The Beginning of Geopolitical Upheaval and a New Economic Order in 2017

After talking about the geopolitically obstructionist nature of the Russian hacking theory in my last post, one might wonder exactly what the Globalists in the DC establishment are obstructing. We already know what the obstructionists want: open borders, the outsourcing of jobs in the “pivot to the Asia,” coziness with the Saudis, endless foreign wars and conflicts, and so on. But what does Trump, and most tellingly, one of his appointees tell us about his geopolitical goals over the next four or eight years in office?

United States

Many are wondering how Trump plans to fund an infrastructure repair bill while cutting taxes. The money has to come from somewhere, and repatriation of trillions of dollars from offshore accounts, foreign investment from allies like Japan, and lots of deregulation are keys for the Trump administration. Repatriation of funds is paramount, or else the administration will fall into the standard establishment protocol of Big Government Republicanism and running up the national debt.

In order to win back trillions of dollars in repatriation, Trump, through his appointees, has called for the establishment of a new economic order. For the position of Secretary of the Treasury, Trump has nominated Steven Mnuchin. Although many immediately took notice of Mnuchin’s membership in Skull and Bones and Goldman Sachs, few know the interesting details of his background.

According to Catherine Austin-Fitts, former Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and founder of The Solari Report, Steven Mnuchin is the son of Robert Mnuchin, the man who ran the equity trading desk at Goldman Sachs.

“When I worked there in the summer of 1977, I used to take some of the courses in the equity sales intern program and knew all those guys, which is how I met his dad. If you wanted to understand everything about equity on the planet, all you had to do was sit on that trading floor. Bob Mnuchin ran the arbitrage desk on that trading floor. You’re talking about somebody with unbelievably deep ties for generations in the equity world.”

The Solari Report- The Trump Transition with Dr. Joseph Farrell [PDF]

In other words, the Mnuchins are Goldman Sachs royalty, identifying at least one group of the deep state who have splintered from the Globalists and aligned with Trump. Catherine also notes how Steven Mnuchin was working closely with the architects of the housing market collapse, siphoning trillions of dollars out of the US economy and taking it elsewhere.

“So the idea of taking the people who engineered the financial coup d’état and using them to bring the money back is certainly interesting. If you’re talking about a machine that has real power, the question is: Can you get it to have a positive return to the taxpayer?”

The Solari Report- The Trump Transition with Dr. Joseph Farrell [PDF]

That is indeed the question at hand. When the old Soviet Bloc countries transitioned to capitalism, debt/equity swaps and equity trading gave insolvent governments a way to restructure their debts by selling off state-owned assets. In Russia, this was done under the Yeltsin regime to benefit pro-Western factions within the Russian deep state, factions that still do not see eye-to-eye with Vladimir Putin.

The lure of privatization could be very effective at repatriating money to the US. For example, the privatization of space required a huge amount of fixed capital, technological development, and innovation, but the lucrative prospects of asteroid mining and space tourism drew in investors and entrepreneurs from around the world. Of course, the financial predators wait in the wings, licking their teeth at the prospect of the classic “pump and dump” to line their own pockets at the expense of society.

Trump’s call for a new economic order is a shift away from debt based finance, centralization and Globalization and a move towards innovation, privatization, and deregulation.

The Middle East

Israeli officials said they felt betrayed last week when the Obama administration decided not to veto a UN resolution condemning Israel’s territorial expansion. Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to condemn the resolution and demand its repeal.

“The 342-to-80 vote reflected the bipartisan nature of Congress’s support for Israel. Almost all of the votes against the resolution came from Democrats, and a handful of Democrats also voted ‘present.'”

House votes to condemn U.N. security council resolution on Israeli settlements

This is yet another attempt by Globalist stalwarts to sabotage and obstruct any return to a detente policy and to force the next administration back into the status quo. Israel has recently accepted Russian investments and cooperation exploiting the Leviathan gas field, a venture that Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson would be very familiar with.

