

Protestant Nazi Hopes P.2

 

Protestant Nazi Hopes P.3

 

Protestant Nazi Hopes P.4

 

Protestant Nazi Hopes P.5: Conclusion

 

 

Don’t Count The Dictators Out.

 

How To Build A Better Order.

 

Policy For A World In Crisis.

 

Nobody Wants The Current World Order.

 

Y

 

Yoga

 

Yoga

 

The Invention of Modern Yoga

 

Investigating the invention of Yoga

 

The re-invention of Yoga

 

Z

 

Zionism

 

 

The way to Zionism Part Three

 

The way to Zionism Part Two

 

The way to Zionism

 

Esoterica going Mainstream

 

Esotericism, Freemasonry, and Conspiracy

 

main aspects of Western esoteric traditions have their foundations in antiquity

 

Case Study:

From Numerology to Magic and Esoteric Christianity

 

Hermetic Alchemy and Zosimus of Panopolis and Iamblichus P.1

 

Hermetic Alchemy and Zosimus of Panopolis and Iamblichus P.2

 

Hermetic Alchemy and Zosimus of Panopolis and Iamblichus P.3

 

New History of the Hermetica P.1: Hermes Times Three

 

New History of the Hermetica P.2: The Sabian Myth

 

New History of the Hermetica P.3: Middle East Disporea

 

The Rosicrucians

 

Freemasonry

 

The Occult Revival in America P.1

 

The Occult Revival in America P.2

 

Alleged New Age Religions

 

the Goetheanum

 

Harry Potter 6 and Gnosis: The Search for the Higher Self

 

founder of Scientology L.R. Hubbard to create a 'moonchild' by means of 'Magic'

 

first ever history of this idea rooted as it is, in Paracelsian Magic

 

Reincarnation: The Invention of a Modern Myth

 

New Age or Emerging Religions?

 

The 1920's Vinland Map - A Legend is Born

 

Alternative History books:

 

The Nazi Occult Myth

 

ABC News UFO's: The Day After

 

UFO's as Conspiracy Theory

 

From Esotericism to Pop Culture

 

From Esotericism to Pop Culture P.2

 

Update

From Aleister Crowley to Scientology

 

Case Study:

New Religious Movements –

Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf Schools P.1 of 2

 

We successfully questioned the term "Gnostic" and "Gnosticism"

 

Dan Brown's two recent books

 

Case Study:

New Religious Movements -

Spiritualism P.1

 

Case Study:

New Religious Movements:

Spiritualism P.2

 

Case Study New Religious Movements

Spiritualism P.3

 

Case Study New Religious Movements

Spiritualism P.4

 

Case Study New Religious Movements

Spiritualism P.5

 

Case Study New Religious Movements

Spiritualism P.6

 

P.1: The Making of Spiritism

 

P.2: Christian Spiritist Conversion

 

P.3: To England Now

 

P.4: Occult Orders

 

P.5: Taming the Wild Spirits

 

P.6: Revelation of the Revelation

 

P.7: Text Related Occult Conversions

 

P.8: An Occult Sociological Profile

 

P.9: Phenomena on Trial

 

P.10: Theosophical Fights

 

P.11: Nazis and The Occult

 

P.12: Cults of the Self

 

P.13: The Esoteric

 

P.14: The Never Ending Mystery?

 

P.15: Psychic Androginity

 

P.16: Cosmological Searches

 

Comment: The Forgotten Monarchy Discovered

 

From Robert Anton Wilson to the Da Vinci Code Prank: The Californian Illuminati

 

Introducing H.P. Blavatsky

 

H.P.Blavatsky and her 'Masters' of the Theosophical Society

 

Search For Astral Projection: The Investigation

 

The Hodgson Report

 

The Hodgson Report P.2

 

The Hodgson Report P.3

 

Finding the Theosophical Masters and Mahatmas

 

Blavatsky's Final Work

 

After Blavatsky P.1: Krishnamurti, the Fashioning of a Mahatma

 

After Blavatsky P.2: Fashioning the Future Race

 

Race and Literary Nationalism

 

Enter Scientology:

 

Investigating, UFOs Seeing is Believing?

 

The Secret of the Cabalah/ Qabbalah

 

New History of Jewish Kabbalism

 

Establishing the Christian Kabbalah, P.1: Rewriting Frances A. Yates

 

Establishing the Christian Kabbalah, P.3: F.M. van Helmont

 

Zosimos of Panopolis and the Book of Enoch

While somnambulist ventures like the Course in Miracles have been well researched

 

The Key of Solomon P.1: The Making of Witchcraft

 

The Key of Solomon P.2: Occult Science

 

The Key of Solomon

P.3: Magical Revival

 

Conspiracy Theories P.1

 

Conspiracy Theories P.2

 

Conspiracy Questions or Answers?

 

The Rise and Fall of the Silver Shirts

 

auf Deutsch

Towards "a Sociology of Conspiracy Theories" P.1

 

auf Deutsch

Towards "a Sociology of Conspiracy Theories" P.2

 

auf Deutsch

Towards "a Sociology of Conspiracy Theories" P.3

 

Neoplatonism, Philology and Nationalism

 

Geschichtliche Entwicklung des Ariermythos

 

The True Story Behind "The Aquarian Gospel" Movie:

 

Conspiracy Theories

 

DaVinci Code Matrix

 

From Invented Witchcraft To The Carlos Castaneda's legacy

 

The 'Werdegang' of Mary Wigman:

 

The 'Werdegang' of Mary Wigman P.2:

 

Inventing The Mormon Tradition

 

Major Case Study:

Paganism and Early Christianity in N. Europe P.2

 

The Positive Thinking Movement P.2

 

Case Study:

Ungern P.1: The Revolution

 

Self Help Books as Popular Culture: Introduction 

 

Self Help Books as Popular Culture P.1

 

Self Help Books as Popular Culture P.2

 

 

 

 

 

19 March 2024: The only legitimate Palestinian political entity that is untainted by failure is the state of Palestine. It is waiting in the wings to assume its place among the nations of the world. The moment is opportune for Palestinian political leaders, including from Fatah and The Palestinian Option.

 

 

 

Modi and the BJP seem poised to win their third general election in a row. This victory would further magnify the prime minister’s aura, enhancing his image as India’s redeemer. His supporters will boast that their man is assuredly taking his country toward becoming the Vishwa Guru. The Teacher To The World.

In the 1970s détente was unlike 1930s appeasement, both in the way it functioned and in the results it produced. Unlike the British and French attempt to buy off Adolf Hitler with territorial concessions, Kissinger and his presidents strove to contain their adversary’s expansion. Cold War China Xi Jinping And The United States.

People have important choices to make about how they should live their lives and what kind of society they wish to live in. The Rising Threat Of Illiberal Democracy.

 

 

 

 

 

Rare earth elements lithium, graphite, and cobalt - support a wide variety of modern technologies.

Putting Xi's Visit to Vietnam in Context.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Vietnam will likely see the two countries agree to integrate their supply chains further and symbolically upgrade their relationship, which will benefit Vietnam amid the growing U.S.-China competition over rare earth minerals. During his trip, the Chinese president is meeting with Nguyen Phu Trong, the General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, to discuss bringing China-Vietnam relations to a higher position.' Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Hanoi earlier this month, which likely involved finalizing a joint statement that will be unveiled during Xi's visit. China and Vietnam agreed to upgrade rail infrastructure and more thoroughly integrate supply chains, focusing on rare earth.

Rare but true in some Czech villages, St Nicholas leads a parade with the devil and Grim Reaper in tow:

 

Nomads of Mongolia have adapted, once again, adding new technologies to their arsenal of traditional knowledge to negotiate an increasingly unreliable climate. Motorbikes mean they can zip through dust storms to look for lost sheep. Solar energy means they can keep their phones charged and access the internet to exchange information with neighbors about newer pastures and keep their freezers going to preserve meat for lean days.

 

UN General Assembly adopts a resolution on “Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations” during the 45th plenary meeting of the resumed 10th Emergency Special Session.

Normalizing Hamas within the context of revivified Palestinian politics will be a bitter pill to swallow, but the alternatives - such as continuing to insist on Hamas’s destruction, attempting to drag an illegitimate and ineffective PA to Gaza, or forcing elections in a volatile and crisis-ridden environment - will likely backfire as they have in the past.

Hamas leader Sinwar fled northern Gaza in a humanitarian convoy, report says. Rally held for hostages, as those freed speak of hell, reminiscent of the Holocaust. The UN Security Council in New York was set to vote later in the day on another call for a ceasefire in the besieged territory after previous bids were vetoed by the United States. Israel has approved aid deliveries into Gaza via its Kerem Shalom crossing, aside from the Rafah crossing with Egypt, and a first truck convoy passed through Kerem on Sunday according to the Egyptian Red Crescent. The Way Going Forward In Gaza.

 

Could Hamas Become a Global Threat? The Iranian-Palestinian Marriage Of Convenience.

 

In ushering in a new constitutional order, Israel has the rare opportunity to complete one of the great unrealized goals of its founders. If Israelis can achieve this lofty goal in the wake of the worst national catastrophe since then, they will have successfully turned the terrible tragedy of October 7 into a historic opportunity to not only defend the Jewish state but also to secure its democratic future for generations to come. How Hamas Has United Israelis Behind The War.

 

Israel seeks to destroy Hamas, capturing or killing its leaders, shattering its military capacity, and ending its power in Gaza. It seeks the release of the hostages who were kidnapped on October 7 and remain alive. Its leaders must make hard choices about which goals to prioritize and which to set aside. Researching Israel’s Goals And Strategy.

 

Biden must not threaten to withhold necessary military assistance from Israel. But he can make it clearer to the Israelis that the continued strength of their relationship with Washington rests on Israel's understanding that it cannot reoccupy Gaza and that their ultimate security guarantee will be a peace agreement with a similarly peace-minded Palestinian state. Why Israel Will Remain In Gaza.

The inter-office rivalry and jumble of complex issues competing for attention that British officials juggled while inadvertently shaping the future of the world. It is unique in how and why the British generals and diplomats acted as they did. By took as his starting point the voluminous, contradictory, and revealing records of the policy-makers in the British government and that many concerned with foreign policy-making were quite oblivious to the history and complexities of the Islamic World and how the British Empire tried to change the world with how shallow and confused the understanding of those that shaped the future of the Middle East was. Part One:

Until after the U.S. election season passes, great political and practical pressures weigh on Biden, should he should choose to be bold. But Far Greater Risks May Emerge If He Doesn’t.

The Sea of Marmara (/ˈmɑːrmərə/; Turkish: Marmara Denizi; Greek: Θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά, Ancient Greek: Προποντίς, Προποντίδα), also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis. Turkey In Context.

Vladimir Putin, who compared himself to Peter the Great, is determined to shape the future to look like his past version. This treatise, and similar public statements, make clear that Putin wants a world where Russia presides over a new Slavic union composed of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and perhaps the northern part of Kazakhstan (which is heavily Slavic) – and where all the other post-Soviet states recognize Russia’s suzerainty. Bolshevik Rule.

Although the UAE might seem ahead of its neighbors now, many states are hot on its tail and undermining its security. As a result, rather than trying to hinge itself beyond the region, the country’s long-term security and economic interests will be better served by a stronger regional security framework - a process that requires deeper regional integration and more effective conflict resolution mechanisms. The UAE And Its Talest Building In The World.

 

“My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” U.S. Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan wrote in a January memo to officers in the Air Mobility Command. The memo, which promptly leaked to reporters, warned that the United States and China were barreling toward a conflict over Taiwan. US New World War.

Gaza must once again return to its roots as the prosperous crossroads it was for centuries. To start with, the policy of siege and blockade must end, allowing the territory to finally reconnect with the rest of the region. Gaza Historical Role.

 

Chinese Spy Operations.

 

 

Today is the final day of the Feidong, China traditional firework display that forms part of the county’s three-day New Year celebrations:

 

A "far-right international” would help Putin strengthen his hand. He hopes that it might prompt Western states to weaken sanctions, for example, or to cut back on support for Kyiv. The result might be a more durable Kremlin regime. And for Putin, that in itself would be a win. Putin And The Right.

 

Election security should not be a matter of politics or partisanship but rather preserving the integrity of the country’s most sacred democratic process. Americans must work together so that the malicious use of generative AI is just another line in a long list of challenges that the American electoral process can and has overcome. Generative Artificial Intelligence.

 

 

The story of why the former head of a former English Order of the Russian Tradition currently runs a bed-and-breakfast in Italy. Alexandre Tissot And The British Association.

 

Prematurely abandoning Ukraine to preserve resources for Taiwan could embolden other adversaries. It might, for example, signal to Iran and North Korea that the United States does not have the appetite to support the victims of aggression once a conflict becomes protracted, or at the very least that it cannot defend more than one country in one region at a time. All this could encourage further adventurism. By continuing to help Ukraine resist Russian aggression, the United States can send a powerful signal to a broader range of rivals: unprovoked aggression will not go unpunished. All This Could Encourage Further Adventurism.

 

Prematurely abandoning Ukraine to preserve resources for Taiwan could embolden other adversaries. It might, for example, signal to Iran and North Korea that the United States does not have the appetite to support the victims of aggression once a conflict becomes protracted, or at the very least that it cannot defend more than one country in one region at a time. All this could encourage further adventurism. The Ukraine-Taiwan Tradeoff.

 

 

Within a few hours of the Pearl Harbor attack, a Zero pilot whose engine had been damaged by antiaircraft fire ditched his plane on Niihau, a sleepy island located 150 miles northwest of Honolulu and inhabited by 250 Hawaiians and part Hawaiians, one issei, and a nisei couple with a two-year-old daughter. From 7 December until 13 December the pilot, helped by the nisei husband, imposed his will on the island,  whose inhabitants had no communications with the outside world except for a weekly boat from neighboring Kauai. From Pearl Harbour On.

During Taiwan’s election, there are worrying signals that his thinking is moving in the latter direction. Xi has stated that the Taiwan issue cannot be passed on to future generations and that achieving unification is the essence of the country’s rejuvenation. Taiwan Today.

 

 

An armed gang stormed the studio of a major television station in Ecuador on Tuesday, waving pistols, machine guns, and sticks of dynamite. The gunmen burst into the headquarters of the TC Televisión network in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil. Ecuador's police were deployed to the station, eventually recapturing the building.

The storming of the station comes amid a spate of organized nationwide attacks by criminal groups across Ecuador. On Monday, the country’s new president, Daniel Noboa, declared a state of emergency after the escape of the country’s most dangerous gang leader.

The president of Ecuador declares a state of 'internal armed conflict' as gang leader escapes from Jail and gunman invades TV studio:

 

The current problems with Hamas go straight back to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which ended at a stroke thirteen hundred years of imperialism in the Middle East, and was not a necessary, let alone an inevitable, consequence of World War I. It was a self-inflicted disaster by a shortsighted leadership blinded by imperialist ambitions. Had the Ottomans heeded the Entente's repeated pleas for neutrality, their empire would most likely have weathered the storm. However, they did not, and this blunder led to the destruction of the Ottoman Empire by the British army and the creation of the new Middle Eastern state system on its ruins. Even this momentous development was not inevitable, and its main impetus came not from the great powers but from a local imperial aspirant: Hussein ibn Ali of the Hashemite family. The Problems With The Middle East.

 

The US and UK militaries launched strikes against Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Thursday, marking a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned that the Iran-backed militant group would bear the consequences of its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. US President Joe Biden said he ordered the strikes “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime  vessels in the Red Sea.”

 

Taiwan expects China to pressure the incoming govt after the election. Unless Cina gives Taiwan up on trying to take control of the island, the CCP will always work to distort Taiwanese politics. But the island has devoted considerable time and resources to bolstering its resilience, developing a response as adaptive as Beijing’s efforts. The Taiwan Conundrum.

 

Satellite images show a damaged radar site at Sana'a Airport in Yemen following Friday's strikes. So a second round of strikes at Houthi targets would seem to reflect the determination of the Americans to match their declared intent - to degrade the Houthis military and, in so doing, remove a complication that carries the threat of expanding aggression in the region. The Measure Of Their Effectiveness Will Be In How The Houthis Respond.

 

China urges the US, UK, and Japan not to interfere in ‘China’s internal affairs’ after they congratulate Lai Ching-te on his election win. This is where China has no right to call Taiwan part of China, historical records prove otherwise. Yet Following the result of the free elections China again sent navy vessels to intimidate Taiwan. The Taiwan Strait is increasingly a critical military flashpoint within this broad expanse. Tensions are mounting as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) ramps up its political, economic, and military pressure on Taiwan and its other neighbors. There are warning signs that Beijing may accelerate its plan to seize Taiwan by force if necessary. President Biden’s strong start regarding the Taiwan issue comes against the backdrop of China dramatically increasing military activity in the waters and air space near the island.

 

Either the United States and its international partners must make a historic decision to end the conflict now and move both sides swiftly toward a viable two-state solution, or the world will have to contend with an even darker future. Soon, it will no longer be a question of occupation but the more difficult issue of outright apartheid. The Choice Cannot Be Clearer.

 

Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince was on lockdown on Thursday, as flaming barricades across several neighborhoods forced residents to shelter in place or return home in the latest flare-ups in chronic gang violence plaguing the Caribbean country. Who Will Lead Haiti?

The idea that military dominance must be pursued in Asia is deeply ingrained in U.S. foreign and defense policy. This presumption risks becoming even more entrenched as leaders in both political parties fear slipping behind Beijing. But a balancing approach constitutes neither appeasement nor defeatism. It is perhaps the only fiscally sustainable way to protect U.S. interests in the region for decades to come. America Can’t Surpass China’s Power in Asia. But It Can Still Prevent Chinese Hegemony.

 

The Israel-Hamas war has changed the Middle East: immense public anger has been stirred up, and animus toward the West could spark fresh extremism and political instability. For the region’s rulers, even those whom Washington counts as allies, the war has changed fundamental assumptions about their security and their relations with the West. The Ongoing Houthi Attacks.

 

With the frontline at a territorial stalemate, Ukraine’s chances of regaining full control of the occupied territories by force of arms in 2024 appear slim. Any armistice or freezing of the conflict would draw a line through southern and eastern Ukraine, leaving millions of Ukrainians under Russian rule. As the war grinds on, Russia has time to further consolidate its political, economic, and administrative occupation, making the eventual reintegration of these territories back into Ukraine increasingly difficult. The Quiet Transformation.

 

If 2023 is any indication, it would be far better for pragmatic U.S. policymakers to use American power to shift the course of events in the Holy Land than to hand the situation over to extremists and to the bloody dynamics they encourage. Why Peace Remains Possible.

 

Containment offers a policy blend capable of working from the fine-grained details of an AI model out to huge public programs that could mitigate vast job destruction. The New Threat.

 

The current moment is, arguably, the most sensitive in Myanmar’s modern history. The junta is the weakest it has ever been and the resistance has made unprecedented territorial, political, and military gains. Whereby the various resistance groups will need to negotiate settlements among themselves. The Future Of Myanmar.

 

Great catastrophes often seem unthinkable until they happen. As the strategic environment deteriorates, it’s time to recognize how eminently thinkable global conflict has become. Regional Conflicts Resemble World War II.

 

Russians believe that the timeless essence of the United States is the will to power: this clarifies the Kremlin’s decision to invade Ukraine, and it also explains Russia’s refusal to wind down its devastating war in Ukraine. Captivating as they are, myths mislead by obscuring the awesome complexity and open-endedness of reality. Gaza Makes A Nuclear Iran More Likely.

 

A business-as-usual election campaign would not do justice to the challenges that may lie ahead. Instead, political parties need to debate fundamental strategic choices and make the defense of democracy and EU institutional reform a key part of their appeals. Preparing For American Abandonment.

The Middle East is facing a moment of reckoning. If it becomes paralyzed by the horrific bloodshed in Gaza, it could further descend into crisis and conflict. Or it can start building a different future. The Path To A Regional Order.

 

The military campaign that Israel launched in response to Hamas’s brutal October 7 attacks has killed more than 27,000 people in the Gaza Strip and injured more than 60,000 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. About 75 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced. Some 400,000 people are enduring famine due to the blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza and severe restrictions on humanitarian aid that have deprived civilians of what they need to survive. This number could grow if international funding for aid falters. America’s Hypocrisy on Gaza.

Washington and its allies face many potential geopolitical catastrophes over the next decade, but nearly all pale in comparison to what would ensue if China annexed or invaded Taiwan. Japan Defense And China Springboard.

 

The most contested ground of the Russian Civil War, was a line of supply for the White shadow government that was fought over by partisans and controlled by the Czechoslovak Legion of ex-prisoners of war. From Moscow To China.

Handel Celebration Concert | The English Concert, Händelfestspielorchester Halle, Howard Arman

 

 

Adagios from Romantic Piano Concertos

Klassik am Odeonsplatz mit Valery Gergiev, Daniil Trifonov und den Münchner Philharmonikern; Daniil Trifonov played Beethoven's piano concerto no. 5. As many as 8.000 people joined.

Advocates of a renewed push for a two-state solution will claim that it is the most realistic option. No matter how the war in Gaza ends, it is improbable that a two-state solution - or an equitable one-state solution, for that matter - will be on offer. Israel And Hamas.

 

Given the precedents over centuries of Chinese philosophy for the kind of synthesis Xi is attempting, it is curious that he relies so heavily on very ancient sources. President Xi's Thought.

 

The Russian-Ukraine war will end when one side believes it is no longer worth the effort and looks to cut its losses. That decision will be the consequence not only of military factors but also of economic, social, and political ones. Why The War Might Defy Expectations.

 

It is awkward timing for a book extolling Israeli military prowess. On October 7. Israel’s armed forces were caught by surprise, suffering a terrorist attack that resulted in the bloodiest day for Israel since its independence in 1948 and the bloodiest for Jews anywhere since the Holocaust. How Israel Fights.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have announced they are “expanding ground operations” in the Gaza Strip, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari. In a televised news briefing on Friday, he warned residents of Gaza City to move south, where there will be “better conditions.” Meaning an invasion seems now imminent.

U.S. Strikes Targets In Syria.

 

As a result, arguably, it was not just the economically deprived who voted for Brexit. Garton Ash reports that an old friend of his voted Leave; his father, he’s sure, would have done the same. Today, the British are paying the price for a failure of politicians – and intellectuals – to transform people’s mental map of where Britain truly belongs. When Europe Fell Apart.

 

Understanding the problem is just the first step. To solve it – to balance the need for speed with the need for safety – policymakers will have to implement better approaches to accelerating adoption and ensuring safety. Otherwise, Americans risk being caught in spiraling AI dangers and declining U.S. power and influence. AI is already at war; How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform The Military.

 

Israel will require a long and painful healing to regain its balance, its defense posture, and its composure. But first and foremost, it will need to come to terms with the fact that this war is different from any it has fought in many years and that it must transform its approach to security. The End Of Israel’s Gaza Illusions.

 

Since war broke out last month, Hezbollah – an Iranian-backed Islamist group – has launched rockets, anti-tank missiles, and drones into Israeli territory, killing and injuring IDF soldiers; Israel has responded in kind, killing dozens of Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. On Friday, Nasrallah reiterated Hezbollah’s support for Hamas but stopped short of committing his group to becoming more deeply involved in the war. Yet he indicated that could change if the conflict continues. Duelling Speeches.

 

According to the Israeli military, various Palestinian groups, including Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and staged the surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, are believed to be holding more than 240 hostages. The Protests In Israel.

 

The Dalai Lama is an honorary citizen of Canada, and thus the government has the responsibility to protect his religious freedom. It is also important for Buddhist countries such as South Korea and several members of ASEAN to protect the traditions and customs of Buddhism. The Next Dalai Lama.

 

Hard power is a critical element of the United States’ efforts to uphold peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. It is a variable in the equation, however, and not the solution. Once More The Question Of Taiwan.

 

There seems to be an appetite for the United Nations to maintain its role of promoting global security, even if it takes on a more limited operational involvement in conflict than it has in the past. Rather than deploying its own forces, the UN could support other crisis managers, namely regional organizations and even individual countries. How The World Lost Faith In The UN.

 

Israel’s actions will unavoidably pose a great risk to its forces, to innocent Palestinians in Gaza, and to the hostages. Destroying Hamas’s tunnel network is the most difficult aspect of the Israeli military’s mission today, but it is also among its most important. It is at least as important as the elimination of Hamas’s chain of command. The No Blueprint Assault.

The region is suffering from a precipitously brutal coarsening of its politics. When it comes to the Palestinians, the Qataris are true to their principles in support of Palestinian justice and rights, yet, can be constructive, but the effort to win the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza seems to be the exception that proves the rule. Why Did Antony Blinken Attend A Meeting In Doha?

 

Despite its military superiority, Israel never succeeded in eradicating the PLO. Instead, the IDF’s primary accomplishments were killing tens of thousands of civilians; fragmenting Palestinian groups into smaller cells that spent years conducting hit-and-run operations; inspiring the rise of a new Lebanese militant party, Hezbollah; and losing over 1,000 of its own citizens in an occupation that stretched until 2000. It Is A Pattern That Is Already Playing Out Again.

 

Experience suggests that there is no perfect formulaic response to terrorism, only less painful and more productive responses. Many Israelis and Palestinians are equally convinced that their victimhood justifies extreme and inhumane measures, and the rest of the world feels compelled to choose sides. The voices of those seeking peaceful outcomes by political means seem to be drowned out by those calling for revenge, punishment, and the use of indiscriminate force. But if there is a lesson to be drawn, it is that governments need to understand the limitations of repression and force. Choosing it alone can only lead to further tragedy. The Gaza Case.

The United States and select NATO members (friends of Ukraine coalition of the willing) better commit not just to long-term economic and military help but also to guaranteeing Ukraine’s independence. This undertaking would be modeled on Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which provides for immediate consultations whenever “the territorial integrity, political independence, or security” of a member is threatened. Negotiations Over Territory.

 

Israel has a few ways to eliminate Hamas’s asymmetric advantages. The country cannot reverse technological change or completely shut down pro-Hamas messaging on social media. But Israel does have the power to react to Hamas’s terror attack strategically, and with restraint. Doing so can sap Hamas of much of its power. What Does It Mean To Defeat A Terrorist Group?

 

As the sun went down on Friday, October 6, Israelis began preparing for Shabbat. For some, their weekend plans were not particularly restful; this would be the fortieth consecutive Saturday on which thousands would take to the streets of Tel Aviv to Protest The Netanyahu Government.

 

Containing Russia should be conceptualized - and celebrated - as a steady continuum of action that started before February 2022 and came into its own with the Ukrainian defense of Kyiv and battlefield advances in the fall of 2022. Containment, by definition, can deliver only a partial victory, and for this reason, ups and downs in public sentiment in countries allied with Ukraine are to be expected. Like In The First World War?

 

One of Netanyahu’s worst mistakes was to view the Palestinian problem purely in security terms as if the politics behind the conflict could be ignored. That, of course, led to the blind spot that helped make the Hamas attacks so deadly. But as an IDF man, Gantz seems likely to view the Palestinian problem in much the same way - as a security threat to be contained rather than an acknowledgment of the Palestinian right to self-determination. Why Israel Won’t Change.

 

Fighting resumed in Gaza early Friday local time after Hamas and Israel failed to announce an agreement on extending the ceasefire before it expired.The big picture: The renewed fighting comes after a seven-day pause during which Hamas more than 100 hostages, including two Americans, and Israel released 240 Palestinians from Israeli jails. Israel also allowed more aid trucks and fuel into Gaza to help address the dire humanitarian crisis.

Russians are not ready to die for Putin. In 2018 and 2020, Putin’s ratings fell due to an unpopular decision to increase the retirement age, and then because of the effects of the pandemic; it is possible that other new hits to his popularity will occur in the coming months. Indeed, in the mood of both the public and the elites, there is an invisible yet discernible expectation of such events. For most, however, the yearning is more basic. They desire to end “all this” - meaning getting rid of war - as quickly as possible and begin to live better, more safely, and more peacefully. But it is unlikely that this will happen without regime change. Too Many European Politicians Are Failing To Confront Russia.

 

Enter Napoleon:

 

The New Cold War? Like Soviet intelligence during the last century, Chinese agencies are waging a persistent, integrated, and asymmetric onslaught on Western countries. But Where Is This Going?

U.N. Chief Demands Immediate Cease-Fire in Gaza. 

 

The Story How Hardeep Singh Nijjar Was Killed In Canada, September 2023.

 

Amazing, in the open right in the Center of Munich:

 

The State of The World in Focus - The Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the most enduring and complex geopolitical issues of modern times (for a more detailed description see 11 December above. Its ramifications go beyond the borders of Israel and the Palestinian territories, influencing international policy, shaping global alliances, and igniting passionate debates on human rights, sovereignty, and justice. (See more on that above).

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says 36 percent of Gaza households are now experiencing “severe hunger.” The Future Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

 

In the following in-depth research, we show how the National Socialist leadership's preoccupation with the “Jewish Bolshevik” peril stressing that this and worse would in Germany “occur with the same methodicalness as in Russia” unless the Germans realized that “one has to fight now if one wants to live.” Resistance to “Jewish Bolshevism,” cast in terms of a life and death struggle, formed a central tenet of the National Socialist ideology. As is evidenced, Hitler compared German conditions with those in the Soviet Union, claiming that the Jews were inciting the masses to the "final blow against the state" in Germany, "like in Soviet Russia." A Life For The Tsar.

 

Even India's imperative to move from regional to global power necessitates force projection capabilities on the maritime front. For India, maritime security has become a more significant focus since Beijing launched its so-called String of Pearls strategy – a push to build military and commercial assets along the Indian Ocean. However, this strategy has been largely unsuccessful, one reason Beijing has been trying to keep India focused on its shared border in the Himalayas instead of its southern flank. India’s Massive Military Restructuring.

 

The incisive UN Arab Human Development reports from the early years of this century warned that an Arab state system lagging in human development and with all its other socioeconomic ills, was unsustainable - foreshadowing the uprisings a few years later. Today, however, the challenges have only grown worse. The Middle East now faces the scars of war, the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid population growth, widespread youth unemployment, and uncontrolled urbanization, not to mention climate change and the nascent transition to clean energy. No government in the region is currently capable of seriously confronting these issues. Why a Spate Of Diplomatic Deals Won’t End Conflict.

 

The Chinese economy’s affliction with economic long COVID presents an opportunity for U.S. policymakers to change strategy. Instead of trying to contain China’s growth at great cost to their economy, American leaders can let Xi do their work for them and position their country as a better alternative and a welcoming destination for Chinese economic assets. The End Of China’s Economic Miracle.

 

Germany’s new China strategy is an essential step toward a more realistic assessment of Germany’s economic vulnerabilities as it becomes dangerously exposed to disruptions caused by or emanating from China. With its focus on financial risks and only secondary consideration of hard security issues, it is in danger of being quickly overtaken in a rapidly evolving geopolitical environment. Berlin’s Delicate Balance With Beijing.

 

Further, focused planning for how free markets might be used against free countries will allow the United States and its allies to prevent economic disruption better. As in traditional national security, having a strategy is a far better deterrent than not being prepared. How To Reduce The Vulnerabilities That Free Markets Create.

 

Western policymakers need to bake potential miscalculations into their analysis and commit to being open-minded, even if doing so challenges their worldview. Leaders will frequently ignore the advice given to them or overestimate their abilities and miscalculate risks. In other words, leaders will only sometimes be guided by level-headed rationalism, regardless of what outside observers think. It is a mistake for intelligence analysts and policymakers to assume otherwise. Why It’s So Hard To Forecast Authoritarian Aggression.

 

Given the war’s current trajectory and that Ukraine cannot be particular about NATO membership, its leaders may have to accept what they deem unacceptable. How To Keep The Country Safe Without NATO Membership.

 

As commented on four days ago, the perplexing aftermath of the Wagner mutiny shows Putin is more vulnerable than ever. And where Putin saw the invasion of Ukraine as an act of destiny, fulfilling a historical script. Instead, the war has left Russia grasping for certainties in an exceedingly uncertain world. The Dangers Of Russian Disorder.

 

 

The world has seen the devastation and tragedy of dysfunctional migration systems. A safe, fair, and orderly migration policy in the United States is starting to emerge; if it succeeds, it could serve as an example of what might be possible elsewhere. The Formula For Managing Migration.

 

Calls for revolution and transformation have been commonplace in the generations after World War II defense debate. They have mostly not fared well in light of observed experience in that time. After a year and a half of war in Ukraine, there is no reason to think they will be proven right this time. Back In The Ukraine Trenches.

 

The situation on the island of Maui is catastrophic, with hundreds of deaths for sure. It also deserves a mention of what formerly was a country, particularly the Island of Hawaii and its capital Honolulu on Oahu. The True Story Of Hawaii.

 

Two years after the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan Still Threatens The Region And Beyond.

A little over two years ago, a by us personal known reader (having done his due diligence) sent us an alarming detailed expose about the misuse of Cryptocurrency as funding terrorism, the war In Ukraine, laundered billions from Mexico's murderous drug gangs, including an article about how someone by the name of Sam Bankman-Fried was allegedly trying to run a crypto fueled Ponzi scheme. Setting our team to work on it, we devised a five-part in-depth investigation. Whereby during 2023, Crypto ransom attacks continued to rise.  Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five.

 

One of the items mentioned about the widespread crypto crime scene is the Sam Bankman-Fried was now sent to jail after his bail was revoked. In court, Judge Kaplan said: "There is probable cause to believe that the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice."

 

Less than a week after several liquidity pools on Curve Finance were exploited in a multi-million dollar scheme, the hacker returned 4,820 alETH and 2,258 ETH to Alchemix, worth around $12.7 million. An Extensive Overview Of How Crypto-Currency Fraud Functions.

 

The development of robust AI systems is inevitable, and people everywhere need to be prepared for what such technologies will do to their communities and the broader world. Get Ready For Artificial Intelligence.

 

It is essential for countries to elucidate the goals of collaboration and to articulate what the partnership needs to be clarified. Security cooperation and contingency planning are not geared to produce collective defense commitments, as with NATO. This message will matter to the reception closer to the trilateral alignment received in certain regions. How To Boost Cooperation.

 

The twenty-first century will throw up few challenges as daunting or opportunities as promising as AI presents. In the last century, policymakers began to build a global governance architecture that, they hoped, would equal the tasks of the age. They must build a new governance architecture to contain and harness this era's most formidable and potentially defining force. There Is No Time To Waste.

 

Russia is now home to a dizzying array of nationalist movements, and it is hard to say what form Russian nationalism will take after Putin. But if it takes a welcome form that focuses on building solidarity and sharing power with Russia’s other nationalities, it would offer a fleeting opportunity to address the core driver of Russia’s recent aggression: the conflation of greatness with imperial ambitions. Russian Ethnonationalism Chauvinism.

 

Ötzi the Iceman, named after the valley in which he was found, became world-famous because his body had been remarkably well pre­served by the intense cold, making him the oldest European mummified human. Scientists began examining Ötzi, and soon a startling series of discoveries emerged. A Sort Of 'Out Of Africa.'

 

The two indictments this month, one federal and one state, shore up the surprisingly fragile pillars of American democracy. Americans and the world will be watching what comes next - the pleas, the evidence, the defense, and the verdicts. Can America Protect The Peaceful Transfer Of Power?

 

To be clear, the Hawaii of today maintains a very close relationship with Japan, including its yearly (briefly halted during Covid) Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture, initially organized by Japan. What we do here, however, is take a historical look at what was envisioned as a self-sufficient bloc governed by the WWII Japanese leadership. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Part One Of Two.

 

Initially, Tomáš Masaryk introduced Coudenhove-Kalergi(RCK) to Edvard Beneš, the Czechoslovak foreign minister, who also supported the thrust of RCK’s argument. More importantly, Beneš gave him a Czechoslovak diplomatic passport to facilitate his future travel around the continent to propagate his political program of closer integration. Like many Wilsonians, RCK had initially been enthusiastic about the proposal to create the League of Nations. But, in the way it was set up, he could see the problems that prevented it from working as intended. He claimed it was ‘neither truly global nor European’. Bolshevik Russia defeated Germany, for instance, and states from afar, such as Argentina and Mexico, were not members. Even the United States had failed to join because its Senate blocked ratification of its accession, a dramatic first step along the road of American isolationism. Coudenhove-Kalergi And The Pan-Europa Movement.

 

Vladimir Putin Christmas Downer.

Russia Redux.

Taiwan Attack.

More Vital Than Ever.

Russia Expert Olde Samorodni Predicts.

USA China.

Himalaya.

The Question Of Taiwan.

India's concern about the ruling party’s continued ability to balance its need to leverage religion to maintain its unique position in the Indian political landscape and govern what will soon be the world’s largest nation. India’s Ruling Party Is Losing Control.

 

Competition could see the United States and China engage in a technology race that pushes the frontiers of human knowledge to new heights and creates innovative solutions to transnational problems. It could also mean the two rivals cultivate internally peaceful blocs of like-minded states, using nonviolent means, including aid provision, to try to win hearts and minds and expand their influence at the margins. This rivalry is alright for the world and better than the great-power wars that have characterized most modern history. Why America And China Will Be Enduring Rivals.

 

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group who launched a mutiny against the Kremlin two months ago, is believed to have died along with nine other people in a plane crash in Russia on Wednesday.

In the end, the Wagner mutiny lasted less than 24 hours. But the toxic cocktail of jealousy, rivalry, and ambition that gave rise to it has been months, if not years, in the making. Putin’s enemies don’t die of natural causes. The Wagner Paramilitary Group.

 

 

The Special Operations Executive In France And Elsewhere.

All political transformation in Russia has come from the top. It is possible that a new group of reformers could emerge from among the moderate members of the existing elite - liberals who are still serving in government or the civil service. This new group would have to decide how radically they want to change the country. What It Will Take To Break Putinism’s Grip.

 

Reducing harmful pollution is the only way to avoid the worst climate impacts. However, negotiators must expand the stage to include adaptation and ensure these two approaches go together. The effects of a changing climate are already here, devastating communities worldwide. Preparing For A Future Of Extreme Weather.

 

BRI debt will continue to impede debt-relief efforts, undermining the economic health of indebted developing countries and the effectiveness of the IMF. Only a reformed IMF can reverse the damage - to developing countries and themselves. The Real Toll Of Beijing’s Belt And Road.

 

In Recently, a quiet revolution with significant consequences for transatlantic relations and international economic affairs has occurred. Its success still hangs in the balance. The EU has already proved capable of innovating and reinventing itself – Europe’s Geoeconomic Revolution.

 

Over the past 18 months, the Ukrainians have demonstrated a will to fight, the capacity to absorb new weapons, and the ability to learn, adapt, and improve their military effectiveness. The following way to help the Ukrainians continue their evolution in quality and endurance is to ensure they know the West is prepared to support them. The West Needs A Strategy For After The Counteroffensive.

 

A quiet revolution with significant consequences for transatlantic relations and international economic affairs has recently occurred. Its success still hangs in the balance. How The EU Will Learn To Wield Its Power.

 

Today, we will dive into a subject when people hoped to commute with death. Today, this claim is made by Theresa Caputo (a known fraud) performing. There had, of course, been other mediums more sophisticated than Caputo. A good case is the acclaimed H.P. Blavatsky, who, given her time, used a degree system. The Secret Doctrine And The Inner Group.

 

Tokyo Aims To Counter Growing Chinese And North Korean Aggression.

 

Maintaining the status quo of the current global order and resisting the democratization of its governance, as the systemic leader the United States and its closest allies seem to be trying to do (with China and Russia also resisting substantive changes to the UN Security Council), will only heighten the impatience for serious reform. The World Outside The Great Powers.

 

Washington should now understand that Moscow is geared up for a long war over the future of Ukraine and the international order and will use global levers of power and influence to hurt Ukraine and the West. The effects of Russia’s actions will not be trivial. Nor will the Kremlin’s ruthlessness necessarily turn non-Western countries against Russia. The sooner U.S. policymakers appreciate the global dimensions of the war in Ukraine, the sooner they can engineer the failure of Russia’s designs for Ukraine. Ukraine And Next.

 

Visiting the Sixtine Chapel in Rome:

 

In the 1950s, a psychologist named Bertram Forer facilitated this experiment with students from his introductory to psychology course. The text you rated earlier is very similar to the one Forer used back then, inspired by newspaper astrology sections. He gave the exact text to each of his students, telling them they were the results of a personality test they had previously filled out and, therefore, very personalized. When all the students received the text with their scores, Forer asked them to raise their hands if they thought it had done an excellent job of describing their personality. The students were baffled when they saw that almost all hands were up. Forer then started to read one of the texts out loud. The students laugh, realizing that all the texts are the same. Forer now had proof of our faulty judgment and how easily we can be fooled into approving pseudo-scientific descriptions or predictions about ourselves. But Astrology’s Politics Are More Complicated Than Any Simple Link To Left Or Right.

 

Adversaries would recognize that they cannot simply hold out and hope U.S. policymakers change their minds. Echoing William Jennings Bryan’s three presidential defeats a century ago, Trump’s third popular vote loss in 2024 would signal that isolationist and populist sentiments in the United States are trending toward remission and Bracing For Trump 2.0.

Today, the mood in the Islamic Republic, compared with just a year ago, is triumphant. Khameneis republic has survived sanctions and internal protests. With the help of its great-power allies, it has steadied its economy and started to replenish its defenses. A nuclear bomb is within reach. When the supreme leader decides to cross that threshold, there is little reason to believe that Israel or the United States intends to stop him with force. Iran’s New Patrons.

Ukraine will need patience from its partners as it tries to wear down its enemy. The West will need to recalibrate its expectations to match reality, which is that this is a war of attrition. In the near term, NATO states must continue transferring weapons and other capabilities to Ukraine. They will also need to give Kyiv political and military support for the long term. What Ukraine Needs Right Now Is Time.

 

 

The South China Sea is undoubtedly one of the world's most strategically and economically essential waterways with militarized implications. The biggest concern about China’s military expansion is how it ties into plans to annex Taiwan. The Trouble With The South China Sea.

 

This creative model emanates from an African-led institution and could set a compelling precedent for other development banks and policymakers worldwide. By emphasizing collaborations like these, the next time a pandemic threatens the world, more countries will be ready to respond and rebuild. That would benefit not just the global North or South - it would be a win for everyone. New Resentment How Rich Countries’ Selfish Pandemic Responses Stoked Distrust.

 

China spent $2.2 trillion on fossil fuel subsidies last year, several times more than the following country, the United States ($760 billion). Notably, despite the costs of its war in Ukraine, Russia spent $420 billion. China, the U.S., Russia, India, and the European Union accounted for 57 percent of all fossil fuel subsidies.

By recognizing and ignoring Russian propaganda and instead studying and identifying the actual vulnerabilities of Russia’s military, the United States and its allies may be able to develop new and better approaches that could allow them to help Ukraine prevail and hasten the end of the war, just as the United States did with the Soviets’ war in Afghanistan. What The West Still Gets Wrong About Russia’s Military.

 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his entire delegation have been forced to extend their stay in New Delhi for the G20 summit by an extra day after his aircraft broke down, Canadian officials confirmed. This happened after Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to Trudeau strong concerns about anti-India elements promoting secessionism from Canadian soil and inciting violence against diplomats.

 

Technology is political. At times, this subtle but omnipresent politicization is nearly invisible. It shouldn’t be. Social media is the most recent reminder that technology and political organization cannot be divorced. States and technologies are intimately tied together. The Ramifications Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Part One.

The containment of Russia and the preservation of Ukrainian sovereignty are first-order Western interests. They should not depend on images of horrific violence, constant media attention, or the charisma of any Ukrainian politician. Western indifference and impatience are Putin’s ultimate weapons in this war. Without them, he faces a strategic dead end. Will The West Abandon Ukraine?

 

Universities can build bridges through education, research, and joint problem-solving. Because they employ the shared common language of science and scholarship, they are sometimes the only institutions still able to build those bridges when dialogue seems impossible. Why Academic Links Are Essential In A Fragmenting World.

 

The lack of escalation in Ukraine serves as a reminder that in limited wars, patience is a virtue. A go-slow approach has allowed NATO countries to provide a level of military support that was unthinkable at the war’s start. The risks of escalation have not been overblown. Instead, gradualism has allowed the West to learn - and, in some ways, stretch - the limits of the war. The Missing Escalation In Ukraine.

 

If China’s economic woes worsen, its leaders will probably become more sensitive to perceived external challenges, especially on issues like Taiwan. Increased pressure on China could easily backfire and motivate Beijing to become more aggressive to demonstrate its resolve to other states despite its internal difficulties. More Likely To React To External Threats.

 

While Putin and Kim Jong Un's meeting will prompt talk of a new authoritarian axis in northeast Asia, there’s little to suggest that this relationship's recent surge has deeper foundations than each country’s immediate strategic interests. Moscow may seek to revise the global order in its favor, but enlisting North Korea as a partner in that endeavor will be of limited use. What Putin And Kim Want From Each Other.

 

Brought about by the inexorable rise of Artificial intelligence and the end of nations, a crisis will take the form of a vast, existential-level bind, a set of brutal choices and trade-offs representing the most crucial dilemma of the twenty-first century. The Ramifications Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Part Two.

 

The arrival of the Spanish caused a massive demographic collapse in the population centers of the New World, particularly in greater Mexico and more so in Peru. A century later, the arrival of the French and the English caused similar population collapses on the East Coast of North America, which gradually spread west across the continent. The Spanish administration of Hispaniola and other Caribbean islands proved an unmitigated disaster for the Indians of the region, as these were subjected to forced labor, forced relocation, wanton cruelty, and even enslavement at the hands of ill-governed adventurers. The Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and the Incas was a civilizational disaster that permanently derailed the autonomous development of New World culture. In the Spanish conquest of Mexico, one hundred thousand died from the direct consequences of war, and the actual number might have been double or triple this amount. The Truth About European Colonialism In The New World.

 

Claims by the former Brazilian president’s ex-secretary prompt calls for alleged right-wing conspirators to be brought to justice. A former Bolsonaro aide said in plea bargain testimony that the then-president talked with the commanders of Brazil's army, navy, and air force about overthrowing the results of last year's election won by Lula. Bolsonaro Redux.

 

In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant created the Department of Justice to counter the terrorism carried out by the Ku Klux Klan and other violent groups active in Southern states. But a new domestic terrorism law seems a small step by comparison, and it would send a resounding message: there is no place for political violence in a democracy. White Supremacist Terrorism.

 

Cantonese and non-Mandarin languages in China, writ large, have lost a strong advocate, and others who seek to promote language rights will become wary of doing so. And the effects of this chilling of speech are wide-reaching. Beijing Seeks To Extend The Hegemony Of Mandarin.

 

Both political parties deserve credit for this paradigm shift in trade policy and for the USMCA, which is already doing so much for the United States. The key now is to hold steady, mindful that powerful interests at home and overseas will diligently seek to undermine the agreement. Washington must be equally diligent in sticking to its new course on trade. The New American Way Of Trade How The USMCA Does What NAFTA Couldn’t.

 

The EU’s most challenging is also consequential. Russia is threatening the peace and stability of Europe, and bringing Moldova and Ukraine into the EU is critical to strengthening the continent’s east. That, in turn, will protect Europe as a whole. The Promise And Peril Of EU Expansion.

 

Xi and Putin, cocooned by yes men, have already made serious errors that have cost their countries dearly. In the long run, they have damaged their countries. However, they remain a danger that the United States must face for the foreseeable future. Even in the best of worlds - one in which the U.S. government had a supportive public, energized leaders, and a coherent strategy - these adversaries would pose a formidable challenge. But the domestic scene today is far fromorderly. Explaining America’s Global Role.

 

Six young people from areas in Portugal ravaged by wildfires and heatwaves took 32 European governments to court on Wednesday, arguing Their Failure To Act Fast Enough On Climate Change Violates Their Human Rights.

 

What A Saudi-Israeli Deal Could Mean For The Palestinians.

Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story.

 

Amid a growing outcry over women’s rights abuses in Iran, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. What Narges Mohammadi’s Nobel Means For Iran.

 

While Washington has been reaching out, the ball is now in Beijing’s court. Rejecting such dialogues and merely continuing to beef up the PLA risks undermining the security that Beijing seeks. Will Xi’s Military Modernization Pay Off?

 

On Saturday, barrages of rockets were fired from the blockaded Gaza Strip. The armed wing of Palestinian group Hamas said it was behind the fire, claiming its militants had launched more than 5,000 rockets. Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

 

Regardless, a proper understanding of Russia's threat must begin with an accurate appraisal of Russian power. Putin might harbor fantasies of world conquest. But at the moment, his military cannot fully conquer any of the four Ukrainian provinces he claims to have annexed last year. Ultimately, those are the constraints that should bind the debate about the extent of the threat. What Does Putin Want?

Media in Israel, citing rescue service officials, said at least 300 Israelis were killed, including 26 soldiers, and more than 1,800 wounded. An update on Israeli figures was expected on Sunday. The Israeli military said a “substantial” number of civilians and soldiers were being held hostage in Gaza. Footage circulating on social media showed terrified captives, including mothers huddling with their children, in the custody of Palestinian militant groups:

Below is a destroyed police station that was overrun by Hamas militants in Sderot, Israel:

 

The Palestinian group Hamas carried out a surprise attack on Israel on an unprecedented scale.

At least four civilians were killed while in the custody of Hamas, just feet from where armed militants had been escorting them near the Gaza border, videos obtained and geolocated show. The Why And How Of The Surprise Attack On Israel.

Iran played a role in helping plot the latest round of Hamas attacks. Like its Hezbollah proxy, Iran sees Israel as fundamentally illegitimate. It may seek to disrupt regional trends, such as potential Saudi-Israel normalization (which Tehran sees, with considerable justification, as designed to counter Iran), by promoting anti-Israel violence. Hezbollah, Israel, And Tehran.

 

A Palestinian man taking a selfie next to a burning Israeli tank:

 

Today, we are tracing the origins of the current situation in Gaza and Israel. Gaza Redux Part One.

 

As tensions in the Middle East boil over, great-power competition - classically understood - cannot be the world’s sole focal point and means of analysis. This is not an era of strengthening international order. It is not merely another era of great-power competition. It is a moment of anarchically fragmenting power, an age of great-power distraction. Crises In The Middle East.

 

How The Conflict In The Middle East Came About P.1.

The scenes unfolding in Israel and Gaza mark a new chapter in the Middle East conflict. Today’s great powers, China, Europe, Russia, and the United States, will undoubtedly have a role to play in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Whether any of these powers will be able to resolve or contain that conflict is far less specific. Hamas Rise To Power.

 

The main reason this is happening now is the prospect of the U.S.-Saudi-Israeli deal. Hamas understands this is a huge transformative event, and they are trying to create a circumstance where it will be difficult for Saudi Arabia to do it right. Nevertheless, it is time to stop Israel from creating a disaster. Time To Step Back From The Brink.

The next stage is coming’: Israel issues warning as residents flee Gaza assault US urges restraint amid bombing of civilian evacuation convoy that left a reported 70 people dead, including women and children.

 

Further to our article from yesterday, the U.S. needs to have conversations with Israel that only the United States, Israel’s closest partner, can have. As significant a threat as the proposed judicial reform was (and is) to Israel’s democracy, events of the past week have revealed that an unresolved Palestinian issue poses a far greater one. Why Washington Should Restrain Israeli Military Action In Gaza.

We take a more comprehensive approach to follow up on our previous article. Only a genuinely unified political leadership will fortify Israel’s democracy for the complex military operations ahead, giving it the domestic mandate necessary to build a winning strategy and end Hamas for good. A Strategy Beyond Revenge.

 

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Saudi Arabia becomes critical to the success of the transfer of Gaza from Israeli control to the UN and the subsequent consolidation of the Palestinian Authority’s hold over both the West Bank and Gaza. Many hurdles stand in the way of such an arrangement coming to pass. But one purpose of diplomacy is to probe intentions and spur the consideration of a wider range of options in a contingency. This is what the moment requires. The alternative is Gaza as an eternal dystopia, with violence metastasizing around the broader region and states less able to deal with social and environmental disarray. Return The Gaza Strip To Palestinians.

 

While President El-Sisi and U.S. President Biden agreed on the Delivery of Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, today, British Prime Minster Sunak arrives in Tel Aviv. The Israeli military says it ‘destroyed hundreds of Hamas terrorist’ sites; British PM expected to ask that Britons in Gaza be allowed to leave. Following Biden's recent speech, the U.S. also must reinvent itself to get economic security right in a highly interdependent world marked by great-power severe competition. The Israeli/Hamas Conundrum.

 

As we show in this article, the situation on the ground of the Israel-Hamas war is fluid, and changes to the strategic calculus in Israel, Iran, or both countries may lead their leaders to believe that avoiding wider conflict poses a greater danger to their survival than confronting one another in war. Escalation Could Set Israel And Iran On A Collision Course.

 

In the center of Munich, Daniil Trifonov playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 5.:

 

It seems Erdogan is once again ready to burn bridges with Israel, even though in early 2022, he had begun an attempt to normalize Turkey’s relationship with the country, hosting Israeli President Isaac Herzog and once again exchanging ambassadors. In doing so, Erdogan hoped to break Ankara from its relative state of isolation in the region and win over pro-Israel figures in Washington so that the U.S. Congress would look more favorably upon Ankara and remove its strong objections to selling Turkey weapons: Erdogan And The Hamas-Israel War.

 

Yom Kippur War. Misinformation About The Israel-Hamas War Is Flooding Social Media.

 

 

A ground assault into Gaza is likely, with dire consequences. But as every soldier knows, it may still be necessary and start very soon. Israel Enter Gaza Imminent.

It is impossible to know for sure how an enemy will react in war, primarily because leaders are incentivized to misrepresent their actual redlines. Fighting nuclear-armed adversaries is a dangerous game of brinkmanship. The Return Of Nuclear Escalation.

 

In the immediate term, Israeli and especially U.S. leaders need to secure the safety of Gazan civilians, 1.4 million of whom have already been displaced. The United States should partner with the United Nations to create clear humanitarian corridors and protected zones. What To Do About Gaza, And What Gazans Think.

When India overtook China in April to become the world’s most populous nation, observers wondered: Will New Delhi surpass Beijing to become the next global superpower? India’s birth rate is almost twice that of China. And India has outpaced China in economic growth for the past two years - its GDP grew 6.1 percent last quarter, compared with China’s 4.5 percent. At first glance, the statistics seem promising. Will India Surpass China To Become The Next Superpower?

Revolutionary autocrats and their successors present one of today’s most intractable challenges to international order. Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine despite Russia’s close ties to Europe demonstrates that economic linkage and common material interests are insufficient to preserve the liberal world order. Don’t Count The Dictators Out.

Prigozhin’s mutiny has already inspired a spate of historical analogies. Perhaps this is Russia in 1905, the small revolution before the big one. Or maybe it is the Soviet Union in 1991, making Putin into a version of Gorbachev, someone destined to lose an empire. The Beginning Of The End For Putin?

Any American pursuit of Chinese assurances that U.S. military forces can safely operate near China’s shores could willfully disregard the incentives that Chinese officials face to limit that access. If American officials want to lower risk, they should instead offer concrete proposals around issues requiring reciprocal restraint, such as proposing that neither country should ever allow a system guided by artificial intelligence to launch a nuclear warhead. It would serve both sides’ interests to build toward an international norm in which decisions on a nuclear launch reside only in the hands of humans. The Virtue Of Low Expectations.

Far better to try to solidify the status quo with a non-confrontational approach. For that reason, the concept of full-spectrum power is not just helpful for understanding how states behave in the international realm; it can guard against the kind of analytical mistakes that led to the current catastrophe in Ukraine. There’s No Such Thing As A Great Power.

Undoubtedly, China once strongly modeled itself after the Soviet Union. Even Mao’s personalized rule and many attempts by Russia to define and police political orthodoxy have not changed that. But for Beijing, last weekend’s mutiny against Vladimir Putin was a cautionary tale. China’s Affinity With Russia Is Over.

For years, the US industry has tried to do more with less to consolidate its operations and then ramp up production in times of crisis. But this strategy has not worked for the United States and is currently not working for Ukraine. Ukraine And The American War Machine.

Whenever it comes, the war's end may offer Zelensky and the rest of the country just such a moment. The president must find a way to translate the population’s will to fight into an equally strong conviction that the old approach to running the country is no longer possible. And he must then follow through on his promises. End In Sight For The Ukraine War.

Ein Bild, das Menschliches Gesicht, Person, Kleidung, Augenbraue enthält.

Automatisch generierte Beschreibung

Today, there is a genuine concern about suspected explosives on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which the Russians will deny. The same was recently when Russia used explosives to destroy a dam while claiming it were the Ukrainians themselves who did. With adequate international support, such real-time documenting of human rights and other violations could have a more direct and consequential dimension in wars that are still unfolding. Crimes Without Punishment?

Unless Europe’s wealthiest and most populous states are doing everything to help the United States make NATO territory defensible in places that lie outside their usual comfort zones, they are underperforming their duty in ways that could come back to haunt the entire alliance long after the war in Ukraine is over. NATO’s East Deterring Russia.

The impasse over Security Council reform has endured for generations. At some point, this brittle, archaic system will buckle beneath the weight of the world. Such a collapse may not seem imminent, but as with fault lines in the earth, geopolitical dynamics can shift unexpectedly, irreversibly, and sometimes catastrophically. Time To Expand The UN Security Council.

Due to an initial question from a reader who we also personally knew, we embarked on what for us at the time was a somewhat unusual undertaking as it referred to the Order of Malta and its mimic Orders.

Having contacted five academics with a Ph.D. who specialized in this subject, including a prominent (historian) of one of the mimic Orders, a few more people from both sides joined, leading to An Extensive Overview  and A Relevant Comment.

Whereby noticing that with the mimic Orders also came 'mimic Bishops,' we added a relevant comment including a five-part history of the actual Order of Malta, see One here, Two here, Three here, Four here, and Five here and finally an intriguing Six here.

NATO leaders meeting in Vilnius better recognize that European peace and stability rely on a secure and independent Ukraine. Ultimately, that means bringing Ukraine into NATO. I believe leaders should already extend an invitation for Ukraine to join in Vilnius—but unfortunately, certain leaders of NATO member countries remain hesitant to commit while the war is ongoing. This is a mistake. If you make membership dependent on the end of hostilities, you give Russian President Vladimir Putin the incentive to continue the war indefinitely. The Next Few Years Will Be Crucial.

Yemen should show the population that the government is representative of the people and not beholden to outside powers whose ravages will need to be addressed. Saudi Arabia and Iran will ultimately need to be held responsible for contributing to war and a humanitarian crisis that has led to the deaths of more than 300,000 Yemenis - reparations that could take the form of support for the country's post-war reconstruction. Time To Move On.

NATO agreed to new, detailed regional defense plans, which are fully connected with the forces, capabilities, and command and control needed to execute them. Today's NATO Meeting In Vilnius.

While not intended as a black-or-white choice, given the danger of a new Pacific war if China were to attack Taiwan, it seems reasonable for countries to decide whether to side with or appear to side with Washington or Beijing. And the US could accept this reality rather than reassure the capitals that no such choice is in the offing, including helping foreign capitals make the right decisions. U.S.-Chinese Rivalry.

 

Tension is a given between the two most powerful countries, China and the US. But if they can both stick to a strategy of institutional balancing, the rewards of competition should outweigh the risks. How Institutional Balancing Promotes Stability in Asia.

 

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a moment of clarity for the United States and its allies. An urgent mission was before them: to assist Ukraine as it countered Russian aggression and to punish Moscow for its transgressions. While the Western response was clear from the start, the objective - the endgame of this war - has been nebulous. Why There Can Be No Negotiations With Putin.

 

European allies that wanted more for Ukraine should channel their disappointment constructively. They can seize the moment and commit to extending the JEF to Ukraine and Poland together with mutual defense obligations when hostilities cease. Postwar Ukraine.

Economic, technological, and strategic competition between China and the United States will remain the dominant feature of geopolitics for years, if not decades, to come. Taiwan Is An Important Partner.

 

What Western governments need more than anything, however, is imagination when it comes to intelligence collection about closed police states. Imagination led the CIA to develop high-altitude U-2 planes capable of spying behind the Iron Curtain when other methods were impossible. Similar creativity is needed today in areas at the forefront of national security. Blinded By The Fight.

Before Biden meets with Xi in November, China might see the resumption of military-to-military talks as one way to pave the way for a smooth summit. None of this engagement, however, fundamentally changes China’s goal, which is to limit U.S. military activities in the Chinese periphery. Living On The Edge.

 

The upside of western hypocrisy how the global South can push America to do better. While the current situation inevitably results in the details of Chinese foreign policy grating against some of the country’s professed values. As its clout in world politics expands, Beijing will increasingly face complaints of hypocrisy. And when that day comes, people worldwide may find that hypocritical behavior under the banner of liberal values was not that bad after all. The Global South.

 

Negotiations in Yemen should be open to more than just armed entities gaining legitimacy through battle. The talks should also comprise political and social groups, including those that represent women and young people. The country must do more than forge temporary deals between groups in the long term. It can achieve sustainable peace if a regional proxy war no longer obscures the local conflicts that started this civil. Yemen's Humanitarian Crisis.

 

Given the mounting pressures, Putin can try to hang on, but he needs a strategy to show that Russia still has a path to victory.  What Putin does should, in turn, shape Ukrainian actions. Kyiv can add to the anxieties in Moscow, demonstrating that no part of Russia is secure, punishing Russian forces at the front and opportunistically liberating territory even if it is not quite what military planners intended. The War Of Endurance.

 

Seventy years ago this week, the armistice that froze the Korean War was signed. Whereby China’s active, albeit highly distorted, revival of the war’s memory should indicate its belligerent present-day intent. Anniversary speeches such as Xi’s and movies such as The Battle at LakeChangjin are A Form Of Preparation For War.

 

The US government conducted a “multi-decade” program that collected and attempted to reverse engineer crashed UFOs, former intelligence official David Grusch told the hearing. David Grusch, who led the analysis of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAP) within a US Department of Defense agency until 2023, claimed he had been denied access to secret government UFO programs and said he has faced “very brutal” retaliation due to his allegations. He claimed he knew “people who have been harmed or injured” during government efforts to conceal UFO information.The Truth About UFO's.

 

Taking a lesson from Ukraine, a U.S.-Chinese war would take a lot of work. It would not be decided by a battle here or a match there or by which country has the fanciest weapons. Instead, it would be determined by the ability of each side to operate complex military systems and staff its forces with well-trained and motivated personnel - potentially for a very long time. Please Think Twice Before You Launch A Conflict.

 

Yesterday's remarkable new charges against Donald Trump and two associates in the classified documents case significantly deepened the ex-president’s legal plight. And they dragged the 2024 election further into an unprecedented legal quagmire. The extensive research that follows details how the positive thinking movement in the US overlooked its Influences on Donald Trump.The Overlooked Influences On Donald Trump.

According to China’s recent regulations on generative AI built on top of existing rules, the European Union, for its part, is well on its way to passing new rules about AI in the form of the AI Act, which would categorize levels of risk and impose additional requirements for LLMs. The Illusion Of China’s AI Prowess.

The tech war between the two superpowers could well be the defining struggle of the twenty-first century. But whereas China continues to play a long game, America’s tactical assault on China’s technology industry is all about short-term advantage.The Technology Trap.

Nova Kakhovka dam destroyed on Ukraine’s front lines, causing flooding and evacuations. What Really Happened To The Kakhovka Dam?

The reauthorization of Section 702 provides the best opportunity Congress has had since 9/11 and may have for a long time for that undertaking. Lawmakers will almost certainly enact reforms to Section 702. At a minimum, they will place restrictions on backdoor searches. But unless Congress is willing to attack the other heads of the Hydra, it will have done little to rein in warrantless surveillance. The Spying Program.

 

As we reported by us yesterday(underneath) the destruction of a major dam and hydroelectric power plant on the front lines of the war in Ukraine may dry up the rich agricultural region of southern Ukraine, sweep pollutants into waterways and upend ecosystems that had developed around the massive reservoir whose waters are now rapidly flooding downstream. However, the full impact could take months or even years to understand. How The West Can Secure Ukraine’s Future.

Today, the multilateral trading system solves significant global challenges, from climate change to conflict to pandemic preparedness. And a reformed WTO, fit for the twenty-first century, is needed now more than ever, with rules that underpin the stability, predictability, and openness of the global trading system. Why The World Still Needs Trade.

After over two years of trying and failing to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Biden administration appears to have concluded that the agreement is beyond resuscitation. As a result, “de-escalation” has been the watchword of U.S. policy toward Iran. In practice, this has translated into lax enforcement of U.S. oil sanctions on Iran and restrained responses to attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq by Iranian proxies. The Iran Gamble.

A new book by China analyst Isaac B. Kardon argues in his groundbreaking book, China’s Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order, Beijing sees itself as fundamentally above the law and beyond accountability to others. Why Is China Rewriting The Law Of The Sea?

 

On February 24, 2022, the great Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov and his wife were awakened in Kyiv by the sound of Russian missiles. At first, he could not believe what was happening. “You have to get used psychologically to the idea that war has begun,” he wrote. Many observers of the invasion felt and continue to feel that sense of disbelief. They were confounded by Russia’s open and massive assault and amazed at Ukraine’s dogged and successful resistance. How Wars Don’t End Ukraine, Russia, And The Lessons Of World War I.

The east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind. It is characteristic of the situation today. That the east wind is winning over the west wind, Xi seems to agree. But he needs a vast army of weathermen to tell him exactly how the wind blows. What Does The West Know About Xi’s China?

We live in an age of inequality - or so we’re frequently told. Across the globe, but especially in the wealthy economies of the West, the gap between the rich and the rest has widened year after year and become a chasm, spreading anxiety, stoking resentment, and roiling politics. The World To Come.

Unless that changes, the US and others cannot treat India as it treats Japan, South Korea, and NATO allies in Europe. Instead, It must treat India as it treats Jordan, Vietnam, and other illiberal partners. In other words, it must cooperate with India on the reality of shared interests, not the hope of shared values. India As It Is.

As is known, Ukraine earlier had the world’s third-largest nuclear weapons stockpile. In exchange for giving it up, and as stipulated in the Budapest Memorandum, Russia and the US agreed to come to Ukraine’s help if Ukraine was attacked, ironically by Russia itself. The State Of The World.

Support for Ukraine - Through of sustained military assistance and efforts to anchor the country in the West through membership in the European Union and NATO - will pave the way for improved relations with a new Russia. The Treacherous Path To A Better Russia.

As Titan rescue, this afternoon hopes to fade, and grim choices near. The search grew to double the size of Connecticut and 2.5 miles deep, as the vessel’s 96-hour oxygen supply is estimated to run out Thursday:

To survive and prosper in a world of battling giants, Europe must transform itself from a militarily weak confederation into a genuine superpower. Europe’s Real Test Is Yet to Come.

 

In this moment of change, it may be that China’s willingness to allow other countries to flex their muscles may make Beijing a more attractive partner than Washington, with its demands for ever-closer alignment. If the world is entering a disordered phase, China could be best placed to prosper. China Is Ready For A World Of Disorder.

Today The Times, June 23, 2023/carries an article about Gatecrashers plotting to breach Glastonbury festival's fences this year could, if they succeed, jeopardize the event's future, the organizers said yesterday. Unveiling an "impenetrable" £1m security fence, the festival's founder, Michael Eavis, urged those without tickets to stay away to safeguard the future of Europe's most enduring music and arts festival. However, one cannot understand the Glastonbury Festival without its secret History. The Secret History Of The Glastonbury Festival.

 

Success could preserve Ukraine, allay broader fears for democracy, deter further Russian aggression, and put concerns of an escalation to rest. The kind of stable, durable peace the Korean armistice produced would be a victory for Ukraine, its supporters, and the world. The Korea Model.

The Wagner mercenary group is unlikely to continue as a “Prigozhin-led independent actor in its current form,” according to the Institute for the Study of War. The deal brokered by the Belarusian president would strip Yevgeniy Prigozhin of control over the group and bring some of it under the Russian Defense Ministry, the think tank said. Crisis Abates, But Questions Remain.

For ASEAN to Survive a Great-Power Competition, it may be better to consider Southeast Asia’s approach to nonalignment and multi-alignment. The region wants as many ties and choices as it can muster. In addition to China and the United States, it has welcomed Australia, India, Japan, and European states to actively engage with the region – to trade, invest, and participate in its international dialogues. How to Survive A Great-Power Competition.

 

According to Foreign Policy, the Russian military in occupied areas of Ukraine has already started battening the hatches for the coming counteroffensive. In the city of Berdyansk, on the northern shore of the Azov Sea, Russian troops have begun fortifying the airport with trenches and pyramidal anti-tank obstacles known as ‘dragon’s teeth.’ Occupation troops have also started digging defensive fortifications in Crimea, including at the port of Sevastopol and Belbek Air Base, which has already been hit with blasts since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began more than a year ago. The invaders have been digging in, not advancing. What’s missing are the tools to root them out. Waiting On Weapons.

While one can identify reasons Russia and Ukraine may have mutual optimism about war and pessimism about peace, a resolve supporting Ukraine will also help deter aggression in other parts of the world. History has its moments, and this is one of them. A Partial Victory Will Solve Little.

The best way to ensure Euro-Atlantic security is to welcome Ukraine into NATO. Politicians, diplomats, and analysts can always be counted on to develop new arguments for keeping Ukraine outside the alliance, as they have been doing for years. The good news is that each new idea is weaker than the last. The bad news is that constantly disproving them wastes precious time at the expense of people’s security. Ukraine needs NATO, and NATO needs Ukraine. Why NATO Must Admit Ukraine.

Although Putin and Xi probably do not agree on how the war in Ukraine should end, they agree that an apparent Russian defeat would be intolerable. It should be stated repeatedly that the war in Ukraine is existential for Europeans, and impeding Chinese intervention is a fundamental European interest. By wading into the conflict, China would lose Europe. The Question Of Chinese Military Support For Russia.

Bad Advice Plaguing Beijing Pressure on Chinese President Xi to put all the pieces together. And this imperative might help explain the balloon blunder: Xi may have approved a general policy for balloon reconnaissance, perhaps years ago, with limited debate about how such a policy could backfire in the future. The possibility of such miscalculations in the coming years should cause concern for U.S. policymakers. The Chinese military may tell Xi it is ready for war, and a catastrophe could ensue if the rest of the bureaucracy is institutionally prevented from checking the military’s math. The Bad Advice Plaguing President Xi.

Open-source researchers have provided insights into sensitive Chinese activities, such as CCP espionage and political interference abroad. If the intelligence community can obtain more open-source intel and embrace AI-enabled tools to examine the data, its analysts would be able to learn-and share-even more. If the community can recruit China experts, it will better anticipate Beijing’s actions and focus analysts’ activities and resources. Beijing’s decision-making may remain opaque, but Washington will still be able to understand China’s behavior. How To Spy On China.

 

Experts say that donated MiG jets will not give Ukraine air superiority against Russia: The Ukrainians who have flown the MiG-29 describe the aircraft as an “old friend.” The jets don’t have the flashiness of newer fighters, but they play a critical role in Ukraine’s underdog air force. The MiG-29s may not be enough for Ukraine’s coming spring offensive. They are outmatched by Russian warplanes, equipped with newer radar and missile systems. Ukraine Today.

 

The US should undoubtedly help India to a degree compatible with American interests. But it should harbor no illusions that its support, no matter how generous, will entice India to join it in any military coalition against China. The relationship with India is fundamentally unlike those the United States enjoys with its allies. India Won’t Side With Washington Against Beijing.

 

China’s rapidly aging population and increasingly rigid, autocratic political system will severely hobble the country as it stumbles toward the middle of the twenty-first century. The Consequences Of China’s Demographic Decline.

 

At a time when foreign policies have fallen into disfavor, and the domestic coalitions associated with them have splintered, leaders could find new arguments about the necessity of international openness and cooperation. Western democracies cannot return to the postwar liberal order. They can, however, search for new ways of securing the benefits that the former order brought. Make The Center Vital Again.

Russia “likely staged” the alleged drone strike on the Kremlin, according to the nstitute for the Study of War (ISW). The US-based think tank claimed it was an attempt to “bring the war home”, possibly paving the war for a broader mobilization. The Latest News.

 

For now, they’re concentrated on only one thing: to destroy our [military] stockpiles, and ground forces, trying to avoid our offensive operations, said the Ukrainian officials. With F-16s, we can ruin Russian jets, and they won’t be able to launch any cruise missiles or even smart bombs. Ukrainian War Going Forward.

Ukraine’s Western partners will continue helping Ukraine frustrate Russia’s aggressive designs on the battlefield and gather evidence of its crimes. They should hold back on bolder steps until the end of peace, and justice are more clearly aligned, and Nuremberg’s legacy can be more fully honored. A Loophole In The Law.