In Turkey, we have what would appear to be even more obstructionism and sabotage with the assassination of a Russian ambassador at an art exhibition. The assassin claimed revenge for Russia’s actions in Syria, but the only effect this has had has been to embolden and inflame political hardliners backing both Putin and Erdogan, putting pressure on them to act against the West, and sabotaging any possibility of rapprochement between the US and Russia.

With the US becoming energy independent, and the silent, unremarked upon death of “peak oil,” don’t expect the Trump administration to be anywhere nearly as cozy with the Saudis as a Hillary Clinton administration would have been. The Saudis have been trying to sell off ownership of their state-run oil industry in an attempt to diversify their economy- dealing mostly with defense technology and arms manufacturing. Globalist carbon policies dictated this process, but the unexpected victory of Trump, who doesn’t believe in Climate Change, have caused the Saudis to prepare for a future that hasn’t arrived yet, and may not arrive for a while longer.

Asia

After President Obama spoke at a memorial in Hiroshima, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to Pearl Harbor to commemorate those killed in action. There has been a sincere desire by both sides (and maybe all of the US factions) to reaffirm our alliance with Japan. With Russia somewhat uneasy over the Chinese takeover of the South China Sea, Putin has welcomed Japanese investment in Siberian gas ventures and worked to resolve the Kuril Islands territorial dispute.With all of this recent fence mending, it would appear that Japan is establishing a position of detente. Given the location of the country, and the conflict between the US and China to control trade around the Pacific Rim, it’s not a bad idea. Expect Japan to play a vital part of any rapprochement between the US and Russia.

On Christmas day, a Russian plane carrying the Alexandrov Ensemble, formerly the Red Army Choir, to a Russian military base in Syria crashed into the Black Sea minutes after take off. The day after, Vladimir Putin declared a day of mourning, and investigations have concluded that it was an accident. But with the recent assassination of a Russian ambassador in Turkey and the flimsy Russian hacking theory being aired on most news networks in the US, I would not be surprised to discover Globalist involvement to – you guessed it – obstruct Trump.

Similar to the assassination in Turkey, the death of the Alexandrov Ensemble, and suspicions of foul play, have been whipping up the Russian hardliners backing Putin to act against the US and pro-Western factions in Russia.

Europe

In Europe, and the EU, the struggle between centralization and sovereignty continues. While the British establishment are still trying to hold back the triggering of Article 50, many European Parliament politicians have become concerned over the formation of an EU military. They have pointed out that such an army would be redundant to NATO, except even more bloated and bureaucratic. Any proposed EU army would also suffer from the same complications in coordination and logistics that NATO suffers from- i.e. language barriers and the need for mass standardization. On top of that, the US and the UK, two of the largest military powers in the world, will not be members of the EU, excluding their military might from an EU army.

In other troubling news, Yves Chandelon, the NATO Auditor General and the man in charge of investigating the international funding of terrorism, was found dead from a gunshot wound in Brussels. The official cause of death has been ruled a suicide, but Chandelon’s family disagrees. Could this be an effort by the Globalists to cover for their friends Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar? It is these three nations who have been implicated in the funding and nurturing of ISIS. Or perhaps this is a measure by the Globalists to rid themselves of further oversight, so they can continue their clandestine operations to manipulate world affairs well after President Obama leaves office.

Taiwan and Other Tenuous Relationships in the North Pacific

A simple congratulatory call from the president of Taiwan to President-elect Donald Trump has ruffled Beijing’s feathers. One week prior, the Chinese were flying nuclear-capable bombers around the island country, perhaps signaling a warning to Taiwanese nationalists not to act up.

“According to a press release from the Trump transition team about the phone call, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen offered her congratulations and Trump offered the same to her for her election victory this year. They discussed the ‘close economic, political, and security ties between Taiwan and the United States,’ the Trump transition team said.”