The international community must dispel misperceptions and convince the Chinese public and leadership of the benefits and feasibility of open-minded, good-faith discussions on Taiwan. Although challenging, this is what it will take to prevent an increasingly likely war - with catastrophic consequences for all. Xi Jinping's Hawkish Forces He Can’t Control.

The coming Ukrainian offensive will do much to set expectations for the future trajectory of this war. The real challenge is thinking through what comes after. Beyond Ukraine’s Offensive.

Ukraine’s Hidden Advantage How European Trainers Have Transformed Kyiv’s Army and Changed the War. The willingness of European countries to put significant resources on the line - even in areas where the United States is doing comparatively little - has become increasingly vital to Ukraine’s defense and will be crucial to its continued success. How Ukraine Learned To Fight.

Putin would see a serious Wagner setback as a capital offense. The Russian president has a long record of effectively using failed bureaucrats, politicians, and other henchmen - former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev comes to mind. Prigozhin could be next. Stalin’s Secret Force.

Some 52 million Thais are eligible to vote in Sunday’s election, with the opposition parties promising to end the military’s political dominance and even reform the all-powerful monarchy – an issue once seen as taboo: Thailand, China, And The US.

After his meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni today, Zelenskyy met with Pope Francis for 40 minutes at the Vatican amid the Pontiff’s efforts to bring an end to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Whereby flying next to Germany Zelensky met his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on his first trip to Germany since Russia's invasion. Vexing The Ukraine War On The Ground.

 

Unable to protest openly, people are expressing a different kind of resistance by reading literature that is banned, discouraged, or casts an unfavorable light on the regime - if only by comparison. At first glance, this kind of resistance might not seem like much, especially given the ongoing war, which most Russians say they support. Yet the act of reading these books should not be dismissed lightly. 1984 In Russia Today.

 

Opening up more pathways for highly skilled workers will be vital to preserving and promoting national competitiveness and security. Without such changes, the promise of the CHIPS and Science Act will remain unfulfilled. The Battle For Brains.

Yesterday, when Ukraine downs the Russian barrage, China is now sending a special envoy to Ukraine to help reach a political settlement that many say would benefit Russia. The intercept of Russian intelligence shows Beijing wanted to disguise lethal aid. But China will proceed cautiously. The Consequences Of China’s Peace Deal.

For too long, Africa has been seen through the lens of its recent past rather than its potential future. Demographic trends are now placing Africa front and center as the one region that can sustain global growth. The Youthful Continent.

The G-7 Hiroshima summit is a unique opportunity to express a determination to reinforce a free and open international order while proactively addressing the needs of people across the globe, including those in the global South. The Defence Of Global Order And Address Global Crises.

As China seeks greater commercial and military advantage across the world’s oceans, its expansive global network of commercial ports reflects and amplifies its growing power. Lifelines And Chokepoints.

 

The original goal of U.S. policymakers in the decade after World War II was to help Europeans get back on their feet and defend themselves. Yet rather than recognize that these countries are now capable of doing so, some officials in Washington ironically seem to fear this real success, grasping for a reason to make the U.S. presence in Europe permanent and extend U.S. defense commitments further. Spread Too Thin?

A shared Western framework for de-risking would offer a more coordinated, balanced, and practical approach to competition with China. It may also strengthen, rather than erode, the foundations of a stronger transatlantic alliance. The U.S.-Chinese Economic Relationship.

Fresh off his claim of victory in capturing the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Russian mercenary boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin warned that Moscow’s brutal war could plunge Russia into turmoil similar to the 1917 revolution unless its detached, wealthy elite became more directly committed to the conflict. Prepare For A Brutal War.

 

When Putin and his team members talk about a new multipolar world, they try to reassert Moscow’s lost superpower status and portray themselves as a guiding light for the former Soviet republics and the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. All of this is a consequence of the psychological trauma of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which the elite who came to power in 2000 carried with them. Twenty-two years later, that trauma has resulted in a global catastrophe. How Putin Revived Stalinism.

The trilateral security pact among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, known as AUKUS, which will assist Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, could include India. A Nuclear Collision Course In South Asia.

No one should underestimate how disastrous a slide toward a protracted, all-out conflict in Sudan would be - primarily for the Sudanese but more broadly. At a time when other crises stretch the world’s humanitarian system to the breaking point. Sudan And The New Age Of Conflict.

Leaders who tacitly or otherwise encourage personal violence are just as likely to create political violence. Russian propagandists frequently frame Ukraine as a disobedient woman unwilling to be contained within the Russian sphere of influence. Chinese propagandists did the same for Hong Kong, casting it as a willful (and feminine) child. The language of violence at home and the language of violence overseas are intimately joined. Political Violence In Authoritarian Societies.

 

Putin may wager that time is still on his side and that even a drawn-out, nonnuclear war of attrition will wear out the Ukrainian war machine and its backers. But his narcissistic focus on maintaining his hold on power could drastically shrink the time horizon. Is Worse To Come From Putin?

Can Israel's Two-State Solution Be Saved? Debating Israel’s One-State Reality.

In July, the heads of NATO’s 31 countries will convene in Vilnius, Lithuania, for a summit - their fourth one since Russia invaded Ukraine. Like each of the last three, the proceedings will be dominated by how to address the conflict. Let Ukraine Join NATO Now.

Nearly a decade after its inception, the momentum behind China’s sweeping Belt and Road Initiative appears to be slowing as lending slumps and projects stall - forcing Chinese President Xi Jinping to rethink again a floundering initiative that he once hailed as his “project of the century.” After doling out hundreds of billions of dollars, experts say China’s lending for BRI projects has plummeted. Support has also waned as partner countries drown in debt and fractures emerge – literally - in projects, fueling uncertainty about the future of the sprawling initiative. In 2022, 60 percent of China’s overseas lending went to borrowers in financial distress, compared to just 5 percent in 2010.

Players should put less faith in its ability to calibrate the pressure on Iran to the right level. Military escalation is containable until it is not, and the time horizon for conflict can often be longer and more painful than countries anticipate. Israel’s Dangerous Shadow War With Iran.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, former U.S. President Donald Trump, and Brexit supporters thought they could undermine or even destroy the EU by bullying it. The opposite has happened. Far-right populist leaders such as France’s Marine Le Pen or Italy’s Matteo Salvini no longer call for exits from the EU. Vera Jourova, the European Commission vice president for values and transparency, recently admitted she had been “scared” of Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and his negative influence on the European parliamentary election in 2019. Now, those fears are gone. Jourova thinks that in 2024 when European voters go to the polls again, they will vote for established, more moderate parties because “the people now see, especially in the time of crisis, it’s not the time for [populist] experiments: Europe And Russia’s Aggression In Ukraine.

Putin claims he’s fighting Nazis in Ukraine while his regime intimidates Jews in Russia. Zelenskyy was born to a Ukrainian Jewish family, the President of Ukraine. In this article, we also look at the inherent conservatism of the Russian Church, making it perceive church tradition as the ultimate authority. Even today, this pro-Ukraine war thinking manifests within the Russian Church and some national patriot thinkers'. Russia's Anti-Jewish Dimension.

 

The right technology is necessary but insufficient to win wars. Suppose the United States hopes to persevere against Russia in the short term and China in the long term. In that case, it must consider the economic impact of technology even as it pursues a technological advantage. Does Technology Win Wars?

Basic values lie at the foundation of an innovation ecosystem that is still the world's envy. They have enabled breakthroughs that have transformed everyday life around the world. Silicon Valley’s old mantra holds: innovate or die in industry and geopolitics. Technology Defines The Future Of Geopolitics.

Washington should not forget the misguided policies Americans hatched 70 years ago. The warning of what not to do in a moment of deteriorating U.S.-Chinese relations. China Is A Paper Tiger.

Putin’s partial escalation strategy has served him well. It has allowed him to maintain political stability through intimidation and indifference. Internationally and domestically, it has helped him prepare Russia for a very long war without making the sacrifices that might ultimately cause the population to rebel. And above all, it has given him flexibility. How Long Can This Not-Quite-Total War Be Sustained?

Netanyahu is faced with a political and strategic Rubik’s cube. He will need strong support and understanding from Washington to achieve his international goals - containing Iran and normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia. This requires taking steps opposed by his radical coalition partners domestically and on the Palestinian front. The US Is Indispensable To Israel’s Safety And Security.

 

For the foreseeable future, there are no transformative solutions that the West can invent or impose on Iran, and the country will remain a profound and unpredictable threat to regional stability, U.S. interests, and its own citizenry. The protests should give the world hope: for the first time in a generation, the theocracy appears to be in jeopardy. But until the regime falls, there will be no silver bullets to stop Iran’s bad behavior. We Investigate A Sorbid History Under Pressure.

The manifold initiatives that have emerged to support Ukraine and its people across what was once the Russian empire demonstrate a readiness to reject Moscow’s long shadow and fertile ground for grassroots cooperation after the war ends. No matter in what terms one understands it, Russia’s full-scale invasion has brought discussions of identity - individual, social, and political - to the fore. The Conversations When Ukraine Wins.

 

In the wake of Beijing’s repeated COVID-19 lockdowns and after Russia invaded Ukraine, investors are increasingly rattled about the risks of investing in China. China Will Lead The Next Technological Revolution.

 

Haitian efforts at democracy are too complicated and messy, and foreign countries and international agencies have responded with intervention to manipulate electoral levers and outcomes. But those outside efforts have failed spectacularly. The Haitian Government Is Dependent On International Power.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak was right to judge that because Russia invaded Ukraine, the need for Western unity now trumps any simmering intra-Western fights over Brexit. But with China, the United States, and the European Union all betting big on industrial policy to facilitate their economic transitions toward renewable energy, the United Kingdom still needs to catch up. Sunak Hopes To Mend Fences With Europe.

As Russia has waged war on Ukraine in a bid to kneecap the country’s independence, its troops have looted museums, art galleries, and cathedrals in occupied areas. Some experts have described it as the biggest heist since the Nazis plundered Europe during World War II. Looting As A Potential War Crime.

 

While earlier pointed out that Putin's looting as a potential war crime, and the conversations when Ukraine wins, Russia will gradually drift toward an economic and political model resembling Iran’s—and will become increasingly dependent on China. The greater tribulation for Russia may be that such an Iranian-style outcome could be quite durable, and every year that it lasts will further diminish the chances that Russia will resolve the conflict with Ukraine, repent for the harm done, restore ties with the outside world, and bring balance and pragmatism to its foreign policy. The Russia That Might Have Been.

“Russia’s nature as an imperial power is incontrovertible,” Artem Shaipov and Yuliia Shaipova write. “So why has this fundamental, foundational fact about Russia been ignored in the West for so long, including among those who study and analyze the region?” But regardless of the reason, the war in Ukraine has sparked a newfound awareness of Russia’s imperial project, past and present—the nature of Russian imperialism and its relationship to the country’s latest war of conquest. Putin Remains In Day-To-Day Government.

With Russia and Ukraine still getting ready for direct talks, necessary third parties could accelerate their prior preparations and begin pre-negotiations. Otherwise, Russia and Ukraine could fall into a vicious cycle of self-deception, denial of diplomacy, and endless war. How To Prepare For Peace Talks In Ukraine.

 

U.S. policymakers have responded to frustrations in Iraq in a similar way that they responded to failure in Vietnam almost five decades ago: they have continued to engage in active military interventions but avoided large-scale ground deployments. Iraq syndrome is undoubtedly real, but it may be felt more intensely among elites than the public. How Elites Misread Public Perceptions Of The War.

Ukraine’s success in defending itself does not demonstrate that U.S. security assistance works writ large but, instead, that U.S. security assistance is most useful when those receiving the aid are driven to do whatever it takes to strengthen their forces. Ukraine’s Determination.

 

European Economies Limp into 2023: The economic downturn is most severe in the countries of Eastern Europe, which are more affected by the Russia-Ukraine war.

The International Criminal Court said Friday that it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. The court said there “are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility” for the alleged crimes, for having committed them directly alongside others, and for “his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts.” Putin, The Suspect.

An end to the war is likely a long way off, but the time to begin preparing for peace is not after the last gun falls silent but now, as the conflict rages, to discuss and develop concepts before negotiations begin. Otherwise, they will have little chance of success. Ending this war will require a clear and cogent vision for a new security architecture for the region. It must be ready for when the opportunity to end the shooting arises. And because Ukraine promised it would not join military alliances like Nato. How To Protect Ukraine Without NATO Membership.

China, Taiwan, and the US better resist analysis that could become a self-fulfilling prophecy and ensure that alternatives to the conflict remain viable. It is better not to refer to Taiwan as a country. Washington can help bolster Taiwan’s defenses but do so without signaling dramatic changes in U.S. military support, which risks inadvertently creating the impression that Beijing has a limited window to invade. Beijing. Don’t Panic About Taiwan.

 

As detailed by Andrzej Żbikowski, acts of murdering Polish Jews by their Christian neighbors had occurred in 67 locations. In most cases, German police, Einsatzgruppen, or Wehrmacht were joined by non-Jewish locals, mostly Poles, in 51 towns and villages. Poland 1941.

Putin’s self-interested illusions about history and his legacy as a great Russian leader started this war, and his self-interest will end it. For now, Putin has no incentive to stop fighting. That means that Ukraine must either end the war for him or threaten Putin with a defeat - one so unambiguous that he sees it as a matter of self-preservation to negotiate. Putin’s Forever War.

 

With Xi Jinping beginning a third term and China growing increasingly belligerent in its interactions with Taiwan, it is best to ensure that Beijing does not grow overconfident in thinking it can deter the US in the wake of an invasion. China best understands the true risks of a conflict over the island. How To Avoid Catastrophe.

The Kremlin has expanded efforts to promote pro-Russian and anti-Western narratives regarding the Ukraine conflict. The failure of the pro-Ukraine allies to develop tools in the information space is evident in Russia, where popular support for the war appears to remain strong. The Limits Of Economic Warfare.

The Ukrainian military’s skill at integrating advanced weapons and new technologies has continually surprised its adversary and Ukraine’s partners and allies in the West. Yet it is difficult to say whether a decisive end to a war like this is possible. The Promise Of Military Adaptation.

 

President Xi Jinping's message about war preparation and his equating national rejuvenation with unification mark a new phase in his political warfare campaign to intimidate Taiwan. He is willing to use force to take the island. What remains unclear is whether he thinks he can do so without risking uncontrolled escalation with the United States. Xi Jinping Preparing China For War.

 

The US has shifted its defense strategy from counterterrorism to competition with China and Russia. But words are not enough. America Fill The Missile Gap.

The Cuban Crisis holds lessons for today when many commentators in Russia and the West call for a resolute victory of one side or the other in Ukraine. Some Americans and Europeans assume that the use of nuclear weapons in the current crisis is completely out of the question. But plenty of people in Russia, especially around Putin and among his propagandists, defiantly say that Moscow should prefer a nuclear Armageddon to defeat. When The Past Does Not Go Away.

Unlike those in Western democracies, China’s intelligence services are not held to account by independent political bodies or the public, nor are they subject to the rule of law. Instead, the Chinese government fuses a “whole of society” approach to collecting intelligence. This sets it apart from anything undertaken by Western governments. Spy Balloons TikTok And Chinese Intelligence.

 

When world leaders gather in Dubai for this year’s UN Climate Change Conference; they should agree to set a limit for rising seas just as they have for rising temperatures. Doing so would underscore the existential threat small island nations and thousands of coastal communities face. Measure The Harm Of Climate Change.

A new global security paradigm is urgently needed whereby the ultimate nuclear fail-safe measure would be to eliminate nuclear weapons, once and for all, verifiably. That historic step, however, is unrealistic in the near term, given the growing great-power tensions and the decline of arms control regimes. Confronting The New Nuclear Peril.

 

Putin has concentrated enormous power in his hands. But the more power he accumulates, the harder it will be for him to relax and hand over the reins. He cannot afford to liberalize the system or decrease his dictatorial authority. Only one way is left open to him: to cling to power until the bitter end. Dictator Without Borders.

Classified war documents on U.S. and NATO efforts to support Ukraine’s military ahead of a planned spring counteroffensive were posted to social media this week. The Leaked Documents.

 

In the not-so-distant past, officials and experts thought excessive fears about energy security might hinder the fight for the climate. Today, the opposite is true: as the transition to a net-zero world proceeds, the bigger danger to the climate will be insufficient attention to energy security. How The Fight For Resources Is Upending Geopolitics.

Russian aggression in Ukraine and competition between China and the United States have made the world more uncertain and dangerous. The Ukraine war will likely be prolonged, and the U.S.-Chinese rivalry seems set to become the defining feature of international relations in the twenty-first century. The New Age Of Great-Power Competition.

 

Changes are happening, the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said to Russian President Vladimir Putin last month at the end of a state visit to Russia. “Let’s drive those changes together.” To this, the Russian leader responded, “I agree.” Russia And China Behind The Scenes.

 

The West should not reward Russian aggression by compelling Ukraine to permanently accept the loss of territory by force. The solution is to end the war while deferring the ultimate disposition of land still under Russian occupation. A Plan For Getting To The Negotiating Table.

Unlike many of its European peers who were or still are unwilling to come to terms with Russia’s or China’s aggressively revisionist ambitions, Tokyo has not let its massive economic exposure to Beijing get in the way of dealing with it. The Presence Of Kishida In Kyiv And Xi In Moscow.

Relatively little of the world’s attention focuses on Kashmir today. When it does, it’s increasingly seen through a lens of opportunity, and G-20 delegations will soon visit. But repression persists since New Delhi revoked its semi-autonomy in 2019. Kashmir Today.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power in Israel has shattered even the illusion of a two-state solution. Members of his new government have not been shy about stating their views on what Israel is and what it could be in all the territories it controls. Confronting A One-State Reality.

 

The war in Ukraine has sparked a puzzling development in U.S. national security thinking. At the same time as U.S.-European cooperation has surged, an influential group of American scholars, analysts, and commentators have begun pressing the United States to prepare to scale back its commitment to Europe radically. Stripping the United States European commitments would demolish much of its accumulated legitimacy. It would validate the grim picture that China and Russia are now painting that the U.S. is pitilessly self-interested and transactional. It would severely undermine the United States painstaking attempts to build a reputation as that rare great power offering something other than naked ambition to the world. Ukraine And U.S. National Security.

We covered earlier that a Russian disintegration is coming. Those who believe a Russian collapse is imminent and those who warn against it agree on one thing: The Russian Federation has never indeed been a federation. Decentralization is the key, Khodorkovsky said. Whenever the time comes for the West to lift sanctions, it must negotiate with a government that has received legitimacy from the regions. The Coming Russia Disintegration.

From India to Indonesia, Brazil to Turkey, and Nigeria to South Africa, developing countries increasingly seek to avoid costly entanglements with significant powers, trying to keep all their options open for maximum flexibility. Managing A Multipolar World.

 

India has little tolerance for European critiques, given the continent’s harsh immigration policies and sordid colonial history. Its government will not allow outside powers to browbeat the country, especially when it finds its sweet spot. Much as during Nehru’s time, India’s self-interested foreign policy has earned it many partners and very few enemies despite worldwide turmoil. It is learning to punch above its weight and displaying newfound confidence. It will not be stopped from asserting its international interests. India’s Great-Power Opportunity.

The war in Ukraine reveals that the EU is a postimperial empire, in strategic partnership with an American postimperial empire, to prevent the comeback of a declining Russian empire from constraining a rising Chinese one. Ghosts Of Empires Past.

CIA Director William J. Burns traveled in secret to Ukraine’s capital at the end of last week to brief President Volodymyr Zelensky on his expectations for what Russia is planning militarily in the coming weeks and months, said a U.S. official and other people familiar with the visit while on 19 February Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the private military company the Wagner Group, said on Thursday that the group had taken control of the village of Klishchiivka, a suburb of the embattled city of Bakhmut. He also said fighting with Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut was ongoing. Meanwhile, the Russian-installed acting governor of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, said Kyiv had transferred some of its troops to the Donbas region. Meanwhile, Berlin has been in a stand-off with Washington over the provision of tanks to Ukraine, saying Germany will only do so if the United States sends them, too.

There is the belief that Western sanctions on Russia have fallen flat. Whereby outlets like the Washington Post write that: Sanctions may bite harder; how quickly that happens will depend on persistence in the West. Looking at the details, we argue; Why The Sanctions In Russia Are Already Biting Hard.

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Among the more overlooked geopolitical developments in 2022 was North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. But if the West can cut off more of Kim’s sources of revenue, it will not only create a significant barrier to his WMD program. It is also possible that such financial pressure could ultimately force Kim to the negotiating table because it would threaten his ability to dole out the favors needed to buy off the North Korean elite. Today’s Situation In Korea.

The regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin is living on borrowed time. The tide of history is turning. Everything from Ukraine’s advances on the battlefield to the West’s enduring unity and resolve in the face of Putin’s aggression points to 2023 being a decisive year. If the West holds firm, Putin’s regime will likely collapse shortly. 2023 Is The Decisive Year.

Mozart’s Requiem. Mozart composed part of the Requiem in Vienna in late 1791, but it was unfinished at his death on 5 December. A completed version dated 1792 by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who commissioned the piece. Mozart’s wife Constanze was responsible for several stories surrounding the work’s composition, including the claims that Mozart received the commission from a mysterious messenger who did not reveal the commissioner’s identity and that Mozart came to believe that he was writing the requiem for his funeral. The Mystery Surrounding Mozart’s Requiem.

Having launched a senseless, brutal, and unsuccessful war of aggression, Putin is unlikely to survive it in power. Why European leaders need to look for a successor; They Can Do Business With.

 

On the same day (22-23 January 2023), there was also an important meeting during the World Economic Forum attended by finance ministers and heads of State, including the head of NATO seated in the center, who all decided that while the situation is very dire for the Ukrainians at this moment that it is of utmost importance that Ukraine win this war because otherwise, the war could spread to other countries who are part of NATO.

‘Utterly Shameful’: Uyghurs’ Frustration Grows Over Lack Of International Action Against China. Official documents leaked from Xinjiang reveal that people were detained for such trivial causes as having traveled abroad or simply possessing a passport, communicating with people overseas, performing daily Muslim prayer rituals, or wearing a veil. Detention Camps.

Why study history? We hope to better guide our future by understanding the past. History also could prepare us for action. In this context, the diplomat and historian George F. Kennan ranks as one of the most influential figures in foreign policy. Kennan was a sui generis thinker, a trenchant critic of communism and capitalism, and a pioneering environmentalist. Living between Russia and the United States, he witnessed firsthand Stalin’s tightening grip on the Soviet Union, the collapse of Europe during World War II, and the nuclear arms race of the Cold War. Those Who Cannot Remember The Past Are Condemned To Repeat It.

 

American, Dutch, and Japanese equipment makers stemming from the October export controls can be offset by new demand from local semiconductor manufacturing facilities now being buttressed by the U.S. CHIPS Act and by Japanese and European subsidies. Export Control Cooperation From Allies.

Unlike during the financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic failed to spark Chinese-U.S. cooperation and only intensified deepening antagonism. China and the United States jab accusatory fingers at each other, blame each other for bad policies, and trade barbs about a global economic downturn from which both countries and the world have yet to recover. The World Has Changed.

President Xi may see an opportunity if the West appears distracted about Taiwan. To change his calculus, Taiwan, the United States, and its allies must show they are resolute about thwarting an invasion. With China’s increasingly bellicose declarations about retaking the island, time is running out for Washington to demonstrate commitment through action. The Looming Taiwan Crisis.

 

Our forecast is, among others, done by paying attention to regions and nations whose actions significantly affect the global system. 2023 Annual Forecast.

George Kennan, the remarkable U.S. diplomat and probing observer of international relations, is famous for forecasting the collapse of the Soviet Union. Kennan On Ukraine.

The future cities are here – or at least. From Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s dreams of Neom, a $500 billion planned city, to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitions for the city of Xiongan, which he calls his “personal initiative,” so-called smart cities are being built from the ground up, to considerable global skepticism. What The Cities Of The Future Will Look Like.

 

Editorial: On The Leaks Of A War With China Plus A Recension In Europe.

As long as Russian soldiers occupy their country, Ukrainians will fight. They will fight with or without new advanced weapons, with or without harsher sanctions, and with or without money to help them run their country. Understanding this key insight about the Ukrainian mentality today leads to an obvious policy recommendation. Breakthrough In Ukraine.

FTX bankruptcy judge denies request for the independent examiner.

Beijing is unlikely to subordinate its territorial objectives or quest for dominance to a disciplined strategy for splitting the  United States from its Indo-Pacific allies. Just this month, after Japan and South Korea established new pandemic-related travel restrictions for Chinese tourists, Beijing stopped issuing short-term visas to Japanese and South Korean citizens. China’s Indo-Pacific Folly.

 

Editorial: U.S. to Boost Military Role in Philippines as Fear of Taiwan Conflict Grows.

While E.U. leaders arrived in Kyiv for a wartime summit today, Russian President Putin probably believes that his best ally is time. Yet Instead of allowing the conflict to drag on through the winter, the US and NATO allies should help Ukraine bring the war to a swift and decisive end. Doing so might allow Crimea’s final status to be determined through negotiation rather than force, sparing Ukraine and Russia the tragedy of another year of fighting. What Ukraine Needs to Liberate Crimea.

Editorial: Noor Inayat Khan, also known as Nora Inayat-Khan and Nora Baker, was a British resistance agent in France in World War II who served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). As we detailed many years ago, the purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially those occupied by Nazi Germany. Codename Madeleine.

 

On several occasions, Erdogan has sought the Russian leader’s authorization to conduct major operations in Syria against the United States Kurdish allies there, and Putin demurred. As the Finnish foreign minister intimated, suspicions of Russian involvement in the recent Koran-burning incidents may mean that Moscow could decide to stir the pot by giving Turkey the green light in Syria. Will Erdogan Stay In Power?

Editorial: The US administration has canceled Secretary of State Antony Blicken's trip to China following the appearance of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the US. Why Are Meteorologists Tracking The Location Of The Chinese Balloon?

Ukraine’s electric grid can be reinforced, but time is short. NATO’s leaders must give their full attention to this looming crisis if they - and the Ukrainians - do not want to be left in the dark. Ukraine’s Coming Electricity Crisis.

 

The global economy is facing a potential recession in 2023 that threatens to undo the post-pandemic job recovery:

Chinese surveillance balloons have previously been spotted over five continents, the official said, and the United States is briefing allies and partners about the practice. Blinken says the US to share info on the alleged spy balloon with allies. Possibility That Chinese Spy Balloon’s Path Over The US Was Accidental.

Iranian and Ukrainian officials recently met in Oman to discuss Iran’s role in the war. This was a good start. Europe and the United States should build on such efforts, launching a broader diplomatic initiative beyond the stalled nuclear talks to encompass Ukraine and regional issues. Otherwise, Iran’s hardliners will continue to push the country in an ever more dangerous direction. An Even More Intransigent Regime.

 

Efforts from the United States and Israel’s other allies to discourage provocative visits and settlements in hot-button areas are examples of modest steps that may often fail but can head off broader confrontations. How To Prevent A Third Intifada.

We know that Ukraine's president Zelenski is currently paying a visit to the UK, where he will address Parliament and visit Ukrainian troops trained by British forces. Yet three months before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, CIA Director William Burns and U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan met in Moscow with Nikolai Patrushev, an ultra-hawkish adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Burns and Sullivan informed Patrushev that they knew of Russia’s invasion plans and that the West would respond with severe consequences if Russia proceeded. According to Burns, Patrushev said nothing about the invasion. Instead, he looked them in the eye, conveying what Burns took as a message: the Russian military could achieve what it wanted. Can Moscow Learn From Its Failures In Ukraine?

Editorial: The investigators said insufficient evidence existed to begin any new prosecutions. The announcement comes less than three months after a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian for murder over the disaster. Indications Putin Decided To Give The Missile That Downed MH17.

With India chairing the G-20 in 2023, New Delhi may be tempted to try to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, though that seems unlikely to produce results for now. A more fruitful way ahead would be for India to bring the concerns of the global South to the forefront of the international agenda. The Urgent Issues That Preoccupy Much Of The Developing World.

Trying to cut costs by urging reforms in the US Defense Department and armed forces will not produce significant savings and only distract from the urgency of addressing what matters: improving the military’s ability to fight and win wars, increasing stockpiles of essential weapons, and aiding allies in upgrading their armed forces. In its next two years, the Biden administration should find what was lacking in its first two, a seriousness of purpose that matches the ambitions of the White House’s strategy. America Is Back.

Democracy is on the agenda as US President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the White House in Washington, DC. Far-Right Movements In The Two Countries Are Deeply Interconnected.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. Although loosely allied with Western powers like the United States, they’ve been reluctant to get fully on board with anti-Russian measures. While vastly smaller in size and population than the continental giants of China and India, the GCC states have influenced key dynamics of the war in Ukraine: energy, diplomacy, and the intersection of Eurasian geopolitics with that of the Middle East. Key To The Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

 

Major Case Study: The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organization. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 from the amalgamation of three existing secret organizations. Its purpose was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe (and later, also in occupied Southeast Asia) against the Axis powers and to aid local resistance movements. Few people were aware of SOE's existence. That is why it came as a shocker when the complicity in the arrests of SOE agents was revealed after the war when war crimes investigators received factual information from German sources that it had been one of their agents and that the information he provided had led to the arrest and execution of many SOE agents and hundreds of their French associates. The Harrowing Story Of A Double Agent.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has proven almost every assumption wrong, with Europe now wondering whether what is left is safe to assume. Nowhere has Russia’s invasion backfired more than in Ukraine. Contrary to Putin’s historical revisionism, Ukraine has long had a national identity distinct from Russia’s. Like Brexit, Western sanctions on Russia will be as a slow burn, not an immediate collapse. Russia Is Losing The War.

The last year's events should also prevent everyone from making big predictions. Few people outside of Ukraine, for example, expected the war or believed Russia would perform poorly in its invasion. No one knows exactly what 2023 has in store. That includes Putin. He appears to be in control now, but the Kremlin could be in for a surprise. Events often unfold dramatically. As the war in Ukraine has shown, many things don’t go according to plan. War in Ukraine Has Revealed About Putin’s Regime.

After years of democratic backsliding, the world’s autocrats are finally on the defensive. But to seize this moment and swing the pendulum of history back toward democratic rule, we must break down the wall that separates democratic advocacy from economic development work and demonstrate that democracies can deliver for their people. Counter Autocracy.

 

Comparing redacted and unredacted versions of the same declassified documents from a given period, they compiled a jokey “America’s Most Redacted” list of names most frequently blacked out (including Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, both targets of CIA operations). But There Is A Solution.

The basic problem with wars is that they are easier to start than to end. Once Russia’s initial thrusts were blunted, it was caught in a protracted conflict in which it dared not concede defeat even when a path to victory remained elusive. Such wars inevitably become attritional as stocks of equipment and ammunition are depleted and troop losses mount. Make The Position Of The Russian Military Untenable.

Western public opinion has so far remained relatively solid behind Ukraine’s plight, despite signs of slippage in some countries. In a January poll by Gallup, nearly two-thirds of Americans supported Ukraine’s effort to regain its territory taken by Russian aggression. That’s roughly the same proportion that held that position last summer, although Republican backing for the war is wobbly. As costs mount to sustain Ukraine’s survival, Kyiv’s successes on the battlefield would help buttress public opinion in the United States and Europe - a pivotal moment in 21st-century history. Fortifying Ukraine.

The reality is that Russia can’t avoid trying to reassert power, and the West can’t avoid trying to resist. But in the end, Russia can’t win. Russia was and remains a country of constant crises and wars, while the primary motivation to think about the future stemmed from the economic crises of 1998 and 2008–2009. Putin’s strategy has enabled Russia to reappear on the world stage in unanticipated ways that will continue to challenge the world. Remembering that the Kremlin does not speak for all Russian citizens is also important. Russian Patriotic Death Cult.

 

Editorial: How Biden White House Operated Under Cloak-And-Dagger Secrecy. Biden also said he would announce another support package consisting of artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance. He also said the U.S. will introduce later this week additional sanctions against “elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine.” The meeting took place after government officials from around the globe gathered at the annual Munich Security Conference. Representatives of European countries and the United States discussed the war in Ukraine and other regional issues, including Nagorno-Karabakh and Moldova’s relationship with NATO.

If policymakers can reject premature triumphalism, acknowledge the practical limits to American power, learn to delegate defense to the states at the pointy end of the spear, and grow more comfortable with the ambiguity needed to navigate the dangerous areas where spheres of influence overlap, they may be able to avoid disaster. The War Started Due To Putin's Policy Failure.

After China, the top five economies in the region are all democracies. But Beijing, developing advanced hypersonic missile capabilities and on course to have 1,500 nuclear weapons in the next decade, is threatening to destabilize what Aquilino calls the “rules-based order” that has enabled nations “over the past eight decades to be secure, sovereign, prosperous.'' Rattled By China, The U.S., And Its Allies Are Beefing Up Defenses In The Pacific.

 

Editorial: President Joe Biden and his top officials repeatedly demonstrate little awareness of these critical differences between the American and Chinese systems. Biden tells Xi he wants competition instead of conflict but then repeatedly says publicly that the United States will defend Taiwan militarily and quips in his State of the Union that no foreign leader wants Xi’s job. His secretary of defense is mystified that his Chinese counterpart will not answer the phone, and Biden’s advisers wonder why China will not discuss security guardrails. The answer is that Xi does not want them. China Is Practicing How to Sever Taiwan’s Internet.

The United Kingdom created a beta version of democracy in the eighteenth century: innovative and progressive but long surpassed by newer models. The country has, however, been extremely reluctant to abandon even the most egregious anachronisms. The most significant transformation in its governance was joining the European Union, which has been reversed. The U.K. Today.

 

Philippine Defense Secretary on Wednesday spoke with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin III, to discuss "concerning developments” whereby “Secretary Austin underscored the United States' commitment to supporting the lawful rights and operations of The Philippines In The South China Sea.

 

China may already give Russia non-lethal military aid. Supplying weaponry would be a major escalation - but a plausible one in the current geopolitical context. China may also see the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to test its weaponry. But every incident of Chinese intransigence convinces more U.S. officials that China is not a good-faith partner. Solidify Global Divisions For The Coming Decades.

International allies who had invested so much in reform efforts in Ukraine feared that when Russia invaded, the government might fall because of internal divisions and the lack of public trust. But Ukraine didn’t fall, and now its citizens have much higher expectations for the state and what needs to be done to rebuild the country. Tackling The Opportunity For Change.

Nearly one year ago, a 40-mile-long column of tanks rolled toward Kyiv on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He intended to conquer Ukraine in a few days but instead exposed the weaknesses of his military. Rather than a further expression of Russian imperialism, the war may now represent a stunning reversal of those ambitions, as Ukraine increasingly considers trying to retake Crimea, which Putin seized nearly a decade ago and has since absorbed into Russia. Sanctions Can Help End Putin’s Imperial Pretensions If The West Keeps Its Nerve.

Putin remains dug in, committed to throwing Russian troops at his objectives no matter the human cost. But the Ukrainians can prevail - as long as NATO supports their struggle for freedom, democracy, and security. The War Will Go On Into Next Year.

Yesterday, the European Parliament designated Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Whereas elsewhere, U.S. Senators are alarmed by hundreds of intrusions by China over the White House, Capitol, and Pentagon as espionage. Russia As State Sponsor Of Terrorism And More.

Imran Khan's risky 'tamasha' to end on 26 November. What is clear is that Khan is the greatest threat Pakistan’s establishment has ever seen and that this unstable year in Pakistani politics has not yet reached its denouncement. Imran Khan’s Long March.

Western spokespeople today would have little trouble making the case that Russia has invented a struggle for survival where none exists, that its leaders seek to deceive their people, cover up their own mistakes, and preserve their positions of power. Calling Out Putin’s Excuse.

Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), scored a total victory at the 20th Party Congress. However, far from guaranteeing another decade of success as China’s dominant leader, Xi’s triumph is likely to usher in a period of political rivalry among his loyalists who are eager to seek his favor and gain an edge in the inevitable struggle for succession. Will Xi Learn From History?

For the past three decades, Latin America has mostly remained on the margins of major geopolitical conflicts, from the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria to China’s growing ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. But now, events halfway around the world are roiling Latin America’s economies and, by extension, politics more than ever since the end of the Cold War. Latin America 2022.