China Lodges Diplomatic Protest After Trump’s Call With Taiwan’s President

Since 1949, Taiwan has been a particularly sensitive area for Chinese internal politics. In fact, you could call it an old wound that has never completely healed over. When Mao Zedong and the PLA won the Chinese Civil War with the help of the Soviets, the deposed government was the Republic of China (ROC) under Chiang Kai-shek, and they were forced to abandon their capital and set up a government in exile on Taiwan. Since then, there has been no armistice, no cease-fire signed between the two Chinese factions. Both governments, the PRC and the ROC, claim to be the legitimate government of China, but the Communists held the mainland, and when Nixon came around to open up relations with China, he chose to negotiate with the PRC.

Although Chiang Kai-shek lead the Nationalist Party and the Republic of China for most of the 20th century, the ROC was first lead by Sun Yat-sen, a doctor, political philosopher, and revolutionary who was born in China, but received an education from American schools in Hawaii. Sun believed in decentralizing power and developing a federal republic of smaller states similar to the US. He lead the rebellion that overturned the last Chinese emperor and the Qing Dynasty. A photo of Sun Yat-sen is featured above.

With the death of the TPP, US foreign policy in the Pacific Rim has stalled, but this contact between the President-elect and the president of Taiwan could be taken as a sign of changing relationships between the US and China.

The whole northern Pacific area is a bit of a work in progress for both China and Russia. Right on their doorstep is North Korea, a nuclear powder keg being run by a megalomaniac. Below the 38th parallel is South Korea, a bastion of Western influence and home to nearly 30,000 US troops. Further east is Japan, who are currently rearming and overhauling their military forces in response to China’s aggression in the South China Sea. Japan has also established its own balance of power, working economically with Russia as a counterbalance for Chinese expansion.

Japan’s recent rapprochement with Russia has also helped to settle the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands. The Russians agreed to return two of the four islands to Japan, but on the territory they’ve kept, they’ve installed missile systems with a 375 mile effective range.

“The disagreement over the Pacific islands, seized by the Soviet Union in the final days of World War II, has kept the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their wartime hostilities.

“Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been pushing for progress in the dispute over the islands, called the southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.

“The sparsely inhabited islands lie just north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, in an area rich in natural resources, and they also serve as a strategic vantage point for the Russian military. Last month, Japan protested after Russia announced the deployment of new anti-ship missiles on Pacific islands to the Kurils.”

Russia warns Japan not to expect quick progress on islands

The Chinese are already very busy taking over the South China Sea, stabilizing the Yuan, and building infrastructure along with other long-term geopolitical goals. Having to deal with Taiwanese nationalism may be another issue for China to juggle, and the possibility of a currency war turning into an all-out trade war with the US could threaten China’s ability to coordinate and fund big projects that require heavy, fixed capital.

How Will Russia and China’s Asian Strategy Deal With Trump?

President-elect Trump’s meeting this past Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have been conducted in an unofficial capacity, but it should still worry the US’s rivals. Japan, growing nervous of China’s expansionism, has been cozying up to Russia, who views Japan as a potential ally, counterbalance and check to China’s growth in the Pacific.

Counterbalancing Chinese influence would be prudent as China is introducing their own free trade agreement, the RECP, in the wake of the political death of the Globalist TPP. China’s proposal would include Australia, Japan, and India, aiming to govern and regulate 40% of the world’s trade. The Chinese, who along with the Russians have been suffering from a severely compressed timeline for their operations due to the oil glut and economic sanctions, will have to speed up their operations even further as Trump’s protectionist tariffs could severely impact China’s exports. But I speculate that China’s military infrastructure in the South China Sea, the mechanism responsible for the enforcement of any prospective trade deal, will not be able keep pace with the speed up in negotiations and planning.

One possible indication of these forthcoming protectionist policies is a Congressional advisory commission’s annual report recommending that Congress block Chinese state-run firms from buying up American businesses.

“Carolyn Bartholomew, the Democratic-appointed vice chairman of the review commission, said that while China restricts foreign investment with laws banning foreign participation in large swaths of its economy, Chinese companies face no such obstacles in the U.S.”