 

As productivity falls and Chinese growth stagnates, it is unclear who, if anyone, will tell Xi the toughest truth of all: that his obsession with security is undermining China by weakening the economic foundations on which the country’s strength depends. China’s Economy.

The disagreement on the cost of the concessions Ukraine might have to make to produce a deal and on the level of Russia’s ideological commitment to the conquest of its neighbor. Why Some Wars Don’t End.

 

Granted, Beijing’s aspirations, like Moscow’s, may be greater than what it can realistically accomplish. But Xi, like the man he has described as his “best, most intimate friend,” Russian President Vladimir Putin, does not seem to believe that his reach exceeds his grasp. Why Policymakers Around The World Should Take Note.

As Prince William and the Princess of Wales today take to the stage in Boston for a glitzy ceremony featuring zeitgeisty figures from Billie Eilish to David Attenborough, the heir to the throne risks being watched less for evidence of his leadership in curtailing global warming than for urgent proof of the Royal Family’s ability to remain relevant in a multicultural Britain and a shape-shifting world. The lightning resignation of William’s godmother, Lady Susan Hussey, over her persistent questioning of the background of black British charity founder Ngozi Fulani at a Buckingham Palace reception instantly cast a pall on Wednesday over not only the Waleses’ American tour but also the nascent efforts of the King and his eldest son to modernize and reshape the monarchy. Why The House Of Windsor Will Ultimately Fall.

If the Haitian leaders cannot bring themselves to the negotiating table, 2023 will likely be another year marked by violence, desperation, and chaos. Many Haitians vehemently oppose bringing in foreign troops to solve Haitian problems. Politicians, opinion leaders, and citizens on social media insist that past foreign military interventions, whether led by U.S. Marines or UN peacekeepers, have only subjected the country to the iniquities of colonial rule and left a host of unresolved problems in their wake. A History Of Making Bad Situatiuations Worse.

The Houthis in Yemen changed their minds only after their presumed military edge had eroded. As they advanced on Marib throughout 2021, the rebels also moved into the Shebwa governorate in Yemen’s southeast. This move crossed a red line for the UAE, which has deep ties to the region’s anti-Houthi militias, which then rallied its proxies to push the Houthis out. (The UAE denies playing a direct role.) The Houthis responded with escalating cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi and UAE territory, prompting more airstrikes from Riyadh on Houthi-controlled territory, which hit civilian targets, drawing international condemnation. The resulting stalemate was painful enough for both sides that Griffiths’s replacement, Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg, was able to bring them to the table. It was in this context that, in April 2022, the war’s main parties agreed to a two-month truce. What Needs To Happen Next.

 

An epochal tectonic shift. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has ended an era. New powers have emerged or reemerged, including an economically strong and politically assertive China. Countries and government models compete for power and influence in this new multipolar world. The World Faces A Zeitenwende.

A drone attack hits an oil storage tank at an airfield in Russia’s Kursk region. No casualties were reported as the facility was set on fire one day after Russia blamed Ukraine for two other drone strikes. The Kursk airfield explosion is the third incident at Russian bases this week.

Today, Germany and the rest of the world woke up with the news about an ongoing operation involving 3,000 police officers in raids, with initially 25 arrests which took place in 11 of Germany’s 16 states and locations in Austria and Italy because of a plot to overthrow the German State and replace it with a new Emperor at the helm. After the large-scale raid against so-called Reich citizens, the German security authorities expect further suspects and searches due to plans for a coup. In interviews on Wednesday evening, the Presidents of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), and the Federal Public Prosecutor were convinced of the seriousness of the coup plans. Germany Just Averted Its Own Jan. 6, And Maybe The Fourth Reich.

 

In Russia, the call-up of hundreds of thousands of men and the new laws giving the military control of domestic industries have had far-reaching effects. The generals now have a decisive say in the economy. They can also mobilize any number of employees in any corporation, which makes them more potent than ever. Along with silencing military critics and regaining control of the narrative, these steps have given the Kremlin an effective way to close ranks. A Re-Assessment.

Russia faced a strategic defeat with its decision to invade Ukraine last February. It has shown its military weaker than many had predicted before the war. It has been the author of its diplomatic isolation, which it can reverse only by ending the war. It has hobbled its economy and slowed its military modernization by incurring sanctions. It has fostered a strong sense of national belonging in Ukraine and dramatically strengthened the transatlantic alliance, of which Ukraine is now a de facto member. Over time, Russia’s built-in weaknesses and the West’s and Ukraine’s assets will affect. In 1954, Crimea Was Transferred From Russia To Ukraine.

Russia: Indian policymakers may be tempted into believing that China's decline ordains India's dizzy resurgence. But, in the end, whether or not India turns into the next China is not merely a question of global economic forces or geopolitics. It will require a dramatic policy shift by New Delhi itself. We Address Why There Is No Inevitability In China’s Decline To India’s Rise.

Nato chief warns against conflict spiraling into Russia-Nato war. According to an interview released Friday, the head of Nato has expressed worry that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war between Russia and Nato. “If things go wrong, they can go wrong,” Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said in remarks to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. It is a terrible war in Ukraine. It is also a war that can become a full-fledged war that spreads into a major battle between Nato and Russia. We are working on that every day to avoid that. Associated Press also reported that Stoltenberg said in the interview that “there is no doubt that a full-fledged war is a possibility.”Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, added that it was essential to avoid a conflict “that involves more countries in Europe and becomes a full-fledged war in Europe.”

Moscow has repeatedly accused Nato allies of effectively becoming a party to the conflict by providing Ukraine with weapons, training its troops, and feeding military intelligence to attack Russian forces. In comments that reflected soaring tensions between Russia and the west, President Vladimir Putin suggested Moscow might think about using what he described as the US concept of a preemptive strike. Speaking about a disarming strike, maybe it’s worth thinking about adopting the ideas developed by our U.S. counterparts, their ideas of ensuring their security.

Russia’s breakup is unlikely. In the aftermath of Putin’s disastrous war, however, the regime will face growing pressures to decentralize. The best outcome would be for local self-government, inscribed in the Russian constitution but scrapped by Putin, to become a reality. A Decentralized Entity Can Reform Itself From The Inside Out.

 

The system will require new investment as it adapts to the twenty-first century. Modernize the international institutions that form the backbone of this system, such as the multilateral development banks; finalize the international agreement on a global minimum tax that more than 135 countries reached at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last fall; and update the international payments infrastructure to make it faster, cheaper, and more inclusive. These actions will help ensure the international economic system continues to drive global prosperity and that it lives up to the values embedded in its creation. Remaining Robust Enough When Malign Actors Are Denied Access.

 

China’s NBA anger mounts with canceled events and fan boycotts. NBA’s China problem threatens billions in basketball investment US-based professional league faces backlash, with core business interests up against politics of support for Hong Kong. How it happened, and what are the consequences? It Took Just Seven Words That NBA-China’s Viewership Approaching Pre-Banned Levels.

When Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s federal president and former foreign minister, received the Kissinger Prize in November 2022, he assessed his country’s (and his own) foreign policy failures. Since the world has changed, he said, “we must cast off old ways of thinking and old hopes,” including the idea that “economic exchange will bring about political convergence.” In the future, Steinmeier declared, Berlin must learn from the past and “reduce one-sided dependencies.” Germany’s Unlearned Lessons.

As we near the end of 2022, IT professionals are looking back at one of the worst years on record for incidents. Hence it’s imperative to look forward to a better 2023 strategy. This includes authoritarian governments, and security agencies that currently benefit from spyware will seek to obstruct such regulation. In November 2022, a top British intelligence official, Sir Jeremy Fleming, warned that the proliferating use of mercenary spyware and hackers for hire by countries and malefactors would increase the future threat to cybersecurity. Should mercenary spyware continue to grow unchecked, the risks for democracy will become acute. Tackling The 2023 Problem Of Cybersecurity.

 

When many democracies’ media outlets are consolidating due to financial pressures, China’s most prominent state media outlets, like the newswire Xinhua, are modernizing, professionalizing, and expanding in an attempt to reach an international audience. Overseas, Beijing also attempts to impact local media, civil society, and politics by having Chinese firms or individuals with close links buy up local media outlets, signing content-sharing deals with local media, expanding China’s social media giants, and controlling the wireless and wired technology through which information flows, How China Manipulates The Media.

It is no secret that China intends to seize Taiwan by 2027. On 10 Dec. 2022, an analyst at the Center for Advanced China Research boldly asked to suppose the US would defeat a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan. What Then? Providing evidence, we here debunk that Taiwan belongs to Mainland China, including the Non-Existing South China Sea Islands And the futility of China's National Myths. China will develop the ability to seize Taiwan by 2027. The Nowhere Road With An Answer To It.

Chinese President Xi Jinping just returned from three days of back-to-back summits in Riyadh: the first with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the second with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the third with a larger group of Arab governments. But the Biden administration’s strategy appears to Saudis and other observers as an attempt to wrest the power to set oil prices away from OPEC. Why Saudis Don’t Want To Pivot To China.

 

The German Reichsbürger Plot has gripped the Nation as we show our new investigation on hand. The accused belong to a terrorist organization that has set itself the goal of overcoming the existing state order in Germany and replacing it with its form of government. The Gripping Story Of How A Plot Would Take Over Germany.

The population of China is about 54 times larger than North Korea's, and China’s GDP is almost a thousand times more significant, and the scale of the problem comes into focus. The Meaning Of China’s Dangerous Decline.

Volodymyr Zelensky is to meet congressional leaders in Washington today. And despite its acts of aggression and substantial nuclear arsenal, Russia is not a peer competitor of China or the United States. Putin’s overreach in Ukraine suggests he has not grasped this critical point. A defeated Russia will make Russia a descending power. We Have To Prepare For Russia’s Defeat But Also Its Return.

Comment by Adam Tooze, author of "Crashed: How; a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World" Tooze on the ‘Dramatic Reconceptualization’ of Europe How The War In Ukraine Will Remake The Continent:

Twice in the last 106 years, in 1917 and 1991, versions of Russia have broken apart. Twice, versions of Russia have reconstituted themselves. If Russian power recedes, the West should capitalize on that opportunity to shape a European environment that protects NATO members, allies, and partners. A Russian defeat would furnish many options and many temptations. To Recognize The Stakes.

Editorial: How Did President Zelensky Get To Washington And Back: Reading like A Spynovel This Is What Happened.

Little can be done to reverse the shift in the global balance of power or ease Riyadh's pressure to cash in on oil. But the United States and Saudi Arabia can bolster bilateral ties if each side reconsiders how it views the other’s domestic politics. The Saudis must jettison the self-defeating belief that one of the United States political parties is against them and the other is for them. As for the US, with the likely failure of the nuclear talks with Tehran, the chance of a confrontation between the United States and Iran grows. How To Deal With The Saudi Arabia Problems.

There has been no time during the past 35 years when all intelligence (meaning spy) agencies in every country of the world today are focused on one issue: the potential war in Ukraine. The Inside World About Spy Agencies Revealed.

India and China’s latest border clash is not a one-off. The Skirmish In Arunachal Pradesh Reflects Beijing’s Confidence, And New Delhi’s Diminished Deterrence.

India and China’s latest border clash is not a one-off. The Skirmish in Arunachal Pradesh reflects Beijing’s confidence and New Delhi’s diminished deterrence. Why It Is Of Importance.

 

Military analysts often use modeling to predict specific outcomes in war, including winners and losers, casualties, territorial gains or losses, and combat duration. But a potential U.S.-China war over Taiwan, likely also involving some American allies, poses analytical and policy challenges that make predicting outcomes especially difficult. Can China Take Taiwan?

 

From old to new Cold War. The Potsdam Conference, according to Hugh Lunghi (British military interpreter and veteran of World War II), was bad-tempered’. The alliance of personalities that held things together was dissolving. Roosevelt would be out of office within days, replaced by Clement Attlee. By the end of the Potsdam gathering, only Stalin would remain from the wartime Big Three leaders, late in February 1946, George Kennan, the No. 2 at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, sent his momentous “long telegram” to the State Department analyzing Stalin’s malign designs on Europe and sketching a containment strategy. To Know Stalin And What Followed.

As the EU tries to finalize its hydrogen rules, Asian countries are moving fast to secure deliveries, and the US is committing money to set up local supply chains. Can the Middle East collaborate with both continents? The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR on 24 August 1991. The Act reestablished Ukraine's state independence. And when then in addition, Ukraine 1994 gave up its nuclear weapons in return for security “assurances” from Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 suddenly ignored all of this. As we have shown, of which Putin dismissed the actual history, it took the events in Ukraine for the West to realize that Putin’s Russia wants a new empire. This did not stop local lawmakers in St. Petersburg and Moscow from calling for Putin's resignation. The German Connection.

Last week, when we were looking for the most explosive trends in the world, we first came up with about fourteen, which included issues like the deadly conflict in Ethiopia, the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, and many other potential conflicts. But in the end, we tried to keep it simple and focus on only three. But expand in great length on: The Russian Crisis.

To ensure you know, our research has nothing to do with the poorly written and inaccurate book Tracers in the Dark By Andy Greenberg, apparently written for entertainment purposes. Or at least it has many factual errors where she claims that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies cannot be traced, whereby there is nothing further from the truth, as we will explain. We do not incorporate anything that Tracers in the Dark book. Instead, we will, among others, detail why people like Sam Bankman-Fried (and others who, in their way, tried to do similar) are not innocent victims of what recently has been tossed around with victims of the Federal Reserve's raising interest rates. Instead, we detail what, in reality, are Cryptocurrency-Based Crimes.

Increasingly today, Cryptocurrency has become a mainstream option for money laundering, the funding of terrorism, and the war in Ukraine. After all, the primary goal of cybercriminals who steal cryptocurrency, or accept it as payment for illicit goods, is to obfuscate the source of their funds and convert their cryptocurrency into cash so that it can be spent or kept in a bank. Investigators could significantly damage cybercriminals’ ability to convert cryptocurrency into cash by going after these money laundering service providers, thereby reducing the incentives for cybercriminals to use cryptocurrency in the first place. Cryptocurrency-Based Crimes Part Two.

Crypto felt its first chill of sanctions in 2021 when Virgil Griffith, an Ethereum developer, arrested earlier for speaking at a North Korean blockchain conference, pleaded guilty to helping the rogue regime evade sanctions. It became clear that Cryptocurrency remains appealing to criminals, primarily due to its pseudonymous nature and the ease and speed with which funds can be sent anywhere in the world. However, using cryptocurrencies for illicit activities constitutes only a tiny part of the overall cryptocurrency economy. It is smaller than the number of illegal funds involved in traditional finance. Our first reaction was to read the just-released book Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency by Andy Greenberg, but written in a very simplistic manner where we soon could find glaring errors w decided we had to do our own more straightforward research with facts and graphics to explain what is not a simplistic but very complex subject. Cryptocurrency-Based Crimes Part Three.

Having been keen observers of the Ukraine war two weeks ago when Russia started to mammas troops two weeks before its invasion, we now have to ask if Moscow has partly recovered from the military setbacks we reported and can Russia's target of 300,000 additional troops have to do with this? The United States could develop a diplomatic strategy to reduce maximalist thinking in Ukraine and Russia if it wanted to. But to date, it has shown little interest in using its leverage even to coax the two sides to the negotiating table. Russia's Target Of 300,000 Additional Troops.

As mentioned in Part One and Part Two, Before FTX's collapse, Bankman-Fried was ranked the 41st richest American in the Forbes 400 and the 60th richest person in the world by The World's Billionaires. His net worth peaked at $26 billion. In October 2022, he had an estimated net worth of $10.5 billion. By November 8, 2022, amid the bankruptcy of FTX, his net worth was estimated to have dropped 94 percent in a day to $991.5 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the most significant one-day drop in the index's history. On November 11, 2022, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index considered Bankman-Fried to have no material wealth. Cryptocurrency-Based Crimes Part Four.

As in most years, the largest hacks accounted for most of the funds stolen. Finally, the 2022 crypto market downturn began with the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried and the Terra-Luna ecosystem and its associated stablecoin. Blockchain Analysis.

Following The European Press Group and Russia Expert Olde Samorodni Predicting the war will be over by late Summer, calls for a special tribunal are intended to show Vladimir Putin that he will be held to account for his actions in Ukraine. Prepare For Russia’s Collapse.

Washington and its allies have appropriately focused on the immediate task of helping Ukraine and avoiding escalation. But there is a pressing need to consider the longer term and to develop policies towards Russia and Ukraine based on the reality that victory will start in the Summer. Still, The War Will Likely Continue Until The End Of 2023.

Today, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on Germany on Tuesday to help maintain "regional order" during a meeting with senior German lawmakers visiting the island on a trip Beijing condemned. Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, has been heartened by support from Western democratic allies in the face of stepped-up Chinese military threats, including war games staged by China near the island in August. Today China mounts large-scale joint strike drills around Taiwan, sending 28 warplanes and naval vessels to the island days after a US Navy destroyer went through the Strait But the war would leave China’s navy in shambles and tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and prisoners of war. What Made Taiwan Understand How Perilous This Situation Is.

 

A lingering energy crisis and monetary tightening will negatively impact economic activity worldwide, leading to heightened social, political, and financial risk. What To Expect In 2023.

 

The Story of Why The Chinese Can Travel Again.

More than 70 US and Brazilian lawmakers condemn the Trump-Bolsonaro alliance.  Far-Right Rioters Invaded Brazil's Federal Representative Institutions.

 

Security forces operate as supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Planalto Palace, Brazil, January 8:

On 8 January 2023, following the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 Brazilian general election, supporters of the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, attacked the Supreme Federal Court, the National Congress building, and the Planalto Presidential Palace in the Three Powers Plaza in the capital, Brasília. Senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo, interim president of the Federal Senate, confirmed that rioters had breached the Chamber of Deputies' Green Hall and attempted to enter the Planalto Palace. Neither Lula nor Bolsonaro was in Brasília at the time of the attack. Today Democratic lawmakers in the US demanded Biden revoke Bolsonaro’s visa after the Brazil riot. Former president entered the US after his election loss and is staying in Florida. The Current Situation.

Putin has never been shy about waging war, and outright criticism of the invasion is inconceivable among the political elite. How Putin Is About To Lose His War.

Downbeat global economic forecasts whether growth declines or only stagnates in 2023, The Long-Term Trend Is Concerning.

 

Editorial: Is Turkey a crucial or corrosive NATO ally? Erdogan’s Foot-Dragging On Sweden And Finland Is Causing Headaches For Western Leaders.

A new report from the human rights website Gulagu stated that Andrei Medvedev, a former senior commander in the Wagner mercenary group, fled to Norway. Medvedev fled Russian territory and was pursued by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). This follows continued reports of the group’s violent actions in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war crimes committed by the group and its leadership on the battlefield under Yevgeny Prigozhin

 

According to the state-owned Global Times newspaper, a confrontational Chinese carrier strike group, led by the country’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, conducted live-fire drills in the South China Sea. In a statement, the Chinese navy called them "combat-oriented confrontational exercises." As illustrated by the landmark AUKUS deal with the U.S. and the U.K. Also, Australia is reorienting its military forces to more aggressively contest chokepoints on the southern end of the first and second island chains and probe deep into the South China Sea. A recent war game scenario run by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies indicated that the US would lose its aircraft carriers should they interfere in a possible conflict in the Taiwan Straits.

 

Don’t Forget About Water in 2023. This finite resource will have plenty of countries on edge in the coming year. This Highlights A Socio-Economic Challenge That The World Needs To Tackle Before It Gets Worse.

The following is a project establishing why Geopolitical Forecasting is possible, shown on hand by many case studies. Understanding The World By Means Of A Geopolitical Approach.

Kyiv hasn’t been its usual self for weeks. For half the day, the Ukrainian capital, known for its cafes, bustling nightlife, and crowded cocktail dens even through a pandemic and more than eight months of a full-scale Russian invasion, is plunged into darkness, mostly disappearing from view except for millions of little flickers of candlelight how The US Can Help.

With growing tension between Beijing and Washington, China’s 20th Party Congress in October unsettled many outside observers. During the proceedings, not only did Chinese President Xi Jinping stack China’s all-important Politburo Standing Committee with loyalists and secure a third term in office, but he also painted his darkest picture of China’s external threats. Why XI Might Prefer Détente.

A question is whether Biden wants to, or can, seize Beijing’s apparent interest in a détente to pump the brakes on the relationship’s downward spiral. The White House listed global issues like climate, debt relief, health security, and food security as areas where the two leaders "agreed to empower key senior officials to maintain communication and deepen constructive efforts." Biden’s maneuvering is also the latest sign that an emerging goal of his foreign policy is to stress the differences between Moscow and Beijing - China The Global Power And Russia The Junior Partner.

Recently The Guardian newspaper wrote that Elon Musk’s wild ride at the helm of Twitter could bring it down. At the same time, the New York Times wrote that  Elon Musk Has No Idea What He’s Doing on Twitter. Some people at Twitter know how to fix everything, but they no longer work for the company or have been told not to ship any new code. And the question haunting engineers at the end of the day was not whether any new cracks in the service would emerge but how many and when. At the same time, a major scandal has erupted in China about Tesla cars. But as we shall see, China is not the only country encountering this. Twitter And Tesla.

Departure of Tech Workers Weighs on Russian Economy President Vladimir Putin’s troop mobilization for the Ukraine war has caused sales to drop and well-paid employees to flee abroad. During the G20 finance talks in Bali, finance chiefs looked for solutions to food and energy crises while accusing Russian technocrats of exacerbating the problems. What Is Needed For The Russian Economy To Grow.

Yesterday morning, many people woke up with fears of war spillover eased after Nato said a missile in Poland was a Ukrainian stray. The blast in Poland shows how easily Russia’s war could tip into a wider conflict with NATO. Comparing the current situation with the Cuban Missile Crisis, the off-ramp in 1962 did not emerge out of U.S. statesmanship. It grew first from Russian fear and then pragmatism. Why Putin Gladly Tells You Is No Khrushchev.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a wave of concern about the global nuclear order. And Both Chinese President Xi and US President Biden agree that nuclear war ‘should never be fought. Such worries are understandable. We Investigate The Nonproliferation Conundrum.

The past 24 hours have shown how delicate the situation could become on Ukraine’s borders with Nato countries, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, and Romania. If the conflict in Ukraine is rewriting the history of central and eastern Europe, then so is the history of the north Atlantic alliance. The Polish Incident That is Changing It.

Putin believes he has no choice but to continue bombing and attacking Ukraine. And unlike many of Russia’s elites, Putin believes Ukraine is still doomed. His present personal goal is tactical, stopping Kyiv’s attacks, holding the line, and then waiting until the Ukrainian state collapses, which he believes is just a matter of time. Divide And Conquer.

A new strategic era spurs a dire need among policymakers to ruthlessly prioritize and identify which issues and regions NATO will ignore, try to mitigate, or assign a small fraction of its considerable attention and resources. Against its instincts and intentions, NATO has backed into simultaneous contests against two significant powers that define their global interests - explaining The NEW NATO Strategic Concept.

The longer households, companies, and governments fail to recognize and respond to the structural shifts in the global economic and financial system, the harder it will be to mitigate the risks and seize the opportunities associated with these changes. The Profound Economic And Financial Shift. 

After Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 Feb., dormant veterans associations became the lifeblood of the Ukrainian resistance inside occupied territory. But the partisans did not merely consist of former soldiers. On one occasion, when it needed to raise the level of a river significantly, it hit a dam but could not check whether its attack had provided the desired results. The Ukrainian Saboteurs Behind Enemy Lines.

Instead of looking for an off-ramp out of the war, Putin has escalated the conflict, partially mobilizing Russian manpower and annexing four Ukrainian oblasts while widening his attacks to include missile strikes on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure. Putin And Ukraine's Nuclear Reactors.

 

The importance and distinctiveness of the evolution of Western European right-wing populism become particularly clear when compared with comparable developments in the United States. The election of Donald Trump in 2016 turbocharged these trends. How To Understand Extreme Right-Wing Parties.

 

President Xi Jinping has pushed politics to the Leninist left, economics to the Marxist left, and foreign policy to the nationalist right. But this same ideological stance has also created dilemmas that the CCP will find difficult to resolve, significantly as slowing economic growth complicates the party’s long-standing social contract with the people. The World According to Xi.

It’s no secret that central banks and governments worldwide are dealing with rising inflation and economic uncertainty, which need to be addressed head-on if they want to maintain internal stability. To do so, they are considering measures outside the usual monetary toolkit that address geopolitical events by stimulating national investment more creatively. Inflation And Economic Uncertainty.

Europe is facing a generational energy crisis as it heads into winter. A shortfall of 150 billion cubic meters of gas, which Russia won’t deliver to Europe this year because of its war in Ukraine, has left Europe scrambling to find alternatives and contain the fallout. Why This Could Last For Years.

 

Vladimir Putin gave a clue this week about the mastermind behind Russia’s heaviest missile onslaught since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the early days. In a television address lauding the operation and warning of more to come, the Russian president said Monday’s strikes on cities across Ukraine, launched in retaliation for the attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia to the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, were ordered: “at the defense ministry’s suggestion.” The remark pointed to Sergei Surovikin, a hardline general named commander of Moscow’s invasion forces two days earlier. The Battle Problem Facing The New Command.

 

The West believes Kyiv's fight is and wants Ukraine to succeed. But it is still being determined whether Ukraine is strong enough to retake all its territory. Many Western leaders still believe the Russian military is too large to defeat. This thinking has led the members of the pro-Ukrainian coalition to define only their interim strategic military goals. How Ukraine Can Take Back All Its Territory.

 

On Oct. 16, the Chinese Communist Party will begin its 20th National Congress, the highest-level and most crucial assembly of China’s senior political and military leadership. Large And In Charge.

Taipei and Beijing understand that its objective is not an independent Taiwan but peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The Biden administration could continue to press Beijing to engage in direct discussions with Taipei’s democratically elected leadership and to seek a long-term resolution of cross-strait differences that meets the approval of the people of Taiwan. Can A War Over Taiwan Still Be Avoided?

Chinese authorities have strictly censored discussion of a rare protest in Beijing on Thursday that saw large banners unfurled on a flyover calling for boycotts and the removal of Xi Jinping, just days before China’s most important event of its five-year political cycle:

 

Although the West is primarily focused on its response to Russia’s war against Ukraine and the war’s impacts on energy supplies and inflation, the United States and Europe should not miss the chance to quietly but energetically exploit Russia’s colossal strategic mistake to work toward a better status quo, and avoid a worse one, in the places where Russia’s now-receding power projection has proven so nefarious and calcifying in the past. What Happens To Russia’s Periphery.

As Nigeria's oil reserves dwindle and its population expands, stability will increasingly depend on something much more complex: broad-based growth that improves the lives of average Nigerians from Past To Next Fifty Years.

The United States and Europe could gain leverage in a post-Putin power struggle. Published here in English and Russian: Our Source In The Kremlin Speaks Up.

 

Iranian protesters have taken to chanting, “They tell lies when they say it’s America. Our enemy is right here.” That should be of interest to policymakers. Although the translation doesn’t do the chant justice, the message is clear: Iranians see the clerical regime as their real enemy. The End Of The Islamic Republic As We Know It Part One.

 

Tech companies have demonstrated how businesses can support military and security operations and their independent power and willingness to act. Now is the time to reach out to tech company leaders and initiate substantive and continuing conversations about these companies’ abilities and plans. Game-Changer For Current And Future Conflicts.

 

If Putin is no longer a rational actor, some fear that Ukraine and its Western supporters may have no choice but to fight on. What, after all, is the alternative? The glue that holds together any agreement to end the war requires that both sides honor their commitments over the long term. How does one negotiate for peace with a state that has proved itself irrational? Putin's Atomic Gamble.

 

The Kremlin has telegraphed that it wanted to slow Ukraine’s battlefield advances with strikes targeting infrastructure and civilians. Russian troops’ cruel logic, experts said, is that if they can’t beat Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, they will try to harm their wives and children at home. And Putin also has to play for time, spreading out Ukrainian defenses, with a purported 300,000 mobilized Russian reserves not set to be ready for weeks. We Analyse What The Result Of The Bombing Will Be.

 

On 29 September, hackers stole sensitive Mexican files, including previously undisclosed information that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was taken to hospital by air ambulance in January with a heart problem; with the 2024 presidential elections not far off, he believes that his popularity with an energized political base matters more than maintaining a trilateral trade accord. Democracy Or Authoritarian Populism?

Nobody expected surprises at the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Events followed the pre-established script until Hu Jintao was whiskered out. We Analyze The Reasons Why.

Since late 2021, China’s various economic issues, exacerbated by frequent and often abrupt pandemic lockdowns, have trapped GDP growth below the official target of 5.5 percent. Setting aside hopeful notes from President Xi Jinping and other top officials at the National Congress, China’s Q3 data is still expected to paint a dire picture of the future.

 

After three decades in which prices grew slowly across the world’s advanced economies, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the eurozone suddenly contended with nearly double-digit inflation. Prices across many emerging markets and developing economies have risen even faster, with inflation exceeding 80 percent in Turkey and nearly 100 percent in Argentina. The Direction Of The World Economy.

 

Despite China moving towards greater authoritarianism, the Chinese secret service uses double agents to influence politicians, diplomats, officials, academics, and organizations to shape the perception that foreign powers have of China to one of a country striving to move towards democratic values. Last night top officials from the U.S. Justice Department unveiled a slate of indictments against 13 Chinese nationals accused of spying on behalf of Beijing. Chinese Spies Part One.

 

Just three days before the February 24 invasion, Putin orchestrated a nationally televised meeting of Russia’s Security Council in which each member voiced a strong agreement with the need to take action in Ukraine. And in his announcement of Russian missile strikes after the bombing of the Kerch Strait Bridge, Putin noted that the Defense Ministry proposed this move following planning by Russia’s General Staff. Yet such efforts to share the political risk in these decisions can go only so far since it was Putin’s obsession with Ukraine and its inextricable bonds with Russia that set off the march to war. The War Might Last Another Year And What That Means.

Truss’s exit had seemed inevitable almost from the moment she took office. The continual disruptions in British leadership have rocked the United Kingdom’s standing worldwide. Can Sunak Save Britain?

Iran is now involved in a major war on the European continent for the first time. Iranian military advisors, most likely members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are on the ground in occupied Ukraine, and possibly Belarus, to help Russia rain down deadly Iranian kamikaze drones on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. Putin Puts Faith In The Poor Man's Weapon.

 

Chinese operations worldwide eschew official police and judicial cooperation, violate international law, and may violate third countries' territorial integrity by setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods. However, the CCP’s repressive capacity consists of several layers - the Chinese Police Service Stations.

 

Zheng's MSS’s China Reform Forum could lure in foreign friends from the highest levels of politics and government. While its promises of ‘peaceful rise’ proved to be a lie. The Way To The White House.

 

Russia had two chances at democracy in the 20th century: first in 1917, in the months before the Bolshevik Revolution began, and again in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. The challenges facing a post-Putin Russia appear even more daunting than those the country faced after the collapse of communism. The Way Forward For Russia.

Russia under Putin will never be a stakeholder in European security. The Kremlin has shown that it is far more interested in imperialist revanchism than strategic stability. The Outcome Of Significant Wars Ultimately Comes Down To Attrition.

The backlash Despite the world’s past mistakes, the MSS now faces the toughest backlash in its history. As we have seen from the indictments we posted on 26 October that came on the heels of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, cemented Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s rule over the country for the coming years, numerous governments are in the process of fundamentally reconfiguring their foreign policies as the charade of China’s peaceful rise crumbles. The Circumstances That Allow Chinese Spy Operations To Thrive.

 

Germany and the European Union are examining whether to classify Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Sunday. But even without such assistance, the videos and photographs that have made it through Iran’s media blackout demonstrate how women can act as powerful agents of change, even, perhaps, particularly, under patriarchal authoritarian politics. The End Of The Islamic Republic As We Know It Part Two.

 

Earlier, a video showed the sabotage of military helicopters deep inside Russia. Satellite imagery shows several damaged helicopters at the base. And when Ukraine’s driving counteroffensive erodes Russia’s position on the battlefield, the discussion has focused on the possibility of a coup, whether an armed insurrection by disgruntled Russian generals or a mutiny by Kremlin insiders. Although not impossible, neither of these is currently very likely. We Assess The Possibility Of Regime Collapse.

 

Shinzo Abe introduced legislation recognizing that Japan would exercise the right of collective self-defense and could fight alongside the United States if the need arose. Although Abe was partly motivated by ideological opposition to Japan's constitutional constraints, he fundamentally sought to ensure that the United States could depend more on Japan in a crisis so that Japan could still rely on the United States. The Consensus From Canberra To Tokyo.

 

Strange greeting on a state visit, China President Xi refuses to shake hands with Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany. Xi’s first big public move after his effective coronation after the National People’s Congress was to travel to Yan’an, arguably the most critical site in the CCP’s history. Yan’an is where all doubts disappeared about Mao’s utter preeminence among the Chinese communists. For some experts, this confirmed that Xi was the most powerful leader China had seen since Mao. China’s Past And Xi’s Future.

 

India claims to be the largest democracy in the world. Its ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claims to be the largest political organization in the world (with a membership base even more significant than that of the Chinese Communist Party). When Indian citizens received their first COVID-19 vaccines, they were given vaccination certificates with Modi’s photograph. In February 2021, Modi joined the ranks of Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Muammar al-Qaddafi, and Saddam Hussain in having a sports stadium named after him while he was alive (and in office). The cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, previously named after the great nationalist stalwart Vallabhbhai Patel, was henceforth called the Narendra Modi Stadium. A Critical Look At Narendra Modi's India Today.

 

From a relatively undeveloped place without any notable history of Buddhism, intelligence officers built Hainan Island into a leading platform for Buddhist influence efforts. The Guan yin colossus is a testament to the agency’s creativity, resourcefulness, and long-term planning. Buddhism is a window into how the MSS seeks to use religion to influence and infiltrate countries with different political environments to the United States. Reactions To China’s Spy Operations.

 

Finding a way out of the Ukraine war and its escalating human costs has become increasingly urgent. The conflict continues to inflict enormous suffering on the Ukrainian people and economic damage on much of the world by disrupting the energy and food markets. What To Do About Putin.

We have a new article that explains why and how Vladimir Putin is beholden to Stalin's legacy. Isolated, Paranoid, and even more like the Soviet dictator, But although he is approaching the age of Stalin at his death, Putin appears healthier and seems to have more time than Stalin did in the early 1950s. Putin And Stalin.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term as general secretary will drag the CCP back to the pathologies of the Mao era and simultaneously push it toward a future of low growth, heightened geopolitical tension, and profound uncertainty. The question for all is whether his plans will prevail or generate their political antibodies, both at home and abroad, that begin to resist Xi’s vision for China and the world actively. But Xi Jinping is probably already anticipating that response- and preparing whatever countermeasures may be warranted. What To Expect From Xi's Third Term.

Ukraine pushes Russia out of Kherson, the most significant liberation yet. But even though Ukrainian troops are still raring to advance in the frigid temperatures, intelligence officials remain wary of the situation in Kherson, which is believed to be heavily mined by departing Russian troops, a tactic that dates back to the Second World War and one that has been used heavily in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to sow death and dismemberment for Ukrainians returning. The Ukrainian military official said troops would have to wait to seize the city until it was relatively clear of mines and booby traps. The Situation Ukraine Is Facing This Winter.

Russia’s interests have long intersected with Turkey’s. This presents as many opportunities for conflict as it does for cooperation. Turkey and Russia see each other as neighbors along the Black Sea, and both are interested in maintaining good relations while keeping a certain distance. Turkey And Russia: Friends For Now.

 

Roughly ten times the size of India and three times the size of China, it is home to nearly 18 percent of the world’s population and roughly 30 percent of its mineral resources. initially looking at why poverty, Africa remains the poorest continent. Yet, As destructive and painful as it was, Africa’s troubled history of colonialism and Cold War meddling cannot explain all its current woes. We Detail A Way Up For Africa.

 

As Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden sat down for a rare face-to-face meeting in Bali, Indonesia, on November 14, both leaders are confronting acute challenges at home. A critical question is whether Xi's plans will prevail and begin to actively resist Xi’s vision for China and the world. What To Expect From The Xi-Biden Meeting.

The Secretive PWE Political Warfare Executive.

Regardless of their human rights record, engaging with the Taliban will not encourage stability over the long run. So far, the engagement with the Afghan Taliban government has proved futile. Why Pressure Is The Best Way.

 

World Leaders Convene Amid Crisis at the UNGA. No doubt under discussion will Putin order partial Russian mobilization with Russia to call up 300,000 reservists. Reuters reports that European Union member Latvia (and no doubt others will follow), has said it will not offer refuge to any Russians fleeing Moscow’s mobilization of troops. The UNGA Meeting.

 

NATO chief calls Putin's nuclear threat a 'dangerous' escalation. More than 1,300 people have been arrested at demonstrations across Russia against President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a partial mobilization of civilians to fight in Ukraine. Putin Threatens Nuclear Response.

 

If Putin were to go before the war's end, the world should use his departure as a chance to resume negotiations for Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine. A post-Putin Russia may still be autocratic, but it does not have to continue its reckless overseas adventures. Putin’s Eventual Replacement.

 

Vladimir Putin’s “partial mobilization” of citizens for his war in Ukraine has already set in motion sweeping changes for many Russians. But as we shall see in the following article, the mobilization will not turn this around, and the use of nuclear weapons would make a bad situation catastrophic. Why Mobilization Can’t Save Putin’s War.

 

The latest developments have placed the Ukrainian conflict at a crossroads, with a severe risk of escalation on the one hand and an opportunity for a diplomatic climbdown on the other. It is not just about Moscow and Kyiv but the entire Russia-West relationship. Climbing The Escalation Ladder.

 

British ambassador summoned over coverage by London-based media - Norwegian envoy called in over 'interventionist' speaker - Teachers' union calls for strikes Monday and Wednesday -  Iranian TV says 41 people killed in more than a week of unrest. Iran’s Anti-Veil Protests Have Already Succeeded.

 

In the context of restrained civil liberties and curtailed political and, increasingly, personal freedoms, defending the party’s version of China’s history, the only version of history it can safely be proud of, is one way to guarantee your safety - or to advance your career. The Revelations Of Document Number Nine.

 

Few might have heard of realist international relations theorists. Now two new books tell all about it. In the discipline of International Relations, realism is a school of thought that emphasizes the competitive and conflictual side of international relations. Matthew Specter And Jonathan Kirshner’s New Books.

 

We all have heard about practicing saving the world; yesterday, NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid. But one of the most significant scars on our planet is hidden beneath the Yucatán Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico. Over 90 miles in diameter, the buried crater was created when a massive asteroid struck the planet 66 million years ago and brought a calamitous end to the dinosaurs' reign. As detailed in our article below, we would not have made it if Homo sapiens had been alive when the comet struck. And Then It Got Cold.

 

The Soviet Union lacked the cohesion and the will to keep itself alive. Putin is not going to make that mistake. He will turn instead to the examples of Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander III and to the Soviet leaders Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev, all of whom were able to suppress dissent at home, keep their subjects in line, and pursue hard-line policies without letting the dissent crystallize into meaningful movements. The End Of Putin’s Bargain With The People.

 

Many Iranians regard the notion of inherited rule as another betrayal of the revolution. Should Ayatollah Ali Khamenei die while Iran is convulsed by a protest movement on this scale, the challenge to the clerical system could become existential. Iran's Question Of Legitimacy.

 

At least 200,000 Russians have left Russia since Putin's draft began:

 

Despite the many challenges, some Chinese writers have not stopped trying to record the past. They use strategic circumlocutions to refer to purged figures, such as calling Zhao “a leading comrade in the central government at that time.” They push boundaries and test the limits of acceptable discourse, even though the limits are firm. The Forbidden History.

 

There is little sign that peace talks are possible (especially after Russia’s staged referendums in the east) or that there is any way for the war to end with one side claiming victory. This horrifying conflict in Europe could continue even when Putin’s human and psychological resources have run out.  A Fear Greater Than Putin. 

 

Time is running out for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, on Friday, Putin declared Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are part of Russia forever. Why Today It Becomes More likely Putin Will Lose This War.

 

The current financial panic in the UK is vast because it affects the government bond market. This can become self-reinforcing because as the currency falls, the bonds become less attractive to hold, and so on. Have Americans, As Is Claimed, Been Conned?

 

The US and its allies would destroy Russia’s troops and equipment in Ukraine and sink its Black Sea fleet if Russian president Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons in the country, former CIA director and retired four-star army general David Petraeus warned on Sunday. He told ABC News: “Just to give you a hypothetical, we would respond by leading a Nato – a collective – effort that would take out every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea.”

 

The CCP aims to revise global and regional security governance to align more closely with its regime's security interests and use Chinese foreign policy to secure its hold on power at home. One should not underestimate the risks of this new Chinese approach to foreign policy. China's Global Security Initiative.

 

Too much of China’s investment is directed, by necessity, to projects that create economic activity (and debt) but do not create real economic value. Chinese growth will slow sharply, and how it does will have profound consequences for the country, the CCP, and the global economy. China's Growth In Peril.

 

The pivotal moment will arrive when the only option Putin sees available to him is the nuclear one. It will also be a decisive moment for the Russian elites who still do not dare to countenance this worst-case scenario, which many today avoid thinking about. Ukraine Is A Poison Pill For Putin.

 

Among The Uprooted

 

The 20th Party Congress may place Xi in a more secure position to pursue his favored policy agenda, but it will not make COVID-19 magically go away. Without a deliberate change, China may soon be contending with a policy whose consequences may be as far-reaching, for Beijing and the Chinese people, as the pandemic itself. China's COVID-19 Politics To The Test.

 

Wars are historical hinges. And misbegotten wars can be fatal as culmination points of more general national decline. This Is Particularly True For Empires.

 

The key bridge linking Crimea to Russia hit by explosion. At least part of the 19km Kerch Strait Bridge collapsed into the sea, imperiling the primary supply route for Russian troops fighting in the south of Ukraine:

 

As we have seen earlier, Hitler actively pursued an influential and largely overlooked backdoor foreign policy. In Britain, as we have seen, this included the Anglo-German Fellowship and the Cliveden Set, which became seditious with Right Club’s plans and the conspiracy by Vaughan-Henry, both groups planning to stage a British coup d’état. No official explanation is available for the decision to spare its leaders since his MI5 file – identified in other documents by the serial number PF 42909 and which ran to three volumes in the Security Service registry – has never been released. Our research started with intelligence files considered so damaging that they were initially classified for one hundred years until 2044 and only recently published under the Freedom of Information Act. Hitler's Aristocrats Part Five.

Contrary to the conventional history of a country united in opposition to Hitler, right-wing British MPs, Peers, and senior figures in the military clandestinely worked – individually and collectively – to hasten a German victory and to supplant the elected British Government with a pro-Nazi puppet regime which if up to Hitler would be a re-instated King Edward VIII. Despite the continuing suppression of a substantial number of files, those papers which have been de-classified and released to the National Archives plainly show that throughout World War Two, senior and influential figures in the British establishment not only supported Nazi Germany but took active – and illegal – steps to hasten a German victory; and, further, that there is compelling evidence that they were protected from the consequences of their actions because of their privileged status in society. Hitler's Aristocrats Part Six.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine came when global agriculture and food supply chains were already fragile. The countries most immediately affected are those that meet two conditions: Rising Food Prices Will Shake the Middle East and North Africa. They are heavily dependent on imports of grains and oilseeds, and they have as their leading suppliers Russia and Ukraine. Mediterranean countries in North Africa and the Middle East are first in the line of fire under these circumstances. With no sign of improvement in the short term, mass unrest is nearly inevitable. Bad Timing Of Global Agriculture And Food Supply Chains.

 

We are not used to seeing ourselves as one of history’s first generations; we tend to focus on what we have inherited from the past, not what we could bequeath to the future. This is a mistake. To tackle the task before us, we must reflect on where we stand in humanity’s full lineage. We, in the present day, recklessly gamble, not just with our lives and our children’s lives but with the very existence of all who are yet to come. Let Us Be The Last Generation To Do So.

 

Below is an image of the Partition Museum in Amritsar. Within hours the celebrations of 75 years of Independence will kick in. When the 1947 partition created two newly-independent states - India and Pakistan - and triggered perhaps the biggest movement of people in history, outside war and famine. About 12 million people became refugees. Between half a million and a million people were killed in religious violence. A New Look At The History Of Partition.

 

Some of China’s maritime disputes span centuries and started with the Champa Sea or Sea of Cham, a maritime kingdom that flourished before the sixteenth century. Since then, territorial disputes in the South China Sea have involved conflicting island and maritime claims in the region by several sovereign states, namely Brunei, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan (Republic of China/ROC), Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Whose China Sea Is It?

 

Vladimir Putin said today that Western countries were seeking to extend a “Nato-like system” into the Asia-Pacific region. Delivering the welcome address at the Moscow international security conference, Putin said that the United States was trying to “drag out” the conflict in Ukraine. He added that US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Visit To Taiwan earlier this month had been “a thoroughly planned provocation.” Whereby The Truth About Taiwan Is.

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden are scheduled to meet in mid-November at a conference in Indonesia or Thailand. China is nearer to an economic crisis than Russia and is thus unwilling to risk war with the United States. It will speak, if not settle. Russia’s economic and military situation is murky in the long run. China Needs To Reach An Understanding And Russia Does Not.

 

Russia, Ukraine, and the West are in a terrible situation with no apparent way out. One can only hope that leaders on both sides will manage the war in ways that avoid catastrophic escalation. There Is A Risk Of Serious Harm.

 

The United States must do much more to invest in its example’s power and ensure that steps taken to counter China do not undermine that example by falling into the trap of trying to out-China. Protective or punitive actions, whether military, economic, or diplomatic, should be assessed based on whether they counter China, how they affect the broader system, and whether they reflect fidelity to U.S. principles. The United States Does Not Need To Beat China.

 

Five days ago, India’s prime minister’s annual Independence Day speech reflected how far political discourse has fallen in New Delhi. PM Modi hereby sported a Tricolour-themed turban for Independence Day, imbibing the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ spirit.

If we look back, one notices that, unlike prior revolutions, India’s split from the British Empire came about through a political movement committed to nonviolence. The Indian National Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi,  organized peaceful demonstrations on an unprecedented scale. Why I Killed Gandhi.

 

 

For years to come, the United States is more likely to face a confident, capable China than an insecure, reckless one. Washington will not emerge victorious from this contest because Beijing will step out of the race, as Moscow did at the end of the Cold War. Is A Major War To Come?

 

The current tensions over Taiwan exacerbated by President Xi’s continued alignment with Putin make the situation difficult. But as great-power diplomacy returns to a more even keel, Washington can remind Beijing that it needs the United States and Western partners to achieve its own economic goals. What Is Achievable In East Asia?

 

With prices and unemployment rising, sources say Kremlin officials fear Russians Are In For A Rude Awakening This Fall.

 

In reasserting Russia’s imperial position by seeking to reconquer Ukraine, Putin is reversing one of the most outstanding achievements of his greatest hero. During his reign, Peter the Great opened a window to the West by traveling to Europe, inviting Europeans to come to Russia and help develop its economy, and adopting and adapting European artisans’ skills. Peter Took Russia Into The Future. Putin Pushing It Back To The Past.

 

Judge orders unsealing of the redacted affidavit in Donald Trump's search by noon today in the US. It probably contains key information about the investigation into classified documents kept at former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private resort after he left office.

 

Assessment Of How The Russia-Ukraine War Is Progressing.

 

From Eurasian to Neo-Eurasianism. While Aleksandr Dugin and his daughter Dugina represented an obscure movement that could barely muster a couple of dozen people to its rallies, Putin’s propaganda machine has turned Dugina - and vengeance for her death - into a cause. Hence Dugina became what Putin himself once called a “sacred sacrifice.” Her corpse now serves as a national symbol of one’s highest patriotic duty - and of the Ukrainians’ supposed perfidy. Naturally, There Can Be No Excuse, Only Ruthless Punishment.

 

The forces driving fifth-column politics are powerful and will not subside until political polarization and income likely to happen by social media abate - none likely to happen soon. In an age of uncertainty and fragmentation, the fifth column will no longer be confined to the dark corners of the nationalist imagination. They Will Be Front And Center In Domestic And Global Politics.

 

While Russia might decide whether it wants to continue to live in angry isolation. Washington can remind Moscow that other options are available. Until that day, the US might contain the worst Russian behavior. Wait For The Tide To Turn.

 

China has reached a point of no return in its battle to contain what could be the most significant property crash the world has ever seen, experts believe, creating a perilous moment for the country’s Communist leadership and the global economy. Point Of No Return.

 

A dangerous path would be to get sucked into a race for Artificial Intelligence dominance, extending competitive relations further. Another would be to try to make the feedback problems of authoritarianism worse. Both risk catastrophe and possible war. Far safer, then, for all governments to recognize AI’s shared risks and work together to reduce them. Weaponized Artificial Intelligence.

 

For the UK, fracturing the globalized world into newly powerful nation-states will create friction. Yet new forms of cooperation can strengthen democracies by driving them to build new networks with competition and values at their core that can generate the resilience the West needs. The UK Can Be Leading By Supporting.

The US-based foreignpolicy.com wondered why Putin dodged the draft. Mentioning that SitRep has heard from numerous U.S. and Western officials who say they are puzzled by Putin’s reluctance to call for mass conscription at this point in the war. We follow up by looking at sanctions and if this means that Moscow is struggling to sustain its war in Ukraine. Why Is There Little Hope For A Quick Rebound?

 

While at Yalta in 1945, Churchill pressed for free elections and democratic governments in Eastern and Central Europe, whereby Roosevelt wanted Soviet support in the U.S. Pacific War against Japan, with Stalin demanding to have power over Poland and other E. European countries, leading to the Soviet power having a large but because of NATO next a diminishing buffer zone and currently is used by Putin as an excuse to destroy Ukraine.

 

Sir Anthony Rumbold, whose father was ambassador to Germany from 1928 to 1933, tried to alert the British government about the rise of groups like The British Union of Fascists that claimed to have some 50,000 members in 1934. This while the undercurrents of British Fascism were more widespread and nefarious, infiltrated by Hitler at the highest echelons of British society. Hitler actively pursued an effective and largely overlooked backdoor foreign policy with a less traditional spin. Hitler's Aristocrats Part One.

We next will also see how contrary to the conventional history of a country united in opposition to Hitler, right-wing British MPs, Peers, and senior figures in the military clandestinely worked, individually and collectively, to hasten a German victory and to supplant the elected British Government with a pro-Nazi puppet regime which if up to Hitler would be a re-instated King Edward VIII. Hitler's Aristocrats Part Two.

 

History reminds African countries to approach Ukraine’s conflict cautiously. The dominant African position, given the significant uncertainties about the war and its outcome, has been to demand peace and urge diplomacy - and, whenever possible, to avoid having to take sides in a conflict that seems unlikely to offer much to Africa, mainly if it turns the continent into a new theater of proxy war. Africa’s Ukraine Dilemma.

 

A chasm between global challenges and the machinery meant to contend with them. Navigating a decade that promises to be as demanding and dangerous as this one, which will present old-fashioned geopolitical risks alongside growing global challenges, calls for a foreign policy that avoids the extremes of wanting to transform the world or ignoring it, working alone or with everyone. Policy For A World In Crisis.

 

Within the CCP elite, many resent Xi’s disruption of the traditional power distribution. China’s leader is facing internal dissent and an intense, widespread backlash. What to date is our most extensive article about present day China. Xi Jinping And Present-Day China.

 

Russian forces controlling Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have killed two staff at the facility and detained and abused dozens of others, the head of Ukraine's nuclear energy agency told AFP today. But there is more in our most detailed and well-researched article about the context of what is going on with Ukraine. As detailed, the world might get an olive branch, but only if the Ukrainians can fight back to the sea. Ukraine 2022.

 

Ukraine’s energy crisis differs dramatically from its European counterparts. In Europe, the problem is related to exorbitantly high prices. But in Ukraine, the crisis is shaped primarily by the battlefield, where energy infrastructure has been a major site of the fighting. 

 

Our article presents an overview of how Queen Elizabeth needed a new way to sustain the royal family’s central role in the British state. Independence movements were the natural outcome of this. Whereby also, King Charles III faces challenges as old colonial links go. The Limits Of Monarchy.

 

Ukraine’s rapid advances are ‘creating fissures’ for Russian forces, so Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posted an 11-minute-long voice message to the Telegram messaging app on Saturday, where he conceded the campaign was not going to plan. First of all, we explain the background, and why it came to this war, and then next, we can ask the question. Is Ukraine Going To Win This War?

 

A more stable order could rest on negotiation, not rules Washington should encourage its allies to avoid unnecessary quarrels with China. How To Build A Better Order.

 

The United States and other powerful outsiders should not forget their roles in prolonging Afghanistan’s suffering during the past four decades. If they do, they may very well repeat past mistakes. The Forces That Could Threaten The Taliban’s Control.

 

The U.S. military’s most promising capabilities to counter China will not be ready until the 2030s. Many argue that China is expected to start a war within the next five years that time Is running out. The Future War Between China And The US.

 

Yesterday, Russia bombed a dam in Zelenski's hometown, causing severe flooding. Also, yesterday the German Chancellor demonstrated the seriousness of the situation, who, after a recent telephone conversation, reported that there is no indication that Putin has changed his stance about wanting to slow down the war. Meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen is seen arriving in Kyiv today:

 

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said that war-torn Ukraine would have Europe's support for "as long as it takes" during yesterday's to Kyiv for talks on closer integration with the single market bloc. Why Support For Ukraine Will Withstand Russian Pressure.

 

Amid a battlefield rout and increasing pressure from Russian nationalists and influential war bloggers, Russian President Vladimir Putin finds himself under increasing pressure to escalate the conflict with an ever-more-threadbare military as the world waits to see how the country’s increasingly erratic president will respond to finding himself in the corner. Yesterday, we presented analyses of why support for Ukraine will withstand Russian pressure today. We explain what Putin’s next move in Ukraine will be. Mobilize, Retreat, Or Something In Between?

 

Europe's growth prospects for the remainder of the year are not good. In Q3, an energy crunch combined with high temperatures and drought disrupted power generation and drove electricity costs, hindering industrial activity. As temperatures fall later in the year, demand for natural gas will rise, potentially pushing prices even higher. The European Union and national governments are discussing countermeasures, such as mandatory cuts to electricity consumption and price caps for natural gas, but it's not clear they will succeed.

 

Russia on Tuesday told the UN that they could end up using nuclear weapons in response to “direct aggression” by western countries. Speaking last week, US president Joe Biden said any use by Putin of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Ukraine, for example, by exploding a low-yield, tactical nuclear warhead – would “change the face of war.” Nuclear Strike Aimed At Shock?

 

Through one of our investigations, we discovered a trump card of documents considered so harmful that they were classified until '2044' and only recently opened up under the Freedom of Information Act. It concerns three coup d'etats in the UK who wanted to establish a Nazi regime. We then decided to extend a more significant coherence from back to front and published parts one and two of six on September 5th. followed by parts three and four today. - To understand the larger context next need to look at the Anglo-German Fellowship and the Cliveden Set, leading us to the Rudolf Hess affair. The idea of a group of superbly well-connected, pro-German appeasers meeting regularly at Waldorf and Nancy Astor’s Thames-side mansion is pictured below. Hitler's Aristocrats Part Three.

As we have seen in parts one and two, Hitler actively pursued an influential and largely overlooked backdoor foreign policy approaching the royal families of Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Romania, and Germany. They were all looking to seize a more visible political role in their respective countries. In Britain, this included the Anglo-German Fellowship and the Cliveden Set, whereby it became seditious with Right Club’s plans for a coup d’état and as we will see underneath the coup d'etat conspiracy by Dr. Leigh Francis Howell Wynne Sackville de Montmorency Vaughan-Henry. Hitler's Aristocrats Part Four.

Today, Putin emboldened Xi; China violated Taiwanese airspace with 30 warplanes. Recently President Joe Biden said the US would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if it came under attack from China. Why Should Taiwan Be Seen As A Part Of China?

 

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has landed in an unenviable position. His country has the resources to inflict damage on Ukraine in perpetuity. But because the first phase of the war has been so costly for Russia and because Ukraine’s military is mounting such stiff resistance, Russia faces serious difficulty achieving anything meaningful on the battlefield without committing much more manpower than it currently has available. If Putin decides to mobilize, he will be altering the deal he’s made with the public and potentially destabilizing his regime. What Will The Consequences Of Mobilization Be?

 

In late March, Ukrainian diplomats introduced an innovative framework for a deal that could provide a pathway out of the war. And crucially, the proposal, which was leaked to the press following talks in Istanbul on March 29, has already received at least preliminary support from both sides. At the center of the proposed deal is a trade: Kyiv would renounce its ambitions to join NATO and embrace permanent neutrality in return for receiving security guarantees from both its Western partners and Russia. Belgian Lessons.

 

After months of buildup and numerous denials that any invasion was planned, Vladimir Putin announced on 24 February that he had launched a “special military operation” to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine. Meanwhile, Putin delivers speeches and discovers that he is speechless, or nearly so. This may have been the initial setback before the military setbacks that afflicted his army. It is not a psychological failure, then. It is a philosophical failure. A suitable language of analysis eludes him; therefore, lucidity eludes him. The fact is that most of today’s discussions over how to help Ukraine win on the battlefield, coerce Kyiv into concessions, or allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to save face have little in common with reality. How To Decrease The Risks Of Escalation.

 

One hundred days after Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine, the war has reshaped the world few could have predicted. The map of Europe is being redrawn, as countries move to wean themselves from Russian oil and gas. Although the Russian invasion has been slowed by Ukrainian defenses, the reality is that impunity remains on the march 100 days into the war. It’s time to make sure it is in retreat over the next 100. What The G7 Foreign Ministers Will Do.

 

Putin is counting on the world’s indifference, on the one hand blaming the West for its supposed threat to Russian security and condemning the United States for imposing sanctions while on the other hand reaffirming its principled support for the territorial integrity of sovereign states and calling for a negotiated resolution of what it calls “the Ukraine crisis.” Why Does China Neither Endorse Nor Condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin’s War?

 

Virtually overnight, the war in Ukraine has brought the post-Cold War era to a close, not just by ending Europe’s long era of peace, but by bringing basic questions of energy access back to the fore. A new era, marked by geopolitically driven energy insecurity and resource competition, is moving climate concerns down on the list of priorities. If there is a silver lining in any of this, it’s that a shift of focus back to energy security imperatives might not be the worst thing for the climate. The End Of Climate Policy.

 

Ukrainian troops are drained and exhausted. Russia is trying to create a fait accompli and make reality conform to its imperial ambitions through “Passportization” - the quick provision of Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens in Russian-occupied areas - and the forced introduction of Russian administrative structures in Ukrainian territory. Russian Army Would Have To Collapse.

 

Baltic leaders propose that NATO expand its footprint in the region at the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid in late June. If enacted, Baltic officials say, the upgrade in NATO forces could act as a more effective form of “deterrence by denial” against Putin preparing any plans to seize Baltic territory. After having seen U.S. intelligence on the impending Russian invasion borne out, Baltic nations are hoping that laggards like France and Germany will sign onto their plan. Russia’s Early Failures Doesn’t Make It Less Dangerous.

 

Yesterday the speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament made a vibrant plea for his country to be named a candidate for European Union membership, a move that would bring the war-torn nation closer to the EU without guaranteeing its admittance. What Candidate Status Would Mean.

 

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (pictured above) compared himself to Peter the Great, drawing parallels with the tsar who waged war on Sweden and said the campaign in Ukraine stems from Russia's 'fundamental values while drawing parallels between Peter's founding of St. Petersburg and his own government's annexation of territory saying: We will undoubtedly succeed in solving the tasks that we face. Putin says Russia aims to acquire new parts. Why It Is Too Soon For A Lasting Diplomatic Settlement.

When Vladimir Putin denies the reality of the Ukrainian state, he speaks the empire's familiar language. For five hundred years, European conquerors called the societies that they encountered "tribes," treating them as incapable of governing themselves. Several lessons have become apparent in the two decades that have seen the rise of Putin's world. Isolating Russia and refusing to deal with it, however appealing that may appear to some, is not an option. On the other hand, pursuing "resets" despite Moscow's Suez moment to achieve qualitative improvements in ties to Putin's Russia is a fruitless quest for the future Why Putin's Ukraine War Is An Inflection Point For The West.

According to the Russian constitution, this is Putin’s last term in office, and he is obliged to step down in 2024, but will he? And what drives Putin? Several lessons have become clear in the two decades that have seen the rise of Putin. Putin's Challenge To The West.

 

The evening picture underneath was taken on Russian National day 12 June 2022. Whereby as we will see in the following article the reality is that Russia can’t avoid trying to reassert power, and the West can’t avoid trying to resist. But in the end, Russia can’t win. Russia was and remains a country of constant crises and constant wars, while the primary motivation to think about the future stemmed from the economic crises of 1998 and 2008–2009. Putin’s strategy has enabled Russia to reappear on the world stage in unanticipated ways that will continue to challenge the world. Whereby It is also important to remember that the Kremlin does not speak for all Russian citizens.The Putin Challenge.

Putin has repeatedly accused Ukraine of occupying ancestral Russian lands and blamed the early Bolsheviks for bungling the border between the Russian and Ukrainian Soviet republics. Mutual hostility will not subside because there are conflicting geopolitical interests, and both sides are raising the stakes. The Why Of The Road To War.

 

Analysts today fear that Ukraine could be losing the upper hand in the Donbas, leaving it vulnerable to being wholly seized by Russia. As reported widely the last bridge to the city of Sievierodonetsk fell as street battles raged, and some Western officials questioned Ukraine’s ability to keep resisting the Russian onslaught and if we are looking at a frozen conflict that could last a long time. Today US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is poised to lead a working group of nearly 50 countries to discuss the crisis. Ukraine receives only 10% of the weapons that it requested from the West, says Defence Min. Why Kyiv Needs An Immediate Solution.

 

Pictured below, taking weeks to organize, the leaders of  Germany, France, and Italy, arrived in Kyiv today. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops holed up alongside civilians in a Sievierodonetsk chemical plant ignored a Russian ultimatum to lay down their arms, Why Ukraine Reached A Pivotal Moment.

 

As we will show that the Russia sanctions don’t have the desired effect shouldn’t be a surprise, it is quite unrealistic to expect that economic sanctions against a great power-and that would be Russia today-will substantially deter a policy course that the leadership has set upon. Why Do Russian Sanctions Persist As A Tool Of Diplomacy?

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared the end of "the era of the unipolar world" in a combative speech that lambasted Western countries at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. Meanwhile, the UK will not yield to 'Ukraine fatigue, says PM on return from Kyiv. The latter referred to potential fatigue which is what our today's article is about. Why Putin's Path To Negotiate Lies Through Battleground Defeats.

 

Taiwan was never involved with the Chinese tributary system; neither were the Chinese to any significant degree living in Taiwan until the Dutch imported them as laborers. But if the intractable issues could spark a hot war between the United States and China, Taiwan is at the top of the list. Geopolitical Consequences Of Taiwan War.

 

 

Weaponed with a map showing the proposed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Russian artillery doctrines are frozen in time but part of a tradition emphasizing great firepower and technological innovation that is centuries-old and informed by experience in Russia’s recent wars. The Russian Army Is Facing A Long, Grim Fight.

 

The Glastonbury festival may be little known by attendees like Greta Thunberg or today's Diana Ross; for many true believers it involves the Celtic revival and the H.Grail. The Hidden History Of The Glastonbury Festival.

 

This week's Nato summit in Madrid comes at a critical time in the alliance's 73-year history. On the eve of the summit in Madrid, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced what he called "a fundamental shift in the alliance's deterrence and defense", strengthening its defenses on its eastern borders and raising its rapid response force to more than 300,000 troops. A Global Cold War.

 

Western allies vowed on Tuesday (28 June) to boost Nato’s defenses and back Ukraine to the end as Moscow demanded Kyiv’s surrender. And clearly, Russia’s assault on Ukraine has shaken the Western public out of their complacency. A Need To Build A Better World Order.

 

Pictured below the EU flag is been brought to the plenary hall of Ukraine's parliament. To permanently stay adjacent to the Ukraine flag in front.

 

 

According to Putin, the war could last long. Following the NATO meeting on June 30, they would stick with Ukraine as long as it takes. The Key To Victory In Ukraine.

 

Evidenced by the Russian book market already since 2015 prepared Russians for a full-scale war against Ukraine, NATO, and the West, and promoted Stalinism and nazism, and how this was ignored by the West.

 

The invasion of Ukraine has not only accelerated that country’s departure from Russia’s sphere of influence, it also seems to have other post-Soviet countries warily eyeing the exit. This Is Not A Victory.

 

Putin is overconfident. He has surrounded himself with yes men, and that’s one problem when it comes to convincing him the cost for Russia is too high. The other problem is that he views his soldiers as just another massive horde of serfs that can be sacrificed. Major losses don’t deter him, not yet, anyway. In order to be deterred, he needs to have some empathy for his own people. He Has None.

 

 

The road to a cease-fire in Ukraine is full of pitfalls. There are Ukraine’s Implausible theories of victory and the fantasy of Russian defeat. The Case For Diplomacy.

 

European Union leaders have expressed interest in investing in Libyan energy infrastructure to reduce dependence on Russian gas. However, Wagner’s presence positions the Kremlin as a spoiler in these future calculations. Why Libya Could Be Putin’s, Trump Card.

 

Putin’s persistent implicit threats of nuclear escalation are designed to leverage Western fears of the war in Ukraine. Such worries have damaged, delaying the delivery of offensive weapons to Ukraine. Putin is not facing the threat of being cornered in Ukraine. The domestic cohorts Putin faces in this war Putin is not facing the threat of being cornered in Ukraine. Western Fears Of Putin.

Underneath a Ukrainian grain field, pierced by thousands of Russian artillery shells. Russian war on Ukraine is an attempt to erase the whole nation.

 

Since proposals for a no-fly zone failed, the desire to do more for Ukraine has struggled to crystallize around a prudent and realistic plan. To mitigate risks, NATO should start small by focusing on expertise more than numbers. Russia will be loath to start an unwinnable war with NATO over a few hundred more volunteers fighting for Ukraine - even if organized more purposefully by NATO governments. Explaining How Far NATO Can Go.

 

Having initially had the same faith as Eastern European countries, the Soviet Red Army stayed on Austrian soil until 1955. But in contrast to Eastern European countries, the Red Army withdrew, and Austria regained its independence—but on one condition imposed by the Kremlin: that the country remains strictly neutral. Can Austria Stay Neutral?

 

Today, both Russian and Western scholars, each in their own way (although an exception could be made about the prevention of grain supply from Ukraine to Germany and Austria-Hungary), see a replay of the current Ukraine/Russian war, with what happened with the British and Russian interplay during the 1917-18 period. Revisiting The Ambassador-Lockhart Plot Part One.

 

While in the West, the cold war is seen as having started shortly after the Second World War, this is not the case in Russia. For example, those who want to join intelligence agencies like the SVR and GRU early on in their training are thought the betrayal of the West (and hence the cold war) started in 1917. Revisiting The Ambassador-Lockhart Plot Part Two.

 

On 20 July, Olena Zelenskyy mother of two children, in a rare emotional but very well versed appeal, addressed the US Congress:

 

In Ukraine, Washington and its allies have openly provided the Ukrainian military with heavy weapons, military training outside Ukraine, and intelligence sharing to identify targets. Russia, for its part, has not targeted weapons convoys headed into Ukraine while they are still on NATO territory. Nor has Russia disrupted the steady flow of U.S. and allied political leaders into Kyiv, all of whom must travel through a country at war. This kind of restraint would have been unthinkable in World War II but was typical of the Cold War. What If The War In Ukraine Spins Out Of Control?

 

During Biden’s visit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman explained that his agreement with the U.S. president to produce more oil was contingent on market conditions and agreement by OPEC+ members. In doing so, the crown prince implied that ties to the United States do not trump his relationship with Russia. Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin’s trip to the Middle East Shows weakness, not strength. Whose Middle East?

 

 

The head of MI6 (British spy agency) envisaged a new configuration of Russian intelligence under British guidance to better interact with the Allies. Conveniently the ‘Anglo-French Convention’established both the presence and the principle behind the use of unofficial agents. As such, the British Cabinet decided to dispatch Robert Bruce Lockhart to Petrograd. Whereby the soviets, in turn, appointed Maxim Litvinov the provisional plenipotentiary in the UK. Revisiting The Ambassador-Lockhart Plot Part Three.

As Russia plays hardball, we are staring down a worrisome energy future. For months, sky-high natural gas and oil prices have wreaked havoc worldwide. Keeping the lights on and the electricity going in parts of the world that are lower income and don’t have stable electricity grids, to begin with. What Next With The World Energy Situation.

 

In 1918, it seemed like a good idea to invade Russia, defeat the Red Army, stage a coup in Moscow, and assassinate party boss Vladimir Ilych Lenin. An Allied-friendly dictator would then be installed to get Russia back into the World War against the Central powers to back up the coup; allied military forces invaded Murmansk and Archangel in North Russia, just below the Arctic Circle, and seized their port and railroad facilities. The local soviets in those cities feared invasion from Germans in neighboring Finland and welcomed the Allied landings. The cities’ rail lines would have allowed the Allied invaders to push southward to Petrograd and Moscow. Revisiting The Ambassador-Lockhart Plot Part Four.

 

The world’s agricultural and food systems face a perfect storm. We need to address the larger-scale, longer-term challenges that leave the world increasingly vulnerable to food crises precipitated by a wide range of shocks - Time For New Trade Agreements.

Ukrainian forces launch a counteroffensive in Kherson and, most important can target bridges leading into Kherson:

If Kyiv were to cede significant portions of territory to Russia, things would get only more dysfunctional. For the west, moving the Russian border closer to Eastern Europe would not end the war; it would only create the pretext for the next. The closer Russia is to the western Ukrainian border, the more it must be assumed that Russia would choose to move farther still. True or not, it must be considered. The Ukraine/Russia War.

 

 

The persistent inability of states and markets to resolve concerns about labor, equity, environmental degradation, and the corporate abuse of power. With calls for "deglobalization" advancing, the arrangement could encourage a new, more sustainable model of globalization, one that doesn't sacrifice the common good on the altar of the market. Fighting Climate Change Through Trade.

Since the war in Ukraine began, Putin’s rapidly growing security state seems closer to its Stalinist predecessor. The militarization of the Federal Security Service (FSB), previously the KGB, its recruitment camps, and increasingly open and brutal tactics suggest that Putin is looking more closely at the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD). A totalitarian state forged this agency in wartime. The Kremlin is priming the country for the prolonged war. Russias Fifth Service.

 

Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov (who officials say was working for what previously was called the KGB, now the Federal Security Service FSB) was charged over accusations that he orchestrated a yearslong effort to puppeteer political groups in Florida, Georgia, and California to sow discord in the US spread pro-Russia propaganda and meddling in American elections.

There was talk that Russia is opening the Black Sea for Ukrainian ships and, in exchange, restrictions on Russian grain exports are being lifted, yet the agreement won’t last long.

 

When the Chinese Communist Party meets, Xi will be coronated as the “People’s Leader” - a title held only by Mao Zedong and his successor, Hua Guofeng. A strengthened Xi is not going to be more moderate. He will have less to prove to his domestic audience. But he will have all the power and the opportunity he needs to pursue his “China Dream.” Xi Unleased.

The following article is about US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who recently went to Ukraine, met with Zelenski, and is now going to Taiwan. China, however, is protesting the visit and today is holding live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait with live ammunition. President Biden took a strong stance stating the USA would intervene with the military to defend Taiwan against China's dramatically increasing military activity. Whereby he changed his course with the Biden administration working behind the scenes to convince Pelosi of traveling to Taiwan to not insult China. What Is Happening Here?

The Ukrainian military has conceded that Russian forces have been able to make small gains near the Donetsk towns of Soledar and Vershyna in eastern Ukraine. Thus war appears static, but it can change at any moment. When battles become static, changing the shape of the playing field becomes essential. The Americans and Russians are engaged in flanking maneuvers that could change the shape of the battlefield. This Will Put One Side At A Disadvantage.

 

The invasion of Ukraine caught many analysts of Russia off guard. Russian President Vladimir Putin had long been thought of as rough, tough, and brutal - but also calculating and cautious. The wild and reckless Ukrainian adventure seemed out of character. But Putin’s personal history reveals that his decision to go to war is entirely in character - and that he will likely continue it indefinitely. Convicted For The Usurpation Of Power. 