Congress urged to bar U.S. acquisitions by China state firms

China is facing more severe, long-term problems in Trump, who wants to reorganize the world economy and renegotiate the Globalist trade deals that have benefited countries like China since the 90’s. Trump also doesn’t believe in the climate change apocalypse, calling it a Chinese plot. Although nobody can deny that the smog and pollution over Beijing is real, the Chinese are relying on climate change/rising sea level hysteria to fuel interest and investment in their renewable energy industry from island nations in the Southeast Pacific.

Heavily invested in technologies like solar, China has agreed to join Japan in a proposal to integrate the countries of the Pacific Rim into one massive electrical “super grid” running entirely on renewable energy. However, the project is a long-term infrastructure deal requiring huge amounts of fixed capital over the next 34 years, so nothing is set in stone at this time.

“The entire idea is contingent on ultra high voltage power transmission lines, thousands of miles operating at more than 1,000 kilovolts AC/800 kilovolts DC. High voltages reduce losses over long distances, and both Russia and Japan already have hundreds (in Russia’s case thousands) of miles of ultra high voltage lines up and running. These pale in comparison to China’s infrastructure; since 2009 China has built nearly 10,000 miles of UHV power lines, with about the same again to come online in the next two years.

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“The larger GEIDCO’s interconnected web of renewable energy becomes, the more stable the supply is, because it’s less dependent on individual sources, so moving toward a global energy network that shares power from Greenland to South Africa, Australia to Switzerland is the ultimate goal.”

Asian “super grid” the first step towards a global, interconnected, renewable energy grid

In their mission to overturn the Western hegemony, Russia and China have split their duties to depress the US economy before ultimately shutting it out.

Russia and its Iranian allies have been using military force to exploit the US quagmire in the Middle East. By intervening in Syria and taking on ISIS, Russia looks like a stabilizing force and Putin accumulates political capital, which he uses to gain access to oil and business ventures in the Middle East and to form economic unions in Asia. Putin even cut oil deals with a disgruntled Israel, still upset over their treatment by the Obama administration and the Iran deal. By increasing their influence over world oil production, Russia can cut into the value of the petrodollar with their oil-ruble, and maybe end the oil glut which has stalled their economy.

On the other front, China’s offensives concern economic and monetary policy. Before the yuan was given reserve currency status by the IMF, it was being decoupled from the dollar’s exchange rate and strategically devalued to help China recover from their stock market crash and to slightly advantage Chinese exports at the expense of the US. Looking forward, the Chinese are developing technologies like the “super grid” to construct a framework for a renewable energy industry. The goal is to get in front of and shut out the US from dominating any forthcoming, Eco-friendly world energy market, designed to heavily favor green energy through policies that the Chinese and Globalists have been calling for. Policies like carbon taxes, carbon credits, carbon markets and their accompanying commodity games for Wall Street to play with.

But now, Trump, with his disregard for climate change and Globalist trade deals, will force them to fundamentally revise their strategies. Trump will have to step carefully as spoiling China’s green energy super grid plan could push the balance of power and world energy markets into the hands of Putin’s oil industry, or vice-versa. The President-elect said during his campaign speeches that he would invest in all forms of energy. That would be a good start.

The Nuclear Powder Keg of The Pacific

If you’ve been watching the news at all you’ll know that North Korea has just recently completed its fifth nuclear bomb test on September 8th, being well on its way to becoming a nuclear power. The repercussions of this potential reality reverberate throughout the region and surely weigh on the minds of both Chinese and American strategists competing for control over the South China Sea. If China wishes to control the region’s maritime trade and natural resources, they must first push out American influence.

As long as American forces are stationed on the 38th parallel, US military commanders are going to make absolutely sure that the US and its allies have freedom of movement within the South China Sea. If the 60 year armistice between North and South Korea should suddenly end, and US forces on the 38th parallel are deployed into battle, necessary supplies, equipment, and reinforcements supplied by maritime shipping could be cut off by Chinese control over shipping lanes. If China takes the shipping lanes nonetheless, the Americans may threaten to withdraw their forces, potentially uncorking the nuttiness of North Korea on the region. In such an event, China would also have to accept shouldering the burden of dealing with the regime while putting themselves in the unenviable position of having to mediate between the North and South. But before China can do that, it must first prove to its neighbors that it can be the primary guarantor of security in the region instead of the US, and now that North Korea is going nuclear, the Chinese are going to have to redouble their efforts to make their case.

After decades of isolationism and xenophobia towards the international community, dictators Kim il-Sung and Kim Jong-il turned North Korea into a pariah state. Policy was formed around the twin pillars of collectivist centralization and national self-reliance to combat foreign dependency. Although the North Korean economy, culture, education system and other fundamental aspects are controlled by the state in a fashion similar to communism, a lone “Supreme Leader” has dictatorial control over the state rather than a supreme Soviet. As we have seen with communism, the dynamics of such a completely closed system are virtually guaranteed to break down and seize up over time without expansion, an option that North Korea does not have. Due to the inherent inefficiencies associated with top-down management, large collectivist movements and social programs, and the bureaucracy associated with the accumulation of 70 years worth of policies, the North Korean system began to break down and famine became widespread and regular.

When asked to characterize the North Korean style of government, you’ll often hear it described as a one-party state, a family dictatorship, or “self-reliant socialism.” But none of these terms are very descriptive or entirely accurate. To really understand what kind of government North Korea has, one simply has to read the Wikipedia entry on their official political ideology, Juche.

Kim Il-sung (1912–1994) developed the ideology – originally viewed as a variant of Marxism–Leninism – to become distinctly “Korean” in character, breaking ranks with the deterministic and materialist ideas of Marxism–Leninism and strongly emphasizing the individual, the nation state and its sovereignty. (Emphasis added)

A nationalist form of Marxist socialism? If that sounds a lot like the Nazis, that’s exactly what it is. Rather than a fuhrer, there is the supreme leader, and the official party of the state, the Worker’s Party of Korea, sounds eerily similar to the German Worker’s Party. State-run propaganda is omnipresent and centralized controls are placed on media and culture in the form of censorship and narrative building. The foundation of the Kims’ supreme leader cult is actually Korean ethnic nationalism, or the idea of the Korean people existing as their own race. Leaders like Kim Jong-Un are touted as the saviors of the Korean race, taking all of this nationalist, ethnic pride in a strangely Aryan direction. In effect, North Korea has a socialist system of government more similar to the Nazis than the Soviets.

After massive flooding in the 1990’s devastated crops as well as food reserves, the regime relented and began accepting outside food aid. What little arable land North Korea uses to grow food has been suffering from soil erosion and mineral depletion for years, an apt metaphor for the dynamics of closed systems. The current fuhrer, Kim Jong-Un, understands that the dear leader cult, the center of his power and the keystone of the North Korean power structure, will not last in its current state. Repetitions of national famine, blaming foreign actors, and beating the war drums until the food aid arrives has demoralized the people and tested their faith in the dear leader cult. Knowing that a change was necessary, Kim Jong-Un has decided to open up to capitalism.

North Korea’s ‘Mad Men’: Signs of capitalism in the Hermit Kingdom?

The underground pipeline shaping North Korea’s new capitalists

“The main thing North Korean businesses compete on is quality, but now they’re starting to compete in terms of how their products make people feel,” Andray Abrahamian, part of an NGO from Singapore that teaches business skills to North Koreans, told Reuters.

But importing capitalism into a country also brings Western philosophy as the two cannot be separated. With a new emphasis on how products “make people feel” in addition to quality, the philosophical concept of subjectivity is promulgated and reinforced with the pleasure of consumerism. North Koreans will be able to form their own opinions concerning the service or products produced by private businesses, which are unaffiliated with the State and open to subjective debate and criticism. Concepts like consumerism, materialism, and choice are present in every society, but they are heightened and consistently reinforced in capitalist societies due to their need for continuous, reliable consumption.