The world is witnessing its first economic war of the modern era. The war in Ukraine, spiraling inflation, and the climate emergency are affecting food security. The rules are undefined, and the global economy is complex. The Global Effects Going Forward.

So far as can be seen on the following map, in one day in the South, Ukraine has taken more territory than Russia took in the first five weeks of the Battle of Donbas:

The looming Battle of Kherson is an event of unprecedented international importance. The outcome of this battle will shape the fate of Ukraine and the course of the war. A Russian victory could pave the way for the conquest of Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline and the complete subjugation of the country. If Ukraine is victorious, it may mark the beginning of the end for Vladimir Putin’s dreams of a new Russian Empire. Putin’s Entire Ukraine Invasion Hinges On The Coming Battle Of Kherson

As the old order disintegrates and the new one struggles to be born, the advantage lies with states that clearly understand the balance of forces and conceive of a future cooperative order that serves the common good. Nor is the rapidly shifting balance of power likely to provide the basis for a stable order for some time. Instead, the authorities will probably muddle along from crisis to crisis as their dissatisfaction with the international system and with one another grows, in the form of motion without movement. Nobody Wants The Current World Order.

Taiwan is a central point in the first island chain near China:

 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan sparked outrage in China, which responded by flexing its muscles through some not-at-all subtle military exercises. The two critical questions are why Pelosi went to the island first and why Beijing cared enough to deploy its fleet. China Could Invade Taiwan.

The Kremlin has prepared to confront the West and its socio-economic model for decades. Yet the need to recruit foreign troops indicates a failure of Russian commanders, a weakness in training and motivating troops, and logistical problems. Europe is a great power if it sticks together militarily and economically. It is doing that now, but old tensions will emerge as fear of Russia dissipates. China is still a great power, albeit with an untested military and a troubled economy. When The Economic Recovery Comes.

On February 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin delivered a 56-minute televised national address where he contested Ukrainian statehood and argued that the government in Kyiv owes its territory today to the supposed generosity of the Bolsheviks, notably Vladimir Lenin. Historian Victoria Smolkin assesses Putin’s claim that modern-day Ukraine is a ‘gift’ from the Bolsheviks. Fantasy Is Not History.

 

In November, the global population is expected to reach 8 billion before climbing to 9.7 billion in 2050. India will also soon surpass China as the most populous country. Global population growth, however, is slowing. Two-thirds of the population shows lifetime fertility below the 2.1 mark per woman needed to support population growth. That said, longer life spans also contribute to global population growth. There are roughly 771 million people over 65, triple the number in 1980. This figure is expected to grow in the years ahead, particularly in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America.

The Rajapaksas practically owned Sri Lanka:

 

And then happened  this:

China won Sri Lanka’s earlier trust because of its willingness to lend money to countries shunned by the international community for their poor human rights records. Indeed, their relationship strengthened after allegations emerged in Sri Lanka of state-sponsored human rights abuses. China’s Motivations.

 

How Russia is plundering gold in Sudan to boost Putin's war effort in Ukraine. The group has been repeatedly accused of war crimes and human rights abuses. Despite its global reach, much of the group's inner workings have remained a secret to the outside world - Putin's Private Army.

 

The following map shows how human actions are affecting outbreak risks, sometimes in surprising places, which could be a valuable tool in preventing the next pandemic.

 

Managing Soviet and later Russian threats did not have to come at the expense of engagement with the republics. Washington could have pur Russia’s objectives at the same time, adapting to the Soviet Union’s decline while also hedging against future Russian irredentism by supporting self-determination in the emerging post-Soviet states. Russia’s Security Concerns And Allay Its Anxieties.

Ein Bild, das Person, drinnen, Getränk, trinkend enthält.

Automatisch generierte Beschreibung

 

Tokyo has recently begun to focus on its military capabilities

 

 

We simply do not know whether China will attack Taiwan in this decade. But it is a reasonable presumption that Beijing is much more likely to strike if it concludes it would succeed. Significant factors indicate that it may judge this decade to be the most propitious one. Facing A Window Of Vulnerability Over Taiwan.

Ein Bild, das Person, drinnen, Boden, stehend enthält.

Automatisch generierte Beschreibung

 

Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, the eldest son of Alexander III's next-youngest brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, controversially assumed the role of head of the Imperial Family in 1924. In an attempt to counter Kirill’s claim, on July 23, 1922, the makeshift Assembly of the Land was hastily convened in the Priyamursk region near Vladivostok by General Mikhail Diterikhs of the White Army, at which Kirill’s uncle, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, was nominated, in his absence, as emperor. Who Is The Tsar Of Russia.

 

Human history reveals that geographical characteristics and population diversity, formed partly during the migration of Homo sapiens from Africa tens of thousands of years ago, are predominantly the deepest factors behind global inequalities, while cultural and institutional adaptation has often dictated the speed at which development progressed in societies across the globe. In some regions, growth-enhancing geography and diversity led to the rapid adaptation of cultural traits and institutional features to their surroundings, and the acceleration of technological progress. Centuries later, this process triggered an outburst of demand for human capital, a sudden drop in birth rates, and thus an earlier transition to the modern era of growth. The New Out Of Africa Theory.

 

It is virtually impossible to understand the history of humankind without grasping the contributions of these forces to the progression of the human species – the evolution of the human brain, the two monumental revolutions (the Neolithic and the Industrial), the growth of human capital investment and the Demographic Transition, the major trends that made us the dominant species on Planet Earth. These undercurrents provide a unifying conceptual framework, a clear axis from which to understand this journey. The Mystery Of Inequality.

 

Already before Putin was delivering today's May 9 Victory Day speech, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence predicted that the only way Russia’s war in Ukraine ends is with Russian President Vladimir Putin dead, Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s top military spy, said Monday. Leaving him away to retreat is one of the strategies, but it is almost unrealistic, Budanov said when asked if Putin could end this war alive. Whereby Putin’s speech can safely say to be revisionist history that took the form of disinformation. Putin's Victory Speech.

 

At the inner layer, deeper factors rooted in geography and the distant past often underpinned the emergence of growth-enhancing cultural characteristics and political institutions in some regions of the world and growth-hindering ones in others. Deep-Rooted Factors.

 

Despite the long shadow of history, the fate of nations has not been carved in stone. As the great cogs that have governed the journey of humanity continue to turn, measures that enhance future orientation, education, and innovation, along with gender equality, pluralism, and respect for difference, hold the key to universal prosperity. Trade, Colonialism And Uneven Development.

 

At the heart of the promise made in the UN Charter was the idea that countries must work together to avoid war. If armed conflict did break out, they would send forces to try to keep the peace, and the world would ensure abuses were prosecuted - both for the sake of justice and to deter future crimes. There have also been significant signs of change at the UN recently. The General Assembly - the body of all 193 UN members - condemned the invasion and voted to remove Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. China voted against the move, and India abstained - between them, they represent a third of the world's population. And while the decision doesn't affect what the Security Council does or does not do, the moral signal from more than two-thirds of UN members was apparent. Ukraine And The Search For Justice.

 

The Middle East played a major role in World War I, and, conversely, the war was important in shaping the development of the modern Middle East. The French and the British sent armies and agents into the Middle East, to foment revolts in the Arabian Peninsula and to seize Iraq, Syria, and Palestine. In 1916, French and British diplomats secretly reached the Sykes-Picot agreement, carving up the Middle East into spheres of influence for their respective countries. That agreement was superseded by another which established a mandate system of French and British control, sanctioned by the new League of Nations. The Making Of The Middle East.

The Arab Revolt of 1916–1918 also saw the development of guerrilla tactics and strategies of modern desert warfare. And the political intrigues surrounding the revolt and its aftermath were as significant as the fighting, for Great Britain and France’s myopic attempts at nation-building planted the seeds of the troubles that plague the region to this day: wars, authoritarian governments, coups, the rise of militant Islam, and the enduring conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The Making Of The Modern Middle East Part 2.

 

In 1916 the British Army sent Lawrence to meet the Amir Feisal whose tribesmen had been attempting to besiege Medina. Feisal's men were keen fighters but hopelessly ill-disciplined. Lawrence and his Arab followers captured Aqaba from the rear after defeating a whole Turkish battalion. As the revolt became more successful, more and more Arab tribesmen joined it. The ‘Arab’ And The Syrian Question.

 

Dating back to between the 3rd century BCE and the 1st century CE, the Dead Sea Scrolls are considered one of the most important finds in the history of archaeology, and have great historical, religious, and linguistic significance because they include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books later included in the biblical canons, along with deuterocanonical and extra-biblical manuscripts which preserve evidence of the diversity of religious thought in late Second Temple Judaism, Researching Christianity.

 

Moscow’s desired strategic outcome is a weakened United States immersed in political dysfunction, torn by racial, religious, ethnic, and other social tensions, struggling economically, bogged down in external conflicts, and alienated from its allies. A distracted America, forced to deal with domestic and international problems, is far less likely to interfere with Putin’s strategic ambitions. Russia Tests "World's Most Powerful" Missile. Moscow's Suez Moment.

 

On 28 February 2022, Medscape again asked, "Acupuncture for Pain Control Just an Elaborate Placebo?" It is said that Chairman Mao himself preferred Western medicine. His physician quotes him, saying, “Even though I believe we should promote Chinese medicine, I do not believe in it. I do not take Chinese medicine.” Enter current President Xi Jinping.

 

Today, the dangers of utopianism are denied. It is believed there is nothing to stop humans from remaking themselves and the world in which they live. This fantasy lies behind many aspects of contemporary culture, and in these circumstances, it is dystopian. How do we know when a project is unrealizable? How Utopianism Becomes Real-Life Part Two.

 

China doesn’t want Russia to win because a victorious Russia would likely become too assertive to handle, while a defeated, weakened, isolated Russia would have no choice but become a docile strategic ally of China, granting access to the natural resources of Siberia in the process. Given that China seems to have been aware of the Russian plans to invade Ukraine from the very beginning and encouraged Russia to do so, only to roll back its support once the war started, this all suggests that China may have been betting on a Russian defeat all along. Major Case Study: The Mongolia Factor.

 

During the Russian Civil War General, Wrangel joined the Whites - but only after the Bolsheviks had sought to kill his family. He was arguably the most successful of all the White commanders and it is suggested that might he have prevailed over the Bolsheviks had he been installed earlier. Unable to kill the Black Baron (as had been tried) in an accident, Stalin turned to the secret Soviet tools of Laboratory One. The Murder Of General Wrangel An Equally Famous Ballerina.

 

 

It is clear that Russia has developed a deep understanding of how Americans think, what motivates them, their interests, and how open and democratic societies work. This enables Russia to pursue its exceptionally well-defined targeting strategy against the United States. Hence Russian intelligence and security services are extraordinarily well prepared to counter U.S. interests and advance Russia’s. Exposure To Russian Intelligence Services.

 

In 2013, Putin initiated steps to move Russia in the direction of a wartime footing. He would not be caught asleep at the wheel ignoring his General Staff’s forecasts of a war with Russia’s archrival, the United States, the way Stalin did with Hitler. A “New” War, Twenty Years In The Making.

 

 

 

The concern is that Russia is possibly preparing to expand war because Moscow has concluded that Washington seeks its destruction. And while the following will have no remediate consequences it also might contain a warning Russian plane violated Sweden's airspace as the NATO application looms. Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin has already moved nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles into the field. The Atomic Option.

 

The Russians can’t avoid trying to reassert power, and the United States can’t avoid trying to resist. But in the end, Russia can’t win. Its deep internal problems, massively declining population, and poor infrastructure ultimately make Russia’s long-term survival prospects bleak. Geostrategy Of Russia.

 

Ukrainians assert their nation’s existence through simple acts of solidarity. They are not resisting Russia because of some absence or some difference, because they are not Russians or opposed to Russians. What is to be resisted is elemental: the threat of national extinction represented by Russian colonialism, a war of destruction expressly designed to resolve “the Ukrainian question.” Ukrainians know that there is not a question to be answered, only a life to be lived and, if need be, to be risked. They resist because they know who they are. Revealing Putin’s Inconsistencies While Striving For A New Empire.

 

Russia has been preparing to confront the West since the early 2000s. And now, the world is witnessing its first economic world war of the modern era as sanctions pile on Russia in response to its attack on Ukraine. And while the besieged Ukrainian government continues to request that the West set up a no-fly zone over the country. While many leaders fear that this action may lead to a broader conflict, inaction will ultimately allow Putin to use nuclear blackmail against both Ukraine and the West. Meanwhile, Russia says, similar to Ukraine, Poland is 'next in line for denazification.' Meanwhile, Russians Are Fleeing Their Country In Doves.

 

Beyond Europe, the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is being felt most keenly 5,000 miles away, on the island of Taiwan. Many Taiwanese worries that they might be the next to suffer an invasion by a more powerful neighbor. Those fears are not unreasonable. At the same time, Ukraine and Taiwan differ in many ways; as relatively young democracies living alongside larger authoritarian neighbors with long-standing designs on their territory, the two face strikingly similar strategic predicaments. From Ukraine To Taiwan.

 

 When Yeltsin told Putin that he would make him acting president on the last day of the year, Putin a lieutenant colonel in the FSB, addressed officials of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) that “The task of infiltrating the highest level of government is accomplished”, Since then, Putin has been dubbed "the man without a face." Today, however, he is the "only face" sitting atop an anonymous security bureaucracy. Yet as we show Putin's clandestine war in Ukraine was hidden even from his secret agents. For example, leaders of the FSB branch responsible for providing intelligence to the Kremlin about the political situation in Ukraine did not believe that an invasion would take place. Infiltrating The Highest Level Of Government.

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has created a strategic predicament for his country’s response to the Russian war on Ukraine. US intelligence chiefs expressed optimism that China would make no moves in the short term. Director of US intelligence Avril Haines surmised that the Ukraine war might give China “less confidence” in a military outcome should Beijing invade Taiwan. And If Russia doesn’t declare war and mobilize, the stalemate will continue for a while. On the other hand, if Russia intensifies its ground assault, That would bring thousands more soldiers and a whole lot more ammunition to the fight. Xi Jinping's Strategic Predicament And The View From Washington.

 

By invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin will destroy the lives of people far from the battlefield and on a scale that even he may regret. The war is battering a global food system weakened by covid-19, climate change, and an energy shock. Initial attempts are made to put advanced anti-ship missiles in the hands of Ukrainian fighters to help defeat Russia’s naval blockade. But several issues are keeping Ukraine from receiving the rockets. The War About Food Supplies.

 

On 20 May, during a major St Petersburg concert, thousands of Russians chant 'fuck the war'.

 

Russian military incompetence has been startling; planners shouldn’t leap to conclusions. Russian forces could not capture Kyiv, but they have been able to seize tens of thousands of square miles of territory along Ukraine’s eastern border - at least for now. To prepare NATO to contend with this threat over the long term requires a frank admission of Russia’s strategic realities in the alliance’s new strategic concept, adopted on 28, 29, and 30 June 2022. Yet while NATO leaders have condemned Russian aggression, the rhetoric falls short of formally declaring Russia as a long-term strategic threat to the alliance. How Serious A Treat Is Putin.

 

Given the increasing alignment between Russia and China, the United States cannot rule out that Russia would offer significant assistance to China during a conflict over Taiwan, including arms, energy, food, and intelligence. The unfolding war in Ukraine offers important lessons for China, Taiwan, and the United States. Whichever side adapts more deftly will do much to determine whether deterrence holds or a conflict that would fundamentally alter the world arrives. The Wargame.

 

In a surprise visit to Kyiv on 22 May, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that only Ukraine should decide on any terms it pursues peace with Moscow. He called for the complete removal of all Russian troops in Ukraine, breaking with European leaders who have suggested the partly-occupied country should accede to some of its attacker’s demands. Understanding Putin's Worldview Part One.

 

As an Orthodox theocracy, Russia initially considered her growing size and strength to serve a divine purpose. A critical juncture took place in 2020 when Russian constitutional changes extended Putin’s term in office until 2026. This introduced a mod­ified version of Orthodoxy-Auto­cracy-Nationality, drawn up in 1833 under Emperor Nicholas I. manner. Understanding Putin's Worldview Part Two.

 

Since the annexation of Crimea and today the wider Ukraine war, Putin has invoked the concepts of a “divided people” and “protecting compatriots abroad.” The central argument is that, since the Soviet collapse, there has been a mismatch between Russia’s state borders and its national or ethnic borders. This is both a historical injustice and a threat to Russia’s security. There is no doubt that we can draw strength from our past. But even the most glorious history is not enough to ensure a better life. Today’s generations of Russians must reinforce this grandeur through their acts. Understanding Putin’s Worldview Part Three.

 

Putin has turned everything upside down. He has destroyed all the achievements of recent decades, including his own. He has accomplished the exact opposite of his stated goals: instead of demilitarizing Ukraine, he has caused the country to arm as never before; instead of keeping NATO away, he has brought it right up to Russia’s borders. Trying to impose his version of the nation’s history, he deprived it of its history. And by depriving it of history, he amputated the future. Why The War In Ukraine Is Shifting.

 

We show what will happen if Putin wins this war or when he loses. We also expose Granny Anya as a character from the Kremlin’s world of paradoxes, a world in which history itself has been turned inside out. The Re-Invention Of History And National Identity.

 

The role of NATO, the trans-Atlantic military alliance founded in 1949 specifically to counter the Soviet Empire in Europe, has been an evolving discussion since the breakup of the USSR. But the decision to accept former members of the Warsaw Pact, the defensive alliance which included the USSR and several eastern European countries, is subject to revisionist history. This perpetuated a myth that Nato promised not to expand eastwards after the Soviet Union dissolved. Putin’s Revisionist Worldview Part One.

The reason Putin started the current war is that he wanted to exclude the possibility that Ukraine would be able to join NATO (which, if so, would take several years for Ukraine to even be able to fulfill the minimum requirements for that) whereby now as a reaction to Russia invading Ukraine Sweden and Finland two countries that 'do' meet the 'immediate' requirements to join NATO whereby Finland has a much wider border with Russia than Ukraine. We explain why Putin sees the USA as its archenemy. Understanding Putin’s Revisionist Worldview Part Two.

 

 

Finland and Sweden to receive enhanced access to NATO intel over Ukraine, and NATO is no longer bound by past commitments to hold back from deploying its forces in eastern Europe, the US-led alliance’s deputy secretary-general Dan Mircea Geoană said on 29 May, 2022. Moscow itself has “voided of any content” of the Nato-Russia Founding Act by attacking Ukraine and halting dialogue with the alliance, Geoană told AFP. Understanding Putin’s Revisionist Worldview Part Three.

Due to the Ukraine crisis spy agencies currently are revealing intelligence info what they would not do in normal times. Whereby to spy or not to spy has always been a question. Spies naturally prefer surveilling to attacking. Their job is acquiring information that yields an advantage. Whether it comes from a human or inside a computer network, access to valuable information is hard-won and fiercely guarded. Spies will always elect to keep listening rather than lose a collection stream when in doubt. Intelligence-military frictions are especially salient in cyberspace today because intelligence is integral to effective offensive cyber operations. Cyberspace also raises new questions about who counts as a decision-maker - and how the Intelligence Community should interact with them. Meet The New World Today’s Spy Agencies Part Three.

 

A new brand of diplomacy is taking hold in Beijing, and its chief architects have a suitably fierce nickname to match their aggressive style; they are the wolf warriors. It’s a phrase that is now used widely in Chinese state-run media and Western publications, and it was made clear that its proponents have the full support of the country’s top diplomat. But “Wolf Warrior” is the title of a series of patriotic action films in China, featuring Rambo-like protagonists who fight enemies at home and abroad to defend Chinese interests. How The Movie Industry Became Chineses Diplomacy.

 

Sony and Walt Disney Company would learn how easy it was to cut a single scene or line of dialogue from a movie to get approval from Chinese censors, but this was a 130-minute humanization of a Chinese state enemy and an assault on its most sensitive political issue. Disney's chief executive Michael Eisner's mind was racing with the implications it might spell for Disney’s plans in China, but the former secretary of state Henry Kissinger remained unfazed by the whole thing. Granted, Kissinger had negotiated Nixon’s meeting with Mao Zedong in 1972, a détente that reorganized the world order. Given China’s economic growth and the political power it had accrued since Nixon and Mao shook hands in Beijing, it was fitting that, twenty-four years later, he would be called in to save Mickey Mouse. How The Movie Industry Became Chineses Diplomacy Part Two.

 

In Oct. 2019, Universal Beijing Resort announced the creative vision behind its widely anticipated theme park, Universal Studios Beijing.  The New Themed Lands will include Kung Fu Panda. How The Movie Industry Became Chineses Diplomacy Part Three.

“The Eight Hundred,” a film released last year that follows Chinese soldiers protecting a warehouse from the Japanese army in 1937 Shanghai, brought in $472 million in revenue, making it the world’s second-highest-grossing film of 2020. Between the lines: “It’s not as explicit as Beijing handing out orders,” writes Amanda Morrison for Foreign Policy. Instead, the government has shifted its approach from direct intervention to indirect incentivization by shaping the economic conditions of the film industry to favor patriotic cinema. How The Movie Industry Became Chineses Diplomacy Part Four.

 

The version of history recorded in most American history textbooks and commonly repeated today is that the decision to drop bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August was justified to avoid further American casualties. But Truman could have waited, even for just a few weeks, and that might have saved the lives of over 200,000 Japanese people. It might have even delayed the start of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race that followed. A Candid Look At The Why Two Atomic Bombs.

 

 

It might seem obvious that on the eve of war, a German expedition traveling to Tibet, sponsored by Himmler, might be interested in plotting against the enemies of the Reich. However, Schäfer and Beger always denied that their work was anything other than scientific. The evidence suggests otherwise. Schäfer went behind the back of the British by illegally crossing into Tibet and negotiating with the Tering Raja, who disliked the British. As war became certain, Schäfer realized that his personal friendships with the Tibetan regent and Lhasa nobility could be of strategic value. The expedition became aware that some Tibetans were very hostile to the British; the Regent even asked if Schäfer could supply him with rifles, a request that was rejected. However, by 1940, that request had been reconsidered. In a letter on 12 January 1940, he wrote: 'The political group has to be equipped with machinery, guns and 200 military firearms that I promised to the regent of Tibet'. So, either Schäfer dissembled even to his own colleagues, or he contacted the Regent again after September. Either way, it is a damning statement. Having previously presented in the context of China we now describe The Actual History Behind The Seven Years In Tibet With Brad Pitt.

Having earlier taken a deep dive into Russian history which included an extensive article detailing why Putin claims that most of Ukraine “was given” to Russia, it was a recent remark by chief General Nick Carter (who in spite of having sprained her back was received by the Queen on 17 Nov.) that made us decide to take a close look at the dynamics of the Cold War and the making of Putin. Putin And The Cold War Part Two.

 

 

Notwithstanding the fact that the rules-based order established in the post-World War II period is enshrined in a wide array of UN laws and conventions, as the following chapters reveal, the challenge China is delivering to both the rules-based order and the UN system is evident. And framed this way, the rest of the world also has a much clearer stake in the outcome. China The Pandemic And Sovereignty.

China’s BRI and efforts to transform norms and values in international institutions reflect a global challenge that necessitates a global response. The breadth and depth of China’s engagement with the world’s developing economies, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, provide it with fertile ground for its values, technologies, and policy preferences to take hold, and a strong and consistent base of support for policies in other areas, such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong. While China may claim reservoirs of elite support in some developing economies, however, polls suggest that the majority of citizens in many developing economies favor Japanese, EU, or US leadership over that of China. China's Pursuit Of Greatness.

 

 

 

Leaked documents show Xi Jinping helped direct the forcible assimilation of China’s Uighurs and other minorities. Whereby China is also developing advanced weapons, leading U.S. officials to push for the first nuclear talks between the two countries. In pursuing their vision, China’s leaders operate from their own distinctive playbook that reflects their domestic governance model: a highly centralized Party-state that possesses the ability to mobilize resources from the public and private sectors, to deploy those resources across multiple domains, to control the content and flow of information, to penetrate societies and economies globally, and to leverage the power of the country’s vast market, as well as it's military. China's Pursuit Of Greatness Part Two And Conclusion.

 

 

 

While on the eve of global war in 1914, the world was no stranger to warfare. It was also no stranger to the idea that inter-state conflict should be prevented. Before July 1914, it was generally acknowledged that a country could remain neutral as long as its government maintained a good relationship with the belligerents. That is to say, neutrality was sustainable as long as the country was not invaded (when it automatically became a belligerent) and as long as any violation of the legal and political requirements of neutral states in time of war was policed by the neutral government and was validated by the belligerents. But that is not what happened and is one of the reasons why due to the development of the First World War, we better understand what led to the Second World War. In the Summer of 1918, the world also experienced a great pandemic.  

Revisiting The First World War.

 

The total global tragedy that evolved between 1914 and 1918 created an international environment of unsettledness that reverberates to our present. As such, the First World War is not ancient history but very much part of our collective living past. Revisiting The First World War Part Two.

 

An unclassified U.S. intelligence document details some of the intelligence findings, including the positioning of what officials say could eventually be 100 battalion tactical groups, as well as heavy armor, artillery, and other equipment. Whereby Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “We do know that he’s putting in place the capacity to do so in short order should he so decide.” In order to know what is next with Ukraine, one also has to know: Why Putin Believes Ukraine Was Given To Russia.

 

 

 

On 7 December 1941 was the Pearl Harbor attack. In early December German forces stood close to Moscow, and it seemed the Soviet capital would soon fall. Japan was at war in China but retained diplomatic relations with other world powers. On Dec. 11, in a speech before Germany’s Reichstag, Hitler announced his declaration of war on the United States. Hitler was well aware of American power, indeed obsessed by it. He was also sure that the United States would enter the war against him sooner or later. He thought the only solution was pre-emptive. Hitler may have believed that the Japanese who attacked Pearl Harbor would distract America long enough for him to reach his goal, and so he wanted to encourage Tokyo by adding his support. Revisiting The First World War Part Three.

 

Continuing a long and shameful history of anthroposophists suing those who write critically about their movement, the German federation of Waldorf schools has announced it will sue journalists who have reported on the role of Steiner's followers in the current pandemic. In fact also in France, this time former Waldorf student who became a Waldorf teacher was used not just sued once but six times by the central head of Waldorf schools in France. The Cult Of Rudolf Steiner Part One Of Two.

 

 

 

Over the last few weeks, the emergence of the super transmissible Omicron variant has shown that even seeming miracles have limits. Although researchers are still racing to figure out just how effective mRNA shots (and all shots) are at preventing illness from Omicron, initial research suggests that the falloff is significant. One study found that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are 30 percent effective at preventing infection, and a third dose given as a booster increased the effectiveness to 75 percent. What Next With mRNA.

 

Having discussed both the First and the Second World War except for 1917-18 we have mentioned nothing about spies in the modern era whereby a good place to start is with Poland. Following the partitions in the late 18th century, Poland ceased to exist for 123 years until the end of World War I, when the destruction of the neighboring powers allowed the country to reemerge when in according to  Wilson's 13e point should have secured access to the sea. Which was reversed following the demarcation line in 1939 when Poland became part of the Soviet Union. Polish Spies And The Lead-Up To The Madrid Conference Part One.

 

 

When Lech Wałęsa couldn’t accept the defeat against Jozef Oleksy in the 1915 election he turned to spy chief Andrzej Stanisław Milczanowski which led to the 1996 resignation of Prime Minister Jozef Oleksy. The Poles however were most anxious about the upcoming Madrid conference, where they expected to become a member of NATO. Polish Spies And The Lead-Up To The Madrid Conference Part Two.

 

 

 

 

President Clinton was treated to a tumultuous welcome in Poland. With Yalta on his mind, Clinton told a cheering crowd in Warsaw’s Old Town that Poland’s acceptance by NATO was “a promise redeemed.” A banner reading THANK YOU, BILL fluttered above the crowd. Declared Clinton: “Never again will your birthright of freedom be denied.” Poland And The Lead-Up To The Madrid Conference.

 

The initial abandonment of the Warsaw Pact concerns one of the first critical steps that happened not in Germany but in Hungary. The reason Hungary did not simply announce it was leaving the pact outright, according to a confidential West German assessment, was that such a rupture might endanger Mikhail Gorbachev. Because of President George H. W. Bush's success in getting Helmut Kohl to link unification with expansion in this way, the fight for German unity and the fight for NATO's future beyond the old inner-German dividing line became the same. The Abandonment Of The Warsaw Pact.

 

 

 

Between the fall of the Wall and the rise of Putin, animosity between Moscow and Washington over NATO’s future became central to the making of a post–Cold War political order that looked much like its Cold War predecessor - and to the unmaking of hopes for cooperation from Vancouver to Vladivostok. The Abandonment Of The Warsaw Pact Part Two.

 

 

 

Places as distant as Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan became partners to NATO without requiring full membership - and with unexpected benefits. To facilitate exercises after that, they joined the Partnership; the US Congress appropriated funds to upgrade their airfields so that NATO planes could use them. American aircraft later employed those upgraded airstrips to deploy special forces after the 9/ 11 attacks on the United States, showing the unexpected military and political benefits of inclusive Partnership. The fall of the Berlin Wall heralded new times of grace and gift - at long last, for more than Western Europe. The Abandonment Of The Warsaw Pact Part Three.

 

 

 

 

 

Institute for Sociology and the History of Ideas: "The Esoteric: Crossing Over"

 

When a large comet struck the earth, this was bad news for dinosaurs but good news for us. Most believe that Homo sapiens could not have coexisted with such carnivorous beasts. We probably would have been a tasty appetizer: a tall, moderately sized, fleshy mammal who ran upright (easily spotted) and could not run that fast (easily caught). We can be thankful our ancestors were small, ground-hugging, sub-snack-sized rodents, not worth pursuing. When Humanity Almost Got Wiped Out. 

 

 

Various streams of Buddhism are differentiated to some extent by their interpretations of the Buddha and the Buddha’s teachings, the scriptures they hold in special reverence, and the variety of cultural expressions they lend to Buddhist life and practice. It would be a mistake, however, to identify these streams of tradition too rigidly with either specific ideas or specific geographical areas. Discussion, Buddhism.

 

 

A developing story, Ukraine. If Putin proceeds, our opinion is that it might be Russia’s new Afghanistan. A more ominous concern is that Belarus, an authoritarian state closely allied to Moscow, could deploy Russian nuclear weapons. Russia insists it has no plans to invade Ukraine, wherein in 2014, it already seized one province and backed separatist rebels in another region. However, Moscow’s build-up of offensive weaponry and troops leaves little doubt that at least a potential assault is being prepared as a way to back the Kremlin’s broader aim of preventing pro-Western Ukraine from leaving the Russian sphere of influence. Ukraine Today.

 

 

 

There is no standard or universal form of the human being, underlying the variations that are so apparent to all of us. In their dispositions and their capacities, and to some extent even in their morphology, the humans of today are different not only from one another but also from their prehistoric predecessors. This is because these characteristics are not fixed genetically, but emerge within development processes, and because the circumstances of development today, cumulatively shaped through previous human activity, are very different from those of the past. In this sense, the story of human evolution is still going on, even in the course of our everyday lives. But it is not a story of upward movement, along a scale from lower to higher, nor is it one of breakthrough to a superior level of being, over and above the organic. The Myth Of Human Origins.

 

 

 

Today Antony Blinken noted that, in addition to the U.S. response, NATO plans to deliver to Moscow its own paper outlining proposals and concerns about collective security in Europe. Blinken said he expects to discuss the next steps with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the coming days after the Kremlin has had a chance to read the U.S. response. What The Situation Looks Like Going Forward.

 

Major Case Study: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court of India seeking a stay on the steaming of the movie "Why I killed Gandhi" which is set to be released on 30th January, Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary. The petitioner says that the movie has not been cleared by the CBFC and is going for a direct OTT release. However, there is much more to this story. In the wake of the movie now also comes a book. From act to acting and now the book. A Movie, A New Book, And What India Stands For Today.

 

Only one person knows whether the Ukraine crisis will lead to war, the man who started it: Vladimir Putin. UK PM suggests that Russian forces pose a ‘clear danger’ to Ukraine. This while Putin accuses the U.S. of trying to lure Russia into war. Major Case Study: Putin Has Long Tried To Balance Europe. Now He’s Working To Reset It.

 

 

 

 

U.S. to bolster firepower as Putin refuses to de-escalate.

 

This morning the CIA, possible in cooperation with the Ukrainian intelligence service, was able to successfully get advanced knowledge that Russia is planning to fabricate a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine by falsely blaming the Ukrainian military for an attack that would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners and images of destroyed locations. Important Case Study: Meet The New World Today's Spy Agencies.

 

Ukraine’s north span roughly 100,000 square miles of wetlands. During the winter, these mucky flatlands freeze over, providing a more stable terrain for heavy military vehicles that would otherwise get stuck in the mud. The frozen ground, usually present in February, could provide Russian troops with the best window to cross into Ukraine. Flagged as a potential hazard for Western forces it should be said that Russian troops have long proved quite adept at handling marsh and swamp terrain. Also, more roads have recently been built throughout the marshes. traversing the open terrain would be strategically important. And while an invasion from Belarus’s south would be the most direct route to Ukraine’s capital, many expect potential Russian military aggression to also come from the northeast and east, where more than 100,000 Russian troops have amassed on the country’s border with Ukraine:

 

Following up on our yesterday’s comment, another access point for Russia is a 12-mile-long, $4 billion bridge over the strait that directly linked Russia to Crimea. Russian state media hailed the bridge as ‘construction of the century’ Ukraine, and the West have called the bridge another illegal infringement on Kyiv’s sovereignty.

 

To some, Ukraine has become the geopolitical faultline between the liberal democratic West and authoritarian, neo-imperial Russia under President Vladimir Putin. Foreign policy luminaries in Washington openly discuss the current state of affairs as a new Cold War. Beneath the political divisions of the present lies a country's deep, complex past. The land that's now Ukraine has long been dear to Russian nationalists. But it has also been home to a host of other peoples and empires. Its shifting borders and overlapping histories all have echoes in the current heated moment. We Show In Seven Maps How Ukraine Came About.

 

 

 

There has been no time during the past 35 years where all intelligence (meaning spy) agencies in every country of the world today are focused on one issue and that is the potential war in Ukraine because it is crucial for three major countries and the is Russia China and the USA and each other country in the world has a connection with at least one of the latter countries and in some cases two or even all three countries. So we decided it is time to explain how intelligent agencies actually work and what matters the most. This includes looking ahead, maximizing the benefits, and mitigating the risks of the evolving open-source nuclear intelligence landscape will be essential. That process starts by recognizing that the future may not look like the present and that the present system has weaknesses. Other issues to look at are Counterintelligence and covert action, classified into four broad types. Meet The New World Today’s Spy Agencies Part Two.

 

While the world is on the brink of the largest military offensive in Europe since World War II, the US  contacted all Americans in Ukraine, asking them to leave immediately also Britons have been told to leave Ukraine immediately. A fixation on nonstarters - such as Putin’s demands for a NATO expansion moratorium or the West’s insistence that Russia withdraws from Crimea - will make reaching a new security agreement impossible. But negotiators could progress by focusing on other issues and then embedding intractable problems into a larger deal. Widening the aperture of the negotiations could create opportunities for deals that are currently not available. For instance, if Russia withdraws support for the so-called separatists in Donbas, the United States could commit to not installing offensive missiles in Ukraine and not deploying missile defenses in Europe that can intercept Russian weapons. And why Western diplomats must insist again that Putin obtain permission before placing troops in other countries, which would keep Russia in line with agreements signed by its previous leaders. Yet if war or not talking to Putin will have to restart sooner or later whereby; What Should Not Be Taken Off The Table When Talking With Putin.

 

 

As creators and workers realize their collective power in the coming months and years, these movements will grow in number. And as demonstrated throughout history, many can sometimes significantly outperform the power of the hierarchical few: Economics And Real-Time Revolution.

 

In this article, we present an overview of the Empires and their changes due to WWI and WWII. The Sino-Japanese war copying Western imperialism had the unusual character that neither side was in a position to win, and the longer the war went on, the less the likelihood of outright victory. After the war, the Allies rescinded Japanese pre-war annexations such as Manchuria. Korea became militarily occupied by the United States in the south and the Soviet Union in the north. The Philippines and Guam were returned to the United States. In the end, an argument could also be made that political actors across the globe got involved with superpowers to wage wars not as mere proxies but as people with their agendas. Beginnings And Endings Of Empires.