Obviously wary of such implications, Kim Jong-Un has taken measures to maintain cultural obedience in a very North Korean way.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un bans sarcasm

Sarcasm and other types of satire like exaggeration, double entendre, and parodies, although often associated with humor in the West have always served as surreptitious means of social criticism and commentary. The Chinese, with their communist tendencies of censoring and rounding up dissenters, have come to master the art of sarcasm as a way of getting around laws preventing the criticism of state policy and leaders. Kim Jong-Un can try as he might to stave off the subtle ideological reprogramming of a capitalist society, but concepts like subjectivity, materialism, and rationalism are all stepping stones on the path leading to the dualist, Cartesian worldview of the West. Once a society has been locked into this worldview, things like native culture and tradition begin to fade into memory and are supplanted by fads and pop culture. The ingrained operant conditioning of capitalism that rewards innovation and originality offers no social reward for cultural identity and an understanding of history. Even worse, the widespread acceptance of Cartesian, materialist thinking is the ideological foundation and vector for Brzezinski’s Western Soft Power strategy to enter a given society and manipulate popular opinion via media and social pressure.

Looking at the situation as a whole, it would appear that North Korea’s leadership has decided to dabble in capitalism while easing its stance towards isolationism. The great social, economic, and ideological walls that have separated North Korea from the rest of the world and prevented any kind of rapport or peaceful relationship within the region could be gradually coming down. If China wants control over $5 trillion worth of trade passing through the South China Sea, disarming the North Korean powder keg must be a priority. Economically incorporating the country into the rest of the region would be the best option for long-term stability.

But even if the Chinese are successful, and North Korea is reformed, there are still questions and uncertainties. If North and South Korea reconcile and end the war, expect Korean ethnic nationalism to call for reunification, a matter that could trouble China. If South Korean culture and attitudes prevail, then a pro-Western state shares a border with China. If China’s influence over the North spreads to the rest of the country, the US loses another ally on the Pacific Rim.

Hangzhou G20 Postmortem: Obama Snubbed, Putin Busy

President Obama received an especially cold reception at the G20 Economic Forum being held in China for the past two days. The Chinese did not provide stairs for Air Force One, forcing Obama to disembark the plane through an emergency exit where he was met with a loud verbal altercation between Chinese officials and security. The geopolitical tensions between the US and China represented by these petty displays are only a snapshot of the great shifts in regional power and alliances happening right now. The G20 summits serve as a forum for member nations to negotiate and coordinate monetary, fiscal, and structural reforms to encourage economic cooperation and sustainable growth. Given the fact that the leaders of the West are looking at a looming currency war with Russia and China, each party was attempting to shore up support for their own side.

President Obama spent a lot of time at the forum offering assurances, attempting to mend fences, and putting out fires. Since there are only five months remaining in his term of service, the President’s priority is to seek short -term stability on the international stage to paint a rosier picture for the Democrats in the upcoming elections. That means a very limited form of compromise, but no more new policy formation from the administration. Consequently, the US has no alternative deal to offer to Central Asia and the Pacific Rim nations to answer China and Russia’s recent economic projects like the New Silk Road Initiative, Siberian oil and gas development, and economic unions in Eurasia and the South China Sea. The main effort of Obama’s trip to Hangzhou centered on the proxy war zones of the Ukraine and Syria, where Obama and Secretary Kerry met with Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov to discuss cease-fires in both nations.

Putin: Russia & US may reach agreement on Syria ‘within next few days’

Although no agreement was ultimately reached, the article spells out the negotiations between the US and Russia. Although both leaders agreed that they had found common ground, the US refused to lift economic sanctions on Russia for the Crimean invasion and stipulated a return to the Minsk agreement which was broken days after it was signed. Putin accused the West of being unwilling to compromise, and the talks ultimately failed.

Dealing with the irascible Chinese, the President managed to work out an agreement on environmental reforms and avoiding competitive currency devaluations, promising not to manipulate exchange rates for their own benefit in a currency war.