 

As an example of why hunter-gatherer societies were more complex than we previously imagined, and civilization did not start the places like Greece, in the 7000's. Early 6000's people founded villages in new niches, both in the natural habitat zone of wild plants and animals and increasingly to the south along with the Mesopotamian plain and away from the region that was the scene of the first villages. The World’s Earliest Cities And What It Means For Today.

 

Continuing with part two we will see those hereditary aristocracies were just as likely to exist among demographically small or modest-sized groups and that the Neolithic began with flood-retreat agriculture, which was easy work and encouraged redistribution; the most significant populations were concentrated in deltaic environments. Göbekli Tepe Revisited Part Two.

 

Early on Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson discovered similarities between the Yangshao Culture's unearthed painted pottery and the painted pottery of Central Asia. as well as those of the Tripolye Culture in Tripoli in the northwest of the Black Sea. We expand this further by stating that also when rice cultivation appears to have spread from its origins to areas farther south, including lands that are today’s Southeast Asian countries. Göbekli Tepe Revisited Part Three.

 

 

 

Following is part one of two of a major case study we started on 25 Sept. 2021. Contrary to expectations, the result of the Pearl Harbour came only after five additional days, whereby it was Hiter's declaration of war on the United States, much more than Pearl Harbor, which created a new global strategic reality and, ultimately, a new world. Major Case Study: The Pearl Harbour Attack And Its Consequences Part One.

 

Yesterday the highly anticipated COP26 climate change summit begins later in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Delegates from about 200 countries will announce how they will cut emissions by 2030 and help the planet. Twenty years ago, we feared rampant overpopulation. Today’s most urgent task is to nurture those alive and yet to be born to ensure the survival of humanity through this century. The Search For Nextpolis.

 

The United States, Hitler had told his foreign minister, was contesting Japan and Germany’s right to exist. He regarded war with Roosevelt as inevitable, and he had already accepted that the campaign in the east would not be completed by the end of the year. Should Japan become engaged in a war against the United States, Ribbentrop, therefore, told Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Oshima, Germany, of course, would join the war immediately. There is absolutely no possibility of Germany’s entering into a separate peace with the United States under such circumstances. The Führer is determined on that point. The Japanese did not tell the Germans that the Combined Fleet had already been put to sea. Berlin had, in effect, issued Tokyo with a blank check, which it could cash at a moment of its own choosing. Major Case Study: The Pearl Harbour Attack And Its Consequences Part Two.

 

Back in Mach 2018, The New Yorker published an article titled "Why Jewish History Is So Hard to Write" the article, in particular, criticizes the two most common approaches to writing Jewish history. Intrigued by this critique we decided on a third approach. The Way To Zionism.

 

While the Jews of Europe were being incinerated in the name of the Nazis’ vision of racial purity, the Jews of America were offered a golden opportunity to prove their allegiance to the American spirit, to make anti-Semitism, and anti-Jewish discrimination unacceptable, and to secure complete social integration. This process effectively transformed them into members of white society and faithful adherents of the American creed that embraced Catholics and Protestants, emphasizing their liberal common ground over religious differences. The Way To Zionism Part Two.

 

Although leaders from China declined to attend COP26 in Glasgow, Beijing reaffirmed its climate targets of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. Early in October US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Chinese government to 'act responsibly when handling the Evergrande crisis. Whereby the question now is: How Concerned Should We Be When Chinese Growth Runs Out?

At precisely the time of a profound moral crisis among liberal American Jews, who search for a new Jewish, ethical, a universal foothold in the face of assimilation, the disintegration of communities, and the increasing alienation from Israel, the Israeli Century will require, more than anything else, Jewish creativity that is both rooted and cosmopolitan, which will find a new balance among the threats, both from within and without, facing Jews in Israel and across the Diaspora. This struggle will be decided in various contexts, forums, and communities worldwide, but the most crucial battlefield will be the norms, laws, and values that define the Jewish state itself. The Way To Zionism Part Three.

 

On November 15-16 an International Conference on Quran in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia will take place. And while renewed discussions no doubt will take place about manuscripts found in 2015 appear to confirm the tradition that Muhammad’s immediate successor, Abu Bakr (632–634 CE), ordered the creation of an authoritative text of the Prophet’s visions. Whereby for a wider context of what the early spread of Islam concerns we also have to look at the context of Rome and Persia at War, the bubonic plague, and the fight and split in reference to the Holy Trinity. Major Case Study: Early Islam And The Decay Of Rome Part One.

After six years at Medina, Muhammad announced that he would make a pilgrimage back to Mecca. The return was put off while Muhammad negotiated with the Quraysh. In the end, the two sides agreed to the Treaty of Hudaybiya, according to which Muhammad would be allowed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca in ten years’ time. Two years later, Muhammad claimed the Quraysh had violated the agreement and announced that he would come immediately to Mecca. Early Islam And The Decay Of Rome Part Two.

 

On November 18-19, 2021 the major ICQPQM: International Conference on Quantum Probability and Quantum Mechanics will take place in Singapore. As the title suggests it bring together leading academic scientists, researchers, and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Quantum Probability and Quantum Mechanics. But as Nassim Nicholas Taleb recently wrote "survivorship bias implies that the highest performing realization will be the most visible." I fact as we shall see this also very much applies to Quantum Mechanics. The Disputes About Quantum Mechanics.

 

As Holy Roman emperor, Charles V is a figure who is in many ways evocative of the Roman emperor Heraclius. Heraclius failed to recognize the weakness of his empire in the wake of the Persian war and then proceeded to alienate many of the subjects who returned to his sway after years of Persian rule. If he had realized that he needed to negotiate his authority rather than impose it, the door to the Arab conquest might not have opened. Charles’ open contempt for his German subjects and his evident weakness in the face of the challenge of the Ottoman state invited revolt. Like Muhammad, Luther emerged from the context of a religious reform movement to play a crucial role in uniting opposition to the status quo. Also, like Muhammad, he did not shape the state that emerged as a result of his preaching, that was left to others who took his ideas in directions that he often did not approve of. His poor relationship with Henry VIII is a case in point. The Holy Roman Empire, The Reformation, And The Birth Of The Netherlands.

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said nearly 100,000 Russian soldiers near Ukraine’s border and that Western countries had shared information about active Russian troop movements with Kyiv. The ruble weakened on the news, slipping 0.5% against the dollar toward its first weekly loss in three. Ruble bonds fell for a second day, with the yield on 10-year debt climbing three basis points to 8.07%. Stocks headed for their biggest drop in two weeks. Ans while in our opinion this alleged major invasion is not likely to happen soon this is a good time to take a closer lookat the history that led to the current situation. Why Putin Claims That Most Of Ukraine “Was Given” To Russia.

 

As we have seen in parts one and two of ‘Islam,’ radical change ‘always begins with ideas that took shape on the fringes.’ The “mainstream” has been inherently conservative throughout time, allowing for incremental change but essentially dedicated to preserving its power structures as the dominant ideology justifies existing relationships. Not all radical groups are the same, and all the groups will explore take advantage of challenges that have already shaken the social order. They ‘take advantage of mistakes that have challenged belief in the competence of existing institutions’ to be effective. In July 1914, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia faced a dilemma, mainly of his own making. Franz-Ferdinand, heir apparent to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had been murdered by a Serbian terrorist on June 28. The Transformation Of The Russian Empire Part One.

Tsarist Russia and Weimer Germany were failing states before either Lenin or Hitler came along. But that does not mean their victories were foregone conclusions. Neither man had ever run anything; their immediate supporters hadn't either. Powerful slogans and mass demonstrations were more critical to their campaigns than the capacity to point to any active achievements in public policy. The Transformation Of The Russian Empire Part Two.

 

More than meets the eye to the affair surrounding the Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top Chinese official of raping her than meets the eye. After a substantial international flap, she has reappeared, telling the International Olympic Committee she is safe and sound. And are Peng’s allegations the spontaneous outburst of an outraged woman or part of the internecine power struggle in Beijing? If Zhang gets taken down for corruption, the answer will be the latter scenario. In China, when officials are charged with a crime, often the charges include sexual impropriety.

 

Despite occasional outbursts, the meeting at Yalta had been conducted in an atmosphere of goodwill. Potsdam, according to Hugh Lunghi, was ’a bad-tempered conference’. The alliance of personalities that held things together was dissolving. Within days, Roosevelt would be out of office, replaced by Clement Attlee. By the end of the Potsdam gathering, only Stalin would remain from the wartime Big Three leaders. late in February 1946, George Kennan, the No. 2 at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, sent his momentous “long telegram” to the State Department analyzing Stalin’s malign designs on Europe and sketching a containment strategy. Putin And The Cold War Part One.

The unpredictability of the human species is well known. Idiosyncratic traits of each family swamp the generic predictors, no matter how cleverly they are combined. It’s a reassurance to people who worry artificial intelligence will soon predict our every move, but also a chastening smackdown of our pretensions to understand the causal network in which we find ourselves fully. The Logic Of Human Nature And Causal Networks.

For all the conquests of the reality mindset, the mythology mindset still occupies swaths of territory in the landscape of mainstream belief. Thankfully, Western religious belief is safely parked in the mythology zone, where many people are protective of its sovereignty. Another zone of mainstream unreality is the national myth which is closely related to historical fiction. Whereby when the events come too close to the present, or the fictionalization rewrites important facts, historians can sound an alarm, as when Oliver Stone brought an assassination conspiracy theory to life in the 1991 movie JFK. In 2020, others objected to the television series The Crown, a dramatized history of Queen Elizabeth and her family, which took liberties with many depicted events. Rationality And Progress.

 

 

 

In January 1986 Gorbachev proposed the elimination of all nuclear weapons by the year 2000. Yet what led to the collapse of the USSR is that Gorbachev’s Reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism.

 

As we have seen, the conventional chronology of WWII from 1939-45 is no longer helpful, and the war must be understood as a global event in direct consequence to WWI. Mobilization of empire manpower varied widely. How The Various Countries Justified WWII Part One.

History in East Asia is not just the past; it’s very much current affairs. Yet the lack of attention to East Asian history in the Western, and specifically perception is causing an increasingly problematic distortion in Western understandings of the contemporary world. Because of its economic and geopolitical weight and the dangerous tensions inherent within it, East Asia will matter to the world in the 2020s more than it has for perhaps two hundred years. Today, some of the world’s most dangerous potential clashes are in the Asia–Pacific region:

 

o  The nuclear threat from North Korea

o  Maritime conflicts in the South and East China Seas

o  The possibility of a war over Chinese reunification with Taiwan

o  The China–India clash in the Himalayas

o  The military coup of 2021 in Myanmar

Every single one of these very contemporary flashpoints has its origins in modern East Asian history. The Importance Of South And East Asia.

 

The New Order constructed by the European Axis faced an entirely different geopolitical reality. However, it too was built and ruined by war even more fully than the empire of Japan. The countries invaded and occupied in 1940 and 1941 were not colonies but independent sovereign states with their own political, legal, and economic structures. Hitler's Germany's principal aggressor, which rescued Mussolini's failing imperialism in Europe and North Africa. As a result, the shape of the New Order was determined mainly from Berlin and in German interests. The central concept of a German-dominated Grossraum (literally 'Great Area') was not unlike the idea behind the Co-Prosperity Sphere, where conventional Western notions of sovereignty were set aside in favor of an array of states and territories acknowledging the unique role of the imperial center as the directing hand of the whole. Creating A New World Order Part One.

The war in Korea demonstrated the extent to which the broader Cold War confrontation was fuelled by the crisis points of decolonization, as in the later Vietnam War. But the outcome reflected only a limited extent the suggestion that this was also a clash of Soviet and American ‘empires’ rather than an ideological confrontation. This is not merely a semantic difference. Korea was divided into two independent sovereign states after thirty-five years as a colony, and they remained independent after four years of war. The Soviet and American hegemons played their part in the outcome and aftermath, as did newly Communist China. Still, the end of the Japanese empire in 1945 was not an invitation to recolonize. From the 1930s to the violent post-war years, the long Second World War ended not only a particular form of an empire but discredited the more extended history of the term. The Second World War Created The Conditions For Transforming Europe And The Entire Global Geopolitical Order.

 

The Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back as far as 19 September 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself began on 7 December when Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, or was it? The Five Days That Made Pearl Harbours As A Key For The Worldwide War.

 

As we have seen in the last part between the Pearl Harbor attack and Hitler’s declaration of war on the United States, five days passed during which the future of those disconnected struggles was decided, and every significant power was forced to commit to one of two camps. This interval was the crucible for a new global alignment that would dramatically alter the course of deadly conflict and reverberate far beyond the war. If for Hitler the die was cast, things were still very much uncertain in Washington and London. Axis States Understood They Settled The Moral Low Ground.

 

The geopolitical transformation following Pearl Harbour in only a matter of weeks produced a fundamental shift in the relationship between the United States and its imperial ally. According to the Total War Institute in a publication in early 1942, all the peoples in the sphere would obtain their ‘proper positions,’ the inhabitants would all share a ‘unity of people’s minds, but the globe would have the empire of Japan at its center. The Old Order Is Crumbling, And A New Order Is Rising.

 

The trustee powers were the same powers that had operated the territories as League of Nations Mandates. Still, this time their activity as trustees was to be supervised by a United Nations Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories and a Trusteeship Council. The Post-WWII New Order Part One.

The ideological underpinning of the Japanese New Order was essential to the self-understanding of the thousands of officials, propagandists, and planners who radiated out from Japan to help run the new territories. But this was not intended as a ‘Wilsonian moment’ in which Japan would grant unconditional independence because President Wilson’s promises in 1918 were regarded among Japanese leaders as mere hypocrisy. The Post-WWII New Order Part Two.

In the end, as we have seen there is very little evidence if any at all about Sean McMeekin’s contention in his recent 2021 book that the Second World War was more Stalin’s war. In fact, there is very little evidence that Stalin had any firm notions in 1944-45 about developing some sort of Communist bloc in Eastern Europe after the war. This will be shown on hand of our new research results which will post in the coming weeks, including that in the end, it was Hitler’s intervention in reference to Pearl Harbor that truly created a world war and transformed international history. Russia, Germany, And Poland Part Sixteen.

 

Called Asia’s orphaned cinderella, many people in Myanmar are now are on their own. The most prominent ethnic armed group in Myanmar, unrecognized by the Myanmar government except as a “unique region, recently has introduced fines and harsh criminal sentences for anyone caught aiding illegal border crossings. Roughly the size of Belgium, mainly without Myanmar ID cards but determinately not Chinese, it might soon be a critical area that determines the future of Myanmar. There is the potential for international escalation as Chinese troops are reported to be assembling at the border with troops that are said to have rapid response capabilities. Major Case Study: Myanmar And The Looming War For Its Borderlands Part One.

 

 

Biden defends the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s rapid return to power, and his administration is now weighing whether to recognize Taliban rule officially. But there were also fears of worse to come. It was unclear whether Western governments would continue evacuations at the airport should they lose control of the perimeter to Taliban forces. What Next With Afghanistan.

 

Aside from providing buffers, already early on it was important for China to have its borderlands under its control. This was particularly important about the southern border where Yunnan province meets Laos and Myanmar with almost no major roads. During World War II, the United States struggled to build the Burma Road to reach Yunnan and supply Chiang Kai-shek’s forces. The battle at Kunlong bridge and the ensuing eradication of their old base areas in central Burma turned out to be a turning point for the Burmese communists. The government's army had managed to contain them in remote mountains along the Chinese border, such as Kokang and the Wa Hills, where they did not belong and had never intended to stay. Major Case Study: Myanmar And The Looming War For Its Borderlands Part Two.

 

The Allies originally envisaged a seaborne invasion of Burma and Malaya, but the demand for ships and landing craft in the Mediterranean scotched this. The Japanese had about one million men in Southeast Asia as a whole. In addition, the Japanese could call upon about 80,000 friendly troops in the Indian National Army and the Burma Independence Army; the Japanese could call upon about 80,000 friendly soldiers in the Indian National Army and the Burma Independence Army. An never before insight into the creating of Myanmar/Burma now called the last frontier. Major Case Study: Myanmar And The Looming War For Its Borderlands Part Three.

 

Today's called Asia’s orphaned cinderella has an important history which I reveal for maybe the first time ever. For the first time in history, the Wa has become a unified nation with its own de facto state. That is no mean achievement by a people who were head-hunters until only a few decades ago then used as little more than cannon fodder for fulfilling the dream of a group of Burmese communists whose language they do not even speak. Major Case Study: Myanmar And The Looming War For Its Borderlands Part Four.

 

Spurned by the West, Aung San Suu Kyi turned to China for sympathy and assistance. She traveled to Beijing to meet Xi and was promised political support and loans, and credits. Also an apparent friendly attitude toward the Tatmadaw in the uncertain situation that followed the coup could have jeopardized the past partnerships China has established, not only with Myanmar but also with the other ASEAN members. Major Case Study: Myanmar And The Looming War For Its Borderlands Part Five.

 

Several thousand Indigenous people marched in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia on Wednesday ahead of a major land rights ruling. Jair Bolsonaro’s government in contrast attempts to further open up Indigenous lands to mining and other commercial activities that could exacerbate the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Why The Political Climate In Brazil Matters To The Rest Of The World.

 

Currently in the process of hastily letting go of 20-year occupation that began shortly after Sept. 11, cost over $2 trillion, took more than 170,000 lives and ultimately failed to defeat the Taliban. Vowing retaliation for the recent Kabul attack in its final move, the US carried out what it called a defensive airstrike in Kabul, targeting a suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber who posed an "imminent" threat to the airport, US Central Command said Sunday. The Pentagon has said the strike resulted in secondary explosions, and those explosions may have been what killed the civilians. Ten family members, including children, died after the final US strike in Kabul. What Can Be Said About US Involvement And The Current Situation In Afghanistan.

 

While Michael Lewis, the author of bestsellers including the big short and liar’s poker, is taking on a topic perhaps even more corrosive than Wall Street: Coronavirus. Meanwhile, Adam Tooze came out with Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy his, not to mention several others. A Plethora Of Authors Writing About The Covid Fallout.

 

 

When the American Psychiatric Association released the fifth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-5. Gary Greenberg claimed the disorders listed aren't real -- they're invented. Author of Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease and contributor to The New Yorker, Mother Jones, The New York Times, and other publications, Greenberg is a practicing psychotherapist. The Book of Woe: The Making of the DSM-5 and the Unmaking of Psychiatry is his exposé of the business behind creating the new manual. The Secrets Behind The Making Of The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM) Part One.

Originally intended to be in four parts which shorten it to three. We already posted a pilot version of it some years back but that now has been greatly expanded on and corrected. The various Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)'s is a fractionation one but also a disturbing one. We will cover DSM and psychiatric diagnosis aspects that make clinicians and researchers vulnerable to biased diagnostic decisions. These include Value-laden and vague concepts of mental disorder, upon which the entire DSM nosology is based. Criterion biases, biases within diagnostic criteria for specific disorders. Clinician bias, unfolding in a clinician–client interaction. We will also add further clarifications and examinations of bias in psychiatric diagnosis to understand it best and how diagnostic decision-making may be linked to clinical competency to serve better clients who seek our help. The Secrets Behind The Making Of The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM) Part Two.

 

While in Part One of our overview of the (in spite of its worldwide use by Psychiaters and Medical Doctors) disputed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (and at times adventurous as we have seen) we focused among others on it’s protagonist Robert L. Spitzer and the construction of DSM-III. In Part Two we then also focused on both the intra-professional external forces involved with DSM-IV and DSM-5 revision attempts. Yet observable symptoms persist in defining the DSM diagnoses, a situation that general medicine surmounted more than a century ago. The chemical and physical operations of the brain have yet to provide clues that may unravel the mysteries of human consciousness and its distortions. Mental disorders could require understandings that cannot be completely removed from personal life experiences. The future of the DSM is clearly at a crossroads, but the path it should take has no roadmap. The Secrets Behind The Making Of The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM) Part Three.

 

Bias occurs across a wide variety of judgment domains. People in all demographic groups display it, and it is exhibited even by expert reasoners, the highly educated, and the intelligent. Studies have shown a tendency toward the biased search for evidence, biased evaluation of evidence, biased memory of outcomes, and biased evidence manual. So What To Do About Bias?

 

 

 

The Order of Malta has 14,000 members, gathered forty-seven national associations, and exchanged diplomatic representatives in 107 governments with its sovereign Character. The cars of the Grand Master high officials and ambassadors have diplomatic privileges and distinguish with CD number plates. The Order can issue internationally recognized diplomatic passports. It has taken a look at this subject for a few years which accumulated the insights in many intrigues created by its self-styled mimic Orders, some of which have been involved with issuing fake passports, fostering extremists groups, and the like. The Hidden History Of The Order Of Malta And Orders Of St. John Part One.

When German military personnel retreating from Ukraine and took with them not only thousands of sympathetic White officers, including several who went on to serve the National Socialist cause in high-profile capacities but also a fateful copy of the anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which came to play a role in the mimic Orders of Malta also called St. John and their interplay with extreme right-wing forces. The Hidden History Of The Order Of Malta And Orders Of St. John Part Two.

 

As we have seen in part two following the First World War, the transfer extremist anti-Bolshevik and anti-Semitic White views found their way in various mimic Orders of Malta and St.John as a story which is becoming increasingly more interesting. The Hidden History Of The Order Of Malta And Orders Of St. John Part Three.

 

We are continuing with our description of the various entanglements that led to the many fake orders of Malta and Knights of St. John of which more than 20 groups that claim a descendant of a nonexisting Russian tradition's the 1930s, a Knights of St. Johngroup also ran a strange-sounding political The Ancient and Noble Order of the Blue Lamoo. Factually the organization is called The Ancient and Noble Order of the Blue Lamoo. The group, we would judge from the type of stuff they advocate, is a super-Aryan cult and may have some small following in this and other countries. Essentially its tenets are those of all the shirt groups that have sprung up here and elsewhere, and they but slightly exaggerate the policies of Nazi organizations. The Hidden History Of The Order Of Malta And Orders Of St. John Part Four.

 

When the Pichel Knights mimic Ordre of Malta assembled a ‘Military Affairs Committee’ that included retired military officers from the CIA, including retired Gen. Charles Willoughby and Colonel Philip J. Corso. Admiral Sir Barry Domvile, interned by the British during World War II for his fascist sympathies, was listed as the Knight’s ‘Honorary Grand Admiral.’Yet another Knight with far-right connections was Prince Mihail R. Sturdza, a former leading member of the interwar Romanian fascist movement Iron Guard Foreign Minister under the Antonescu dictatorship. Thus some of the Knights may have served as a ‘cover’ or liaison to émigré groups the Army wished to use. Some of these, the Shickshinny Knights, may have operated as a cover for sections of the US military who were still committed to a vision of using far-right émigré networks for special warfare operations despite strong resistance from the CIA and OPC (Office of Policy Coordination) in particular. Through the Knights, elements in the military maintained their off-the-books version of Volunteer Freedom. The article also contains a section about the so-called Episcopi vagantes (Latin for 'wandering bishops' or 'stray bishops'). The Hidden History Of The Order Of Malta And Orders Of St. John Part Five.

 

In our earlier assessment about the 1931 'Manchurian Incident,' that we posted on our website in April 2021, we did so to gouge a potential relationship between the Pacific war in 1944-45 and a potential future one when, for example, about Taiwan, which President Xi covets and which America is (ambiguously) committed to defending against invasion, a commitment that increasingly lacks credibility as the balance of military power shifts in East Asia. (The growing vulnerability of American aircraft carriers to Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles such as the DF-21D is just one problem the Pentagon lacks a good solution.) Meaning if American deterrence fails and China gambles on a coup de main, the United States will face the grim choice between fighting a long, brutal war, as Britain did in 1914 and 1939. Major Case Study: From The Manchurian Incident To Word War II Part One.

As Kana Miller whose books we have quoted in our article series recently wrote; though Manchuria was a Chinese Territory, controlled by warlords loyal (in name if not in the realm) to China's nationalist government, thousands of Japanese soldiers were stationed there under the terms of an earlier treaty. This enabled Japanese forces to overrun the area quickly. Within weeks of the Manchurian Incident, they controlled the southern part of Manchuria, with the north following by early 1932. Major Case Study: From The Manchurian Incident To Word War II Part Two.

 

 

Even after the German invasion of Poland on 1 September, Chamberlain allowed him to withdraw his forces rather than face a world war. Only a complete German capitulation to British and French demands to end the violence would have averted world war, and by 1 September, that was the least likely outcome. Major Case Study: From The Manchurian Incident To Word War II Part Three.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Japan sought to solve its economic and demographic woes by forcing its way into China, starting in 1931 with an invasion of Manchuria. When a commission appointed by the League of Nations condemned the attack, Japan withdrew from the international organization; it would occupy Manchuria until 1945. The conventional chronology of WWII as from 1939-45 is no longer helpful. WWII must be understood as a global event since the Asian and Pacific theatres were as important as the European ones, and possibly more so in their consequences. Major Case Study: From The Manchurian Incident To Word War II Part Four.

 

A subject, we covered extensively further below China in retrospect now suddenly honors 4 soldiers who died during the Galwan clash, disproves AltNews’ sly attempts to discredit India’s claims of Chinese casualties...

 

The following map shows the largest trading partner of each European country.

 

When President Joe Biden entered the White House determined to restore the world’s confidence in the United States. That task is particularly important in context of China. Where Will The China/US Competition Lead The World?

 

In the following, we proceed with investigating the dynamics of modern China, Korea, and a strengthened Japan. The period under discussion is when the non-Western world focused increasingly upon issues of race and ethnicity, nationality and sovereignty, and the multiple ways East Asians formed and re-formed their own realities in the wake of the First World War. Can A Potential Future Pacific War Be Avoided?

 

The U.S.-Japan rivalry escalated in the aftermath of the First World War to the point where the new Republican administration under President Warren Harding felt that it was necessary to initiate a naval limitation conference when strategic thinking permeated the Japanese Navy. Of course, the Japanese Navy was far from being a monolithic entity as illustrated by the clash between Admiral Katō Tomosaburō and Vice Admiral Katō Kanji, who differed vastly in their view of global naval strategy and the future course that Japan should take. Part Two Can A Potential Future Pacific War Be Avoided?

 

Having recently covered; Where will the China/US competition lead the world? Turning our view to SE Asia China looks the more likely prize-winner. It is the region’s biggest trading partner and pumps in more investment than America does. At least one South-East Asian country, Cambodia, is in effect already a Chinese client state. And none is willing to cross China by openly siding with America in the superpowers’ many rows. Trade and investment among the countries of South-East Asia outweigh the business they do with China. Another mechanism is strengthening ties with other Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, one ASEAN has rightly embraced. The Rivalry Between America And China In South-East Asia.

 

Having aspired to be a member of the civilized community by adopting the Western political and social norms, the Chinese now discovered that the nation-state system was not fair and open; rather, it was dominated by Western powers eager to protect their own interests the Chinese realized that Westernization alone would not win them recognition in international affairs. Instead, they focused on recovering national sovereignty through diplomatic negotiations and treaty revisions. Paradoxically they believed that although the nation-state system was a tool used by the Western powers to control the world, the system allowed a discussion of national sovereignty as expounded in Wilson’s Fourteen Points. To them, the only way to beat the system was to protect China’s territorial sovereignty.  Part Three Can A Potential Future Pacific War Be Avoided?

 

 

On 9 March Asia Pacific commander Philip Davidson said that China could invade Taiwan in the next six years and that (as has been clear for sometime China is the world's rising power while the US is currently a declining power) Beijing wants to take Washington’s world leadership role by 2050. This comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on troops to "put all (their) minds and energy on preparing for war" in a visit to a military base in the southern province of Guangdong. Following is an overview of the wider background that led up to the current  situation. Major Case Study. The Lead Up To Present-Day China And The Making Of The Chinataiwan Crisis.

 

 

After a year of canceled concerts, closed-door sporting events, and restricted air travel, vaccine passports are being touted as a way to quicken the route back to normalcy. But as explained, there are still some open questions including some reasons for concern. Papers, Please, And Then:

Ein Bild, das Person enthält.

Automatisch generierte Beschreibung

 

Based on the invention of Erich von Däniken, whose origins we will explore, with on the side some remnants of the theories by neo-Nazi's like Ernst Zundel, Wilhelm Landig, and Rudolf J. Mund, who argued that Nazis invented flying saucers had taken their breakthrough technology to bases deep under the South Pole, the American History Channel has a series titled "Ancient Aliens" that claims to explore the controversial theory that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for millions of years from the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt and present what as we will see can best be described as a sensationalized bricolage. Secret Nazis And The Return Of The Ancient Aliens.

 

Following the heated debate during the US-China Alaska meeting, President Joe Biden got a taste of what the next four years may look like: a new era of bitter superpower competition with China since it opened diplomatic relations with the United States. This is also where Japanese and U.S. defense chiefs agreed in their meeting last week to cooperate in the event of a military clash between China and Taiwan closely. Making it time for us to continue our multi-article, the purpose of this is too to understand potentially could lead to a futures second pacific war if China follows up on its threats to attack Taiwan with as a purpose to take control of what China terms the South China Sea. Part Four Can A Potential Future Pacific War Be Avoided?

 

Efforts to dislodge stuck Suez Canal ship with tug boats suspended till today with authorities cannot predict when it may be dislodged.

 

On Saturday, China and Iran, both subject to U.S. sanctions, signed a 25-year cooperation agreement. The deal is expected to increase bilateral trade and military cooperation as US rivals move to deepen ties. As we will point out, this does not come as a surprise as this relationship goes back many years. The Enduring Relationship Between China And Iran.

 

 

At the heart of the conflict between the United States and Japan during the 1930s was the importance of two competing ideologies of world order, liberal internationalism and Pan-Asianist regionalism. From the Manchurian crisis of 1931 up through fruitless negotiations in the fall of 1941 discord consistently turned on basic principles about world govern­ance, tied to rising geopolitical stakes. This also includes the American reception of the Japanese government's efforts to shape American public opinion in the 1930s through a vigorous program of cultural diploma­cy. By tapping the empire’s cultural riches or “soft power.” Japan’s leaders hoped to combat negative perceptions in the United States and legitimize their regionalist aspirations on the continent. Part Five Can A Potential Future Pacific War Be Avoided?

 

Chinese military aircraft simulated missile attacks on a US aircraft carrier during an incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone three days after Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to intelligence from the US and its allies.The revelations highlight that the intense military competition between the two superpowers around Taiwan and the South China Sea has not eased, posing a challenge to any attempts the Biden administration might make to improve US relations with Beijing. Part Six Can A Potential Future Pacific War Be Avoided?

 

Because so many people in Myanmar supported the military's 2017 slaughter of Rohingya, the generals seem to have concluded that they can get away with shooting people in Myanmar whom they don't like, such as pro-democracy protesters. Only concerted pressure can get the generals to talk to the civilians and thereby put Myanmar onto a less ruinous path. The alternative is a failed state at the heart of Asia. What Next With Myanmar.

 

 

Yesterday Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said the island will defend itself "to the very last day" if attacked by China. While yesterday the U.S. blacklists seven Chinese supercomputing entities citing national security concerns. Accidental war and territorial sovereignty. Part Seven Can A Potential Future Pacific War Be Avoided?

 

Last week, UNESCO commemorated the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis. 27 years ago the Rwandan genocide erupted following the plane crash of then-President Juvenal Habyarimana. For the next 100 days, armed militias engaged in a killing spree against the ethnic minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In total, some 800,000 people died. The French, who were allies of the Hutu government under Habyarimana, had sent a special force to evacuate their citizens and set up safe zones. Although they witnessed the horror all around them, to this day, they are accused of having done very little to stop the killing. Major Case Study. Investigating The Real Story Behind The Rwandan Genocide Against The Tutsis.

 

Context is as important for Artificial Intelligence(AI) as it is for people. Just like people need to orient when looking for answers (you don’t look for iPhone solutions in a car repair manual), AI's data source requires curation and context. For sure is, data governance is more important than ever. What data is owned by the organization? What can be done with it? What are the data sources, and how is it being consumed or translated by other systems and processes? How well is data being leveraged to produce value for the enterprise and the customer? How can data issues be addressed and remediated? Dismantling The Myths Of AI.

 

Enchanted determinism explains newspaper headlines such as ‘Can algorithms prevent suicide?’ or ‘can AI read emotions?’ Nobody has come close to such remarkable results, yet the dream that a machine can read emotions or stop people from ending their life is stronger than ever. These illusions distract from the far more relevant questions: Whom do these systems serve? What are the political econo­mies of their construction? And what are the wider planetary consequences? In part two of dismantling Artificial Intelligence's myths (AI), we look, among others at, the new Mappa Mundi? AI, the Myth of Clean Tech, AI and algorithmic exceptionalism, games without frontiers, facial recognition, and language prediction. Dismantling The Myths Of AI Part Two.

 

 

Following is an analysis of positive thinking, self-help, and certain strands of modern Psychology. As we will see some psychologists see the present limitations of their field clearly. We also indicate how an ascendant power elite defined by the concurrent drives to do well and do good, to change the world while also profiting from the status quo. It consists of enlightened businesspeople and their collaborators in the worlds of charity, academia, media, government, and think tanks. So What Is With Psychological Science?

 

After the ‘sofa-gate’ incident in the EU, President Biden is now posed to be the first US President who dares to use the genocide word in reference to the systematic annihilation of Armenians. We explain; Why, And What Happened

 

US Threat Perceptions:

Source: Office of the Director of National Intelligence

 

 

 

Where until last month, the danger that China could attack Taiwan and risk a war with the US was mainly the daily talk in the Pacific region and the US, however, following the news that the UK is sending its largest Carrier Strike Group since the Falklands War to the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea it now also is the talk in Europe with even Angela Merkel expressing her concern. Fact is, the prospects for war are actually higher in the next five years than the period thereafter because of how successfully China has closed the military capability gap with the US. Every day President Xi Jinping delays, his potential adversaries in a battle over Taiwan (which would undoubtedly include the US, Japan, Australia, and the UK) are investing enormous effort to prepare for war and once again expand the capability gap. So we proceeded with the conclusion of our question: Can A Potential Future Pacific War Be Avoided?

 

Today the World Health Organization has warned against “vaccine nationalism,” cautioning richer countries that if they keep treatments to themselves they cannot expect to remain safe if poor nations remain exposed. It is no secret that Scientists fear that the current pandemic could lead to a geopolitical fight over vaccines. And that ‘vaccine nationalism’ threatens the global plan to distribute COVID-19 shots fairly. But there are also other approaches. Vaccine Nationalism And Its Alternatives.

 

Beirut explosion: Angry protesters take to streets.

 

Tonight, Lebanon's government stepped down, less than a week after a massive explosion in Beirut killed more than 160 people and sparked days of violent protests.

 

People wash their clothes as Mount Sinabung in Indonesia spews ash:

 

World Population Projections.

 

Minsk, Belarus:

 

The economy of Colonialism:  Major Case Study:  Part One, Part Two, Part Three.

 

Replica of planet earth using NASA imagery goes on display in the Painted Hall of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

 

Unsealed Archives Give Fresh Clues to Pope Pius XII’s Response to the Holocaust Several documents that have emerged from the newly opened Vatican Archives on the papacy of Pius XII bolster accusations of indifference to Jewish suffering. Still some scholars say the whole picture has yet to emerge. Major Case Study: The Vatican Archives And World War II.

 

This week, Indian troops moved firmly and preemptively to stop China’s new attempt at land grabs. China’s People’s Liberation Army was getting active in areas south of the strategically important Pangong Lake. But Indians took the heights near Rezang La and Requin La, allowing them an unfettered view of a critical garrison inside China. The operation was led by India’s covert Special Frontier Force, mostly from Tibetans whose families escaped Chinese oppression.

 

Two Myanmar soldiers have admitted on video to the mass killing and rape of Rohingya Muslims in 2017. The video confessions of the two deserters were filmed by a rebel group fighting the Myanmar military and deemed credible by a human rights group. If the confessions are legitimate, they will represent the first admissions by members of Myanmar's military that a campaign of violence against the minority ethnic group took place in the country's western Rakhine State. The two soldiers are believed to now be in the Hague at the International Criminal Court, where an investigation into the Rohingya crisis is underway. As for now, there is no apparent end to the ongoing tragedy that faces the Muslim Rohingya communities of western Myanmar.

Nevertheless, with crucial national elections scheduled for November 2020 and an economy battered by the global COVID-19 shutdown, Myanmar faces a confluence of grave challenges. Under these conditions, critical decision-makers in Naypyitaw may hope that international scrutiny of violence against the Rohingya will fade. Given these court actions, however, this is unlikely. She will not recover her reputation whatever sympathy we may have for Aung San Suu Kyi’s predicament. And she will forever face hard questions about her inability to prevent, and, more importantly, refusal to condemn, ethnic cleansing.

 

We published an extensive five-part study of Russian Freemasonry; we now like to revisit our earlier topic of Freemasonry during the fascist era. Nazi Policy on Masons became unequivocal after the Night of the Long Knives – the savage purge of the SA and other political enemies. After that, the SS assumed control of the Masonic Question. And in the spring of 1935, the former Masonic organizations were told to dissolve themselves completely or be forced to do so. Yet, we also will see how and why Hitler toned down his initial anti-masonic rhetoric. Major Case Study: Freemasonry During The Nazi State.

 

Having highlighted Nazi-Germany, we next move on to Spain, where there was a belief, shared by all the different forces on the Nationalist side, that a conspiratorial Masonic influence permeated the Republic so thoroughly that almost anyone could be an instrument of the Lodges. An intriguing part of this history, as we will see, is a spy network known as APIS, which transmitted dozens of fake Masonic documents. One can safely say that APIS was the espionage equivalent of the excellent Taxil hoax of the late nineteenth century. Major Case Study: The War Against Freemasons In Spain.

A sense of history has always been crucial to Freemasonry. But as we have seen all too often, the Masons have squeezed their history into rosy identity narratives. Freemasonry’s past is as chequered as a Lodge floor. Hence in part one, we saw how Hitler toned down his initial anti-masonic rhetoric to focus primarily on his Jewish conspiracy theory, whereby in Catholic Spain, Fascists were less restrained. In this third part, now we come to our present era with, among others, Stephen Knight claims about a Masonic conspiracy, activities like those of the Ndrangheta, when as recently as four weeks ago, $193m in assets were seized, Dan Brown's masonic musings in The Lost Symbol, including the role of Freemasonry in British India and the little, researched influence on Indian Nationalism. Major Case Study: Investigating Freemasonry Today.

 

 

With or without a vaccine, the coronavirus will remain part of life well into next year. Alas, as I show in the article, some governments (including America’s and Britain’s) have been ruining the job. As illness, death, and disruption are terrible in rich countries, COVID-19 costs poor ones even more. Why Governments Get COVID-19 Wrong.

 

 

An Armenian soldier fires artillery during fighting with Azerbaijan’s forces this while a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down an Armenian warplane as fighting intensified near the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and fears grew of an outbreak of a new, full-scale war between Armenia and Azerbaijan:

 

The United Kingdom and Canada have imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his son, and other senior officials while French President Emmanuel Macron called for a "peaceful transition" in the country after he met the exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Lithuania on Tuesday. President Macron also visited a military base with Lithuania's president on Tuesday:

 

The last quarter of 2020 furthermore will be among others a waiting game -- like for example waiting for the results of the U.S. election in November, waiting on economic numbers, and waiting to see how the COVID-19 crisis plays out.

 

President Trump was taken to Walter Reed hospital out of caution after testing positive for Covid-19. At least seven people, including two U.S. senators, who had attended Saturday’s Rose Garden ceremony announcing Amy Coney Barrett as President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee have since tested positive for the coronavirus. The White House on Saturday created a startling amount of confusion on the timing of President Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis and the status of his health through conflicting statements, injecting an extraordinary degree of uncertainty into the nation’s understanding of the president’s condition and who may have been exposed to the deadly virus.

 

President Trump said he will not participate in the next presidential debate with Joe Biden after the commission said it will be held virtually. The Biden campaign rejected Trump's demand to delay the next two debates. Whereby the other news in the US was that thirteen people were charged Thursday in an alleged domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, federal and state officials announced.

 

Will we ever know the true toll that the coronavirus pandemic has taken on the globe? We have the tally provided by Johns Hopkins, but there is no way we can truly know how accurate the numbers are. This is especially the case in countries in which the numbers are manipulated to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic.

 

-The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the United Nations World Food Programme. “In the face of the pandemic, the World Food Program has demonstrated an impressive ability to intensify its efforts,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said as she announced the prize in Oslo.

 

-'The president is likely toast': Trump's woes raise GOP fears of a blue wave.

 

-More than 200 people have already been killed in fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed enclave populated largely by (Christian) Armenians that broke away from (Muslim) Azerbaijan as the Soviet Union collapsed. Armenia supported it during a war that killed tens of thousands of people. America and Russia helped bring about the ceasefire in 1994. But America has almost entirely abandoned the long, thankless slog of routine peace maintenance. In a world where the democratic superpower is resentful, consumed and distracted, averting wars is far harder. That is one reason why a recent rise in tension in the Taiwan Strait is causing alarm. Few expect an imminent Chinese invasion. But America’s commitment to the defense of Taiwan cannot be guaranteed.

 

India's confirmed coronavirus cases cross 7 million, second after US; last 1 million rise is within the last 13 days.

 

The pandemic has created a massive economic contraction that will be followed by a financial crisis in many parts of the globe, as nonperforming corporate loans accumulate alongside bankruptcies. Sovereign defaults in the developing world are also poised to spike. The Coming COVID-19 Economic Crisis.

 

Turkey threatens Armenia with direct military intervention in Karabakh War.

 

It remains the most audacious spy plot in British and American history, a bold and perilous operation to invade Russia, defeat the Red Army, and mount a coup in Moscow against Soviet dictator Vladimir Ilich Lenin. After that, leaders in Washington, Paris, and London aimed to install their Allied-friendly dictator in Moscow to get Russia back into the war effort against Germany. Along with the British and the French, the plot we now know had the “entire approval” of also President Woodrow Wilson. As he ordered a military invasion of Russia, he gave the American ambassador, the U.S. Consul General in Moscow, and other State Department operatives a free hand to pursue their covert action against Lenin. The result was thousands of deaths, both military and civilian, on both sides. Major Case Study: Spys Invade Russia P.1.

As a civil war began in Russia, Washington, London, and Paris worked to ally themselves with anti-Lenin forces, the Whites, and eventually, send troops. Their ultimate goal was to defeat the Red Army, mount a coup against Lenin and then install their Allied‑friendly dictator in Moscow as a means to get Russia back into the war. Covert American military aid would be laundered by the French and British, then passed along to the Cossacks in a plot to overthrow Lenin and the Bolsheviks. As Lansing suggested, some might say this was illegal. Still, Lansing directed Walter Hines Page, U.S. ambassador to Britain, to act “expeditiously” and confer with France and Britain on the matter. “This has my entire approval,” Wilson said. Major Case Study: Spys Invade Russia P.2.

 

To the surprise of some, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on troops to "put all (their) minds and energy on preparing for war" in a visit to a military base in the southern province of Guangdong on Tuesday, according to state news agency Xinhua. This came shortly after Beijing increased military drills around Taiwan. Almost 40 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line between the mainland and Taiwan on 18-19 September, one of several sorties the island's President Tsai Ing-wen called a "threat of force." Thus, President Xi Jinping was no doubt referring to, and some analysts say China could move against Taiwan should the U.S. presidential election result in political chaos, Reuters reported. Will A Coming Conflict Make The Military Disasters Of Vietnam, Afghanistan, And Iraq Pale In Comparison?

 

So far, American, French, and British diplomats in Russia have shared information. America and France had spies in Russia, but the British Secret Service had not contributed any high-level agents, but that changed now when Sydney Reilly and Bruce Lockhart joined the plot. Where the initial idea was to persuade Russia’s new Bolshevik leaders to continue the war and rebuild the Eastern Front against Germany, the Western powers soon devised an ambitious scheme to trigger regime change by landing troops at the ports of Vladivostok, Murmansk, and Archangel and there join with pro-tsar ‘White’ forces and armed Czechoslovak former prisoners of war who had seized control of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Major Case Study: Spys Invade Russia P.3.

Allied forces invaded Russia and fought the Red Army in an attempt to support the Moscow plotters. But Wilson and Prime Minister Clemenceau made a mistake in placing the U.S. and French troops under British command. Most British officers resented being shuffled off to a “sideshow” like Russia and took out their anger on the American and French troops under them. Some sanity arrived after the British commander was sacked and replaced with Brigadier General Edmund Ironside. Spys Invade Russia P.4.

 

Today a ‘Borat’ sequel has been released with an Election 2020 plot twist. Cohen told The Financial Times that he and his crew always planned to film and release the sequel ahead of the 2020 U.S. elections. “Borat is the perfect character for the Trump era because he is just a slightly more extreme version of Trump. They are both misogynistic and racist, they both don’t care about democracy, and they’re both laughable characters,” Cohen said. An article in today's NYT today added that Rudy Giuliani is just the latest in a long line of people pranked by Sacha Baron Cohen.

 

Perhaps the British agents knew nothing of SR plans, either in Ukraine or in Moscow, but gave them money for general purposes only. It is fair to wonder, however, whether some of his money might have helped to fund one assassination or the other, and appropriate to point out as well that in July 1918, with his country and Germany still at war, he would have had every reason to consider it money well spent. Spys Invade Russia P.5.

American Consul-General Poole sent a cyphered telegram (the Bolsheviks had not broken American codes) to Washington, DC. He anticipated acts of sabotage by the conspirators, then Allied intervention, clashes between Whites and Reds, and between General Poole’s advancing army and the Reds. The telegram said in part: "every effort must be made to remove allied functionaries and nationals from that part of Russia controlled by the Bolsheviks . . . this territory must be regarded as hostile." On 14 August 1918, two Latvians – Jan Sprogis and Captain Berzin of the Rifle Brigade – called on Lockhart. The brigade was disaffected from Bolshevism, they said, and ready to help its overthrow. This seemed to Lockhart and later to Reilly like the answer to a prayer. Lockhart promised money and Allied support to establish a free and independent Latvia and wrote the visitors safe-conduct passes to reach Poole. But both men, well primed by Peters, were Cheka double-agents. Spys Invade Russia P.6.

 

Taylor, the former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, was the anonymous author of The New York Times Op-Ed article in 2018 and the author of “A Warning,” a book he wrote the following year. Both roiled Washington and set off a hunt for his identity. He acknowledged that he was the author of both the book and the opinion article an interview and a three-page statement he posted online.

 

A Communist Party conclave concluded on Thursday with a rousing statement lauding President Xi as the party’s helmsman, affirming his broad mandate as the leader who will steer China through perilous waters for years to come. And as we further detail, the aggressive pursuit of claims to tiny rocks and submerged reefs, the elevation of Taiwan’s status to a question of existence, and the frequent provocations in the Himalayas reveal that these ‘sacred’ boundaries are largely twentieth-century innovations dreamed up by nationalist imaginations. This is the first of a three-part investigation. Major Case Study. The Secrets Of China's New Maps Unveiled.

 

Tonight around 8 pm local time an attempted terrorist attack took place in Vienna in the street (and the obvious target) where the Jewish Synagogue and Israeli Embassy next door are with a police officer who guarded the place shot. Reminiscent of an ISIS-type attack it began just hours before Austria was due to introduce new coronavirus restrictions, including a curfew from midnight to 6 am, and bars and restaurants in the network of narrow streets known to locals as the “Bermuda triangle” were packed. At least one attacker was identified, but more are believed to be involved. One, armed, attacker is believed to be still at large.

 

We all know, later today there will be the US election. But what if Trump refuses to accept US election defeat and go quietly. The Election Could Be A Highly Fluid Situation.

 

Variously called the Ambassadors' or Envoys' Plot was covered up in America for many years, yet it was studied and analyzed in the Russian spy school. And by many seen as the origin of the cold war, succeeding generations of Soviet bosses have used it to justify stealing thousands of Western military secrets. Spys Invade Russia P.7.

 

 

As present-day China retreated from Maoist communism in the late twentieth century, it searched for new ways to generate the loyalty of its citizens. One key foundation of its right to rule became ‘performance legitimacy’: the delivery of ever-higher living standards to most of the country’s population. However, proletarians and bourgeois cannot live by bread alone and the party also sought a new guiding idea to fill their souls and lead them in the right direction. The new people’s opium would be nationalism – not the kind that makes mobs march through the streets, but an official kind, defined by those at the top and stressing homogeneity and obedience. Whereby even the idea of the majority ethnic group in China, the Han, as the Chinese 'race' is a relatively new construct. This is the second of a three-part investigation. Major Case Study. The Re-Invention Of Chinese History, Nation, Language, And Territory.

 

At 5:00 am on this day in 1918, the Allied powers and Germany signed an armistice document in the railway carriage of Ferdinand Foch, the commander of the Allied armies, and thus the First World War came to an end. It is generally accepted that the First World War which at the time was seen as a clash of civilizations and a contest of rival national values still reverberates today. Almost every day it seemed possible that the crisis could be settled as so many had been over the previous decade; almost every day there was a new suggestion that gave statesmen hope that war could be avoided without abandoning vital interests. Major Case Study. A New Investigation About The First World War.

 

A sensation took place when on Monday the German company BioNTech and the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced via a press release that their jointly developed vaccine candidate had outperformed expectations in the crucial phase 3 trials, proving 90% effective in stopping people from falling ill. Will People Start To Be Inoculated By Mid-December As Is Claimed?

 

Our third part of analyzing China's nation-building. Problems stem from the country’s two contradictory views of the past. In the first, China sees itself in imperial terms, as the natural center of East Asia, where borders are immaterial to power. In the second, China sees itself in Westphalian terms, determined to incorporate every scrap of territory, every rock, and reef, within the homeland’s ‘sacred’ national border. The territory we recognize today as China bore the name of each successive dynasty that ruled it. Just as its name changed with the name of the dynasty, so did the shape of its borders and lands. This is an uncomfortable reality for the Chinese Communist Party today as it continues to make new claims in the name of historical "rights" to territories also claimed by its neighbors. Major Case Study. The Re-Invention Of Chinese History, Nation, Language, And Territory Part Three.

A video is projected on to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster:

 

Trump’s last-ditch efforts to overturn results so far have failed to make a dent in Biden's victory. With his denial of the outcome, Trump has endangered America’s democracy and duped supporters into believing, perhaps permanently, that Biden was elected illegitimately.

 

Obama on the cover of In Style Magazine:

 

The impact of Isaac Newton’s work is, in a word, legendary. The size of his groundbreaking treatise, known as the Principia, in which Newton laid out his three laws of motion, was until now thought to be small, partly reflecting a long-held notion that the book was virtually incomprehensible outside of a small circle of expert mathematicians. The volumes cover 27 countries on five continents, including Africa and Australia with nine copies that showed up in Japan. The astronomer Edmond Halley took it upon himself to present copies to influential people, including England’s King James II, Royal Society President Samuel Pepys, and German polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who is commonly credited with co-inventing calculus at the same time as Newton. A copy also likely went to Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

 

In a soon to be published book written by Tonio Andrade "The Last Embassy" tells the story of the Dutch mission of 1795, bringing to light a dramatic but little-known episode that transforms our understanding of the history of China and the West.

One challenge created by all of this psychological diversity is that we generally see and understand the world through our own cultural models and local intuitions. When policymakers, politicians, and military strategists infer how people in other societies will understand their actions, judge their behavior, and respond, they tend to assume perceptions, motivations, and judgments similar to their own. However, even when implemented perfectly, policies can have one effect in London or Zurich and very different effects in Baghdad or Mogadishu because the people in each of these places are psychologically distinct. Major Case Study. Developmental Forces In East And West As Drivers Of Psychological Change.

 

Visualizing the Human Impact on the Earth’s Surface

 

 

The History Channel has a series titled "Ancient Aliens" that claims to explore the controversial theory that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for millions of years from the dinosaurs' age to ancient Egypt and present what, as we will see, can be described as a sensationalized bricolage. Investigating The Ancient Aliens Theory.

 

The pandemic has reshaped expectations of higher education - but it’s also created an opportunity for institutions to accelerate their digital transformation. By providing more wellbeing resources, career support, and flexibility, universities can drive trust and support their students’ needs in the new normal.

 

Whereby The end of Europe's empires has so often been seen as a story of high politics and warfare, using the new technology of cheap printing presses, global travel, and the widespread use of French and English, young radicals from across Asia were able to communicate in ways simply not available before. These clandestine networks stretched to the heart of the imperial metropolises: to London, to Paris, but also increasingly to Moscow. They created a secret global network that was for decades engaged in bitter fighting with imperial police forces. They gathered in the great hubs of empire - Calcutta, Bombay, Singapore, Penang, Batavia, Hanoi, Shanghai, and Hong Kong - and plotted with ceaseless ingenuity, both through persuasion and terrorism, the end of the colonial regimes. Then on 24 July 1924 five at Canton when an unsuccessful attempt was made on the life of M Martial Henri Merlin, Governor-General of French Indochina. Major Case Study. Asia's Secret Networks Part One.

 

The myth of the absence of politics was shared across colonial Asia. In the Indies, the Dutch called the zaman normal, a return to ‘normal time’, or rather the pretense of it. Normal time revived the illusion that colonial governments could dictate political futures. Imperial regimes never provided an adequate answer to the question as to what precisely was on offer for colonial subjects who still sought to work within the system and its laws. The reality was, in most cases, far less than was offered earlier. Major Case Study. Asia's Secret Networks Part Two.

China had been thrown into a revolutionary ferment by the depredations of Western powers beginning with the First Opium War in 1839. As we have seen there were many grievances against the Qing emperor and the social structure, as had often been the case in Chinese history, but what ultimately discredited these entities was their failure to defend China and their obvious inadequacy compared to the leading powers. While anti-imperialism was already present therefore in the minds of Chinese intellectuals, Marxism was nearly nonexistent in China before the popular movement that began on May 4, 1919. Major Case Study. The Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang and its unexpected relationship with Communism: Asia's Secret Networks Part Three.

Very different from the Revolution in Russia the May 4, 1919 protests in China was a Nationalist reaction objecting to the decision of the victorious Allied powers at the Versailles conference to award former German possessions in the Shandong Peninsula to Japan. Yet the shock of defeat at the hands of foreigners had not only ignited nationalist sentiment it also slowly and fitfully led to a recognition that fundamental political, and economic changes would be necessary if China were to survive, let alone compete, in the modern world. The Chinese Communist Party was founded two years later with even the Nationalist Kuomintang developing a relationship with the Bolshevists in Moskau. Major Case Study. Asia's Secret Networks Part Four.

 

The most populous countries in the world are China, India, and the U.S—but global population trends may be shifting faster than you think:

 

After Nicholas II of Russia abdicated in 1917 meanwhile, the world's tempests outside blew directly into the households of Surabaya and Semarang. On seizing power, Vladimir Lenin had looked to Europe’s working classes to foster wider revolution. When that hope fizzled, the revolutionary potential of Asian peasantries, whom Lenin, like the colonialists, had hitherto deemed backward, was reassessed. Asian radicals were now summoned to Moscow. Major Case Study. Asia's Secret Networks Part Five.

 

In 1902, Japan allied with Britain in East Asia, and now events drew her closer to France. A series of sensationalist reports in the Écho de Paris in January 1905, headlined ‘The Yellow Peril,’ claimed that Japan planned to use Taiwan, now also a colony of Japan, as a base to attack the French in Indochina. By strange osmosis of animosity and opportunism, Japan responded by strengthening ties with France. A Franco-Japanese Treaty was signed in 1907, and the French immediately used it to pressure on Japan’s Vietnamese émigrés. As the Governor-General of Indochina explained it to the minister of the colonies in Paris in July 1908, the people of Vietnam could not be indifferent ‘to the events occurring in this theatre of nations’ when their country, because of its long border with Siam, rail links to China and sea lanes to the ports of China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, lay in the middle of ‘the great Far Eastern highway.’ Major Case StudyAsia's Secret Networks Part Six.

 

In June 1919, a petition circulated among delegates to the peace conference at Versailles. The “Demands of the Annamite People” claimed to speak for the inhabitants of the part of French Indochina that is today the heart of Vietnam. “Nguyen the Patriot” (today better known as Ho Chi Minh) was in some way important. They were to maintain that conviction for more than three decades. Briefly, Nguyen Ai Quoc would break cover, for instance, to address political meetings in Paris, scruffily dressed. Yet the expanding secret-police files on him reflected official frustration. He lied about his age, name, origins, and profession. He changed his accent to suit. Time and again, Nguyen Ai Quoc slipped like quicksilver through the fingers of imperial powers. His shadow was found in libraries, cafés, and boarding houses across France, in port cities such as Singapore and New York, and even in the London suburb of Ealing; one rumor had him as a pastry chef under the great Escoffier. His writings surfaced in illicit journals in China and Korea. But just when the Sûreté Générale picked up his scent again, he was gone. Major Case StudyAsia's Secret Networks Part Seven.

Xiang Jingyu, head of the Women’s Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, was executed by the Kuomintang in Hankou, 1928.

 

A recent article asked will the COVID-19 vaccine bet in China pay off? An emergency use authorization, based on China’s Vaccine Management Law, allows the use of unapproved vaccine candidates among people at high risk of infection for a limited period of time. Chinese Vaccine And Patriotic Drive.

 

Transnational Asia was without borders. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1867 brought the west dramatically closer. Asia's wealth, goods, and styles had never been more accessible to the European public. It was a time of great ‘universal’ expositions – Paris in 1900, Brussels in 1910, the Festival of Empire in London in 1911 – which brought in colonial products, and even imperial subjects, as objects of curiosity. The London extravaganza of 1911 – together with the Imperial Institute in South Kensington, imperial-themed clubs, museums and monuments, and the Imperial College of Science and Technology – marked the crescendo of attempts to fashion London into a city that better reflected its world-encompassing status. It was certainly a lure to its new colonial subjects. This was still a world of circulating monarchs, and Indian and Malay princes gravitated to the courts of Europe and took the waters at their aristocratic playgrounds, in a reprise of the old Grand Tour. Major Case StudyAsia's Secret Networks Part Eight.

 

Europe's first wave vs its second wave. Notice for example Slovakia initially was a poster boy of successfully dealing with the virus but then recently had to declare a national state of emergency. Similarly in Slovenia.

 

In our further research, we highlight among others the High Treason Incident (大逆事件, Taigyaku Jiken), which provoked an unprecedented press blackout with the trials held in camera. Nevertheless, in the way it polarized opinion, it became the ‘Dreyfus Affair of Japan.’ Also the so-called Delhi Conspiracy case. It was later shown that Rash Behari Bose threw the bomb. He successfully evaded capture for nearly three years, becoming involved in the Ghadar conspiracy before it was uncovered. Bose fled to Japan in 1915, under the alias of Priyanath Tagore, a relative of Rabindranath Tagore. There, Bose found shelter with various Pan-Asian groups. Major Case Study. Asia's Secret Networks Part Nine.

 

 

After Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicated in 1917, the world's tempests outside blew directly into the households of Surabaya and Semarang. On seizing power, Vladimir Lenin had looked to Europe’s working classes to foster wider revolution. When that hope fizzled, the revolutionary potential of Asian peasantries, whom Lenin, like the colonialists, had hitherto deemed backward, was reassessed. Asian radicals were now summoned to Moscow. Major Case Study. Asia's Secret Networks Part Ten.

 

This shows when the coronavirus vaccine will be widely available. Rich countries will have their population vaccinated way earlier than poor countries. That said, Africa as a whole managed the pandemic better than most of the rich West.

 

Perhaps the simplest indication of the different natures of the respective revolutions is the difference in the terms that Russians and Chinese use, to this day, to describe their own revolutions. In Russian, the period before 1917 is referred to as dorevoliutsionnyi, literally “prerevolutionary.” In Chinese, however, the period before 1949 is not called geming qian, “before the revolution,” but rather jiefang qian, “before the liberation.” Though similar means were adopted by both sides, at least until the late 1970s, the underlying aims of the two revolutions were different, a fact that would impact not only the domestic conduct of the revolution but also understandings of global processes and historical trends and, ultimately, the respective abilities of each side to reform. In this section, we cover topics like Henk Sneevliet's task as instilling Comintern discipline in China, sovereignty (the 'lost' countries), Canton as one of the most unruly and radical of China’s cities, sovereignty (the 'lost' countries), Siam, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Japan, and so on...Major Case Study. Asia’s Secret Networks Part Eleven.

 

Whereas the US still has to manage its relations with China, which extends far beyond the regional canvas. The dilemma the US cannot escape is how to integrate into the international system a rising power which will eat into American predominance in the world, much more difficult is this in South-East Asia countries. South-East Asia Between China And The US.

 

Lights are projected on the Louvre’s Pyramid during a rehearsal of David Guetta’s ‘United at Home’ concert that will be broadcast for New Year’s Eve.

 

A Few Countries To Look Out For The Next Six Months.

 

China watcher Andrew Chubb recently wrote that "if Xi Jinping was to conclude that Indian nationalist sentiments are so strong as to make escalation inevitable, then he might be inclined to strike first, as Mao did in 1962." However, this statement has a whole background that remains underresearched as we shall see to date. In a year that challenged policymakers across the world, one development will perhaps have the most significant long-term impact in the Indo-Pacific, the ongoing standoff between India and China in the Himalayas. Major Case Study. Investigating The India-China Standoff Part One.

There are several global developments jostling for the world’s attention right now - the upcoming inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, Britain’s exit from the European Union, a worrying hack of U.S. government systems, and the race to administer coronavirus vaccines across the planet. Amid these major news stories, the 8-month-old military standoff in the Himalayas between Asia’s two biggest countries, China and India, has fallen off the radar of global concern. While pundits agree that Asia is the site of an ongoing shift in the global power balance, what gets little attention is how New Delhi’s reworking of military priorities, forced by events on the disputed Sino-Indian border, will have far-reaching geopolitical consequences for the world. Major Case Study. Investigating The India-China Standoff Part Two.

In off-the-record conversations, Indian officials accept that a diplomatic solution to the Ladakh crisis is unlikely because of how the two countries have different understandings of the status quo. These officials consider the army’s performance and sustenance through this winter as the critical factor for their plans to deal with Chinese aggression in Ladakh. They contend that if the Indian soldiers manage to get through the next few months relatively unscathed, New Delhi will have found an answer to its troubles with Beijing. Major Case Study: Investigating The India-China Standoff Part Three.

 

Lasting till 5 February Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in China have opened to visitors, featuring frozen towers, palaces, and castles Revealing Harbin’s Interesting Russian History.

 

COVID-19 jabs will eventually help tourism start again, but expect a trip full of immunity passports, mouthwash tests, and weary travelers. What Vaccines Mean For The Return Of The Travel.

 

While the counter-culture of the 1960s marked a distinct period in popularising a variety of ‘eastern’ religions and spiritualities in the global context, its influence has often been over-estimated. Occultists explored the ‘hippy trail,’ alternative religions, in the early twentieth century, marked a ‘widening of the road’ rather than the paving of new ground of what became an estimated $11.56 billion business. Investigating The Invention Of Yoga.

 

The Chinese Army has constructed an underground facility (UGF) barely 50 km from the India-China border, and just 60 km from the Indian forward posts at Demchok in Ladakh. So far, there was just one UGF in Tibet, with another one being a bit away in the Xinjiang Region. Seen here are members from the People's Liberation Army who for the first time walk along the Pakistan border in Xinjiang:

 

Italy’s largest mafia trial in three decades will begin tomorrow with a high-security 1,000-capacity courtroom, 900 witnesses testifying against more than 350 people, including politicians and officials. But there is an odd aspect to this, Freemasonry. Italy's Underground Freemasonry.

 

Today millions of people watched an apparently well-documented video about Putin's rise to power and the oligarch who followed him. Striking is also that Alexei Navalny was willing to release it while in a Russian jail:

 

Following the article we posted on 6 July 2019, we received a lot of mails asking for more information when we reported that "Prince Michael of Albany"alias Lafosse's center of activities became the Czech Republic, where he is the 'Grandmaster' of 'order' listed among the self-proclaimed knightly orders in the Czech Republic. Lafosse And The Královský Řád Moravských Rytířů Svatých Rastislava A Kolumbana.

 

In the middle of the seventeenth century, statesmen and scholars all over Europe looked at China as a beacon of commercial, intellectual, and cultural potential, offering the promise of wealth as well as global civilizational convergence. Russia’s earliest ventures eastward became interesting to a variety of audiences as an indication that this convergence was to be realized together with Europe’s commercial ambitions. In the end, it was the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion that provided the Russian Empire with the opportunity to negotiate from a position of strength. In the following article, we look at early Russian spycraft. Imperial Russia And Qing China.

 

 

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was freed after serving 30 days in jail on Monday - but was then immediately detained and jailed for a further 20 days on charges of staging an illegal protest.

 

Taking advantage of the withdrawal of the Russian state from Siberia after the Bolshevik Revolution and the general weakness of warlord-era Republican China, Buryat nationalists seized their opportunity to establish a new nation along the Russo-Chinese border. Initially, their interests coincided with those of Japanese pan-Asianists. The story of the Buryat national movement in 1919 moves us away from both empire-centric and Eurocentric views of the history of East Asia in the early twentieth century. The Japanese Attempt To Solve The Mongol Question.

 

 

In the following article, we show that the Enlightenment was not a blank slate on which Europeans sketched a new world. It was more like a piece of old parchment imperfectly scraped clean, still bearing traces of past ideas around which modernity took shape. Rather, magical beliefs and occult systems were part of the natural philosophies that proliferated in the Enlightenment. Whose Enlightenment?

 

While initially it was expected that Beijing would send troops into Hong Kong which in fact later was confirmed that this was the plan, it does not come as a surprise China's parliament has backed a new security law for Hong Kong which would make it a crime to undermine Beijing's authority in the territory. There is a new brand of diplomacy taking hold in Beijing and its chief architects have a suitably fierce nickname to match their aggressive style, they are the wolf warriors. China’s move however also has implications far beyond Hong Kong. China's Larger Geostrategic Game.

 

As recently once more explained in The Yogasūtra of Patañjali: A New Introduction to the Buddhist Roots of the Yoga System by Pradeep P. Gokhale (29 May 2020) much of what is said about yoga is misleading. It is neither five thousand years old, as is commonly claimed, nor does it mean union, at least not exclusively. In perhaps the most famous text, as Gokhale details, the aim is separation, isolating consciousness from everything else. As for the popularization of Yoga in the West, this in turn was influenced by the notion of occultism and modern physical culture. The Re-Invention Of Yoga.

 

Invoking an 1807 law threatening military to take control throughout the USA President Trump next posed with a bible in front of a church:

 

On 28 May 2020 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, and others paid tributes to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who popularized the term Hindutva. Today exemplified by Modi Savarkar is loved by the Hindu right with centrists and Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists, in India, not to mention Kashmir, having a different opinion. Major Case Study: The Hindu Right In Context.

Ein Bild, das Person, Mann, suchend, Tisch enthält.

Automatisch generierte Beschreibung

 

In an interesting twist today reporting came in that three men were arrested Saturday on the way to a protest in downtown Las Vegas after filling gas cans at a parking lot and making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles. An informant stated that the “idea behind the explosion was to hopefully create civil unrest and rioting" whereby the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Wednesday said they self-identified as part of a movement, which U.S. prosecutors said in the document is to signify coming civil war and/or fall of civilization. White Supremacists As A Growing Menace.

 

Because I soon will be involved with a number of travels and upcoming presentations one earlier subject that I like to bring to a degree of completion is the Wandering Bishop subject at the end of a discussion about the mimic Order of St John that I hoped to come back to that at a later point. From Tribulations Of The Old Catholic Church To An Alleged Order Of St.John.

 

Dickens on Westminster Abbey:

 

With protesters who have created an“Autonomous Zone” in the center of Seattle, A&E announcing today that itis stopping production of "Live PD", various mayors in the US that ban chokehold, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti who said today that the United States past few days have been traumatic. The Keystone Of A Worldwide Movement.

 

Beijing fears second wave of coronavirus after spike shuts market:

 

Atlanta police chief resigns after officer fatally shoots black man on Friday night:

 

Worst India-China clash in decades: 20 Indian troops killed, see our updated article about the Ladakh fighting. The genesis of the current crisis has to do with India's revocation last year of the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir, and the splitting of the former Indian state into two territories.

 

Yesterday a monument of Albert Pike was removed in Wahington D.C. The statue was erected by the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry and depicted Pike on a granite pedestal, which features the allegorical Goddess of Masonry, who holds the banner of the Scottish Rite. And while protesters accurately saw Pike as a senior officer in the Confederate Army, the US Congress at the time was satisfied with the Masons’ reassurance that Pike would be depicted as a civilian rather than as a soldier. But so one of the interesting questions here also is: What Was The Scottish Rite To Begin With?

 

First day of summer (summer solstice) with the Fête de la musique in Paris today:

Seventy years ago today, the North Korean People’s Army of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) swept south across the 38th parallel. This had divided the Korean peninsula as The Allies drove out Japanese troops at the end of the Second World War. On the 27e the US announced it would send forces that soon were to rule Pyongyang. But the US never declared war. Apart from the US, fifteen other nations sent combat troops to aid South Korea under the United Nations Command. Chinese troops intervened on the North Korean side. A war that, for many, however, is still very much alive. Major Case Study: The Korean War In Context.

 

  

 

People celebrate COVID Farewell on Prague's Charles Bridge:

 

Filling the news cycle since 25 May has been the issue of racism in the US which soon also led the UK to re-examine its colonial history. A recent development came yesterday when the Belgian King gave in to a standing recommendation by the United Nations to apologize by sending his 'regrets' to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (but stopped short of apologizing). Staying with the US, we delved into the surprisingly under-researched history of how modern slavery developed. Or when a Spanish-led invasion in 1526 brought enslaved Africans who, together with American Indians, rebelled and destroyed the Spanish capacity to sustain their would-be colony, in turn, made a place for the English to establish a permanent settlement. Major Case Study: London, Madrid, And The Creation Of Washington, D.C.

 

After a deadly clash with India, China today makes a new claim on the eastern border with Bhutan. Tenzing Lamsang, Editor of the Bhutanese newspaper in Thimphu typified the Chinese claims as a pressure tactic. China's New Claim About The Border With Bhutan.

 

On 7 July 1898, the US annexed the Hawaiian Islands while deposing the last Hawaiian Monarch Queen Liliuokalani. This paved the way for the islands to become a territory (1900) and later a U.S. state (1959). Yet it deserves mentioning that the Hawaiian Kingdom was the first non-Western state to achieve full recognition as a co-equal of Western powers, notably England, France, and Belgium. The Hawaiian kingdom’s nineteenth-century vision of a Polynesian confederation was a political project to create a Hawaiian-led entity encompassing Fiji, Tahiti, Samoa, and Tonga. Rediscovering Hawaii's Place In The Pacific.

 

Floodwaters are discharged at the Three Gorges Dam in China.

 

Voting underway in Poland:

 

The sweeping new security law in Hong Kong has further eroded what little support there was in Taiwan for unifying with the mainland. If China makes Taiwan its next target, it would not be surprising. However, if Beijing takes recourse to similar measures in Taiwan, it would have severe geopolitical consequences and far-reaching implications. After Hong Kong Deterrence Vs Taiwan?

 

On July 14, 1789, Paris was in a state of alarm as crowds were storming the Bastille. Meanwhile, celebrations held in Paris today to commemorate the event’s 231st anniversary were firmly characterized by European history’s latest chapter, the coronavirus pandemic. “To all those involved in the fight against the pandemic, to all the caregivers who have saved so many lives since the start of the crisis: July 14 pays you homage,” read a message posted on the Elysée’s official Twitter account.

 

Dr. Fauci on the cover of Style Magazine:

 

As the reason for his currently bestselling book, Michael Shellenberger writes: Much of what people are being told about the environment, including the climate, is wrong, and we desperately need to get it right. I decided to write Apocalypse Never after getting fed up with the exaggeration, alarmism, and extremism that is the enemy of humanistic, and rational environmentalism. Apocalypse Never:

 

A member of the expedition sent to Everest to find George Mallory's camera.

 

From Oxford University offers the best hope for the Covid-19 vaccine this year, or Coronavirus Vaccine developers rise after Dr. Fauci's comments (not to mention that the Russians tried to hack them) the new  Moderna vaccine and a 'game-changing' coronavirus antibody test, Vaccine research is worth delving into. How The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Play Out In The Next Few Years.

A new forecast from Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington says the world’s population will peak at 9.7bn in 2064, well below the UN’s latest projections:

 

We are mapping the world’s urban population, on the left, the year 2018 on the right is 2050.

 

 

 

 

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