After Snubbing Obama, China Gives Putin Red Carpet Treatment, Warns Against Protectionism At G-20

However, when the issue of Chinese aggression in the South China Sea was brought up, China was unapologetic and remained focused on economic discourse to avoid the topic. One participant in that discourse was Australia, with China leveling accusations of protectionism and market interference after two large Chinese buyouts of Australian businesses were blocked. The Chinese also expressed displeasure at Australian surveillance flights over island chains in the South China Sea. Pressure on Australia has been building to pick one side over the other, with China offering potential economic benefits only if the influence of the US is pushed out of the Pacific Rim.

Obama also had his work cut out dealing with the sensitive situation with Erdogan in Turkey. Still seeking the extradition of alleged coup plotter Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan was preparing more evidence and further consultations with American counterparts to push for Gulen’s return to Turkey. Whether or not the Globalists are willing to offer up Gulen, rumored to be a Clinton asset, to a dictator who has recently pledged to reinstate the death penalty is an interesting dilemma presented to the Globalists by the Turks. Obama also pressed for a cessation on the Turkish campaigns against the Kurds, another regional cultural/ethnic group friendly with the US who have had a long, tumultuous history with the Turks.

G20 in China: Syria, Brexit on Obama’s agenda

Putin & Erdogan discuss Syria and Turkish Stream at G20 summit

Russia used the talks as an opportunity to advance their agendas throughout Asia. The oil pipelines connecting Russian oil production with European markets running through the Black Sea and Turkey were a priority, as Russia is attempting to strengthen the Ruble by controlling the world energy market. The two countries also talked about removing barriers to trading agricultural exports, with Russia investing billions into agricultural production to compete with American GMO crops. After overcoming the downing of a Russian jet and the killing of the pilot in Turkish territory in November of last year, Russia and Turkey are quickly on their way to normalizing relations.

Putin talks relations with Turkey, US, Saudi Arabia & China at G20 final presser

Russia also engaged in talks with Saudi Arabia, who have traditionally been wary of the Russians. The two agreed on cooperation to keep the oil market afloat, another piece of Putin’s plan to use Russian oil sales to back the Ruble.

President Obama also met with British Prime Minister Theresa May, a supporter of the Brexit decision to leave the EU. Although Obama publicly criticized the decision, he reaffirmed the US’s support of the ally. May’s administration has been making attempts to normalize relations with Russia as well, attempts that have been reciprocated.

 

Talking about the prospects for cooperation between Moscow and London, the Russian leader said the Kremlin is “ready to restore relations with the UK and go in this as far as they want us to.” While Russia is ready to work on the matter, Putin said that British Prime Minister Theresa May had just taken office and “needs to deal with domestic issues.”

Putin is correct, as the “domestic issues” May is dealing with involve the backlash from the Brexit. EU head bureaucrat Jean-Claude Juncker again refused to provide Britain access to the European Common Market until the British reverted their position on immigration policy. Interestingly, Australia called for a trade agreement with Britain to keep markets open between the two countries, short circuiting the EU’s punitive measures against the UK. These two countries were part of the old British Empire, and if there are further attempts to coordinate economic cooperation between the UK and its former colonies, we could be seeing a revival of the British commonwealth in response to the EU’s monopoly over continental Europe.

The recent G20 summit resembles a microcosm of the recent geopolitical shifts around the world, and the brewing currency war between the Western allies and Russia and China cast a long shadow over the discussions. Considering how President Obama is nearing the end of his term, restoring relations and “perception management” was the priority for the Globalist front man. Putin, Theresa May, and Erdogan, the three populist leaders turned political pariahs by the Globalists they stood up to, seemed to have benefited the most from G20, taking time to normalize relations with others and forming new agreements with new allies. If anything, the recent events in Hangzhou point to big changes and a lot of uncertainty on the global stage.

China Challenges Japan, Australia Told to Pick a Side in South China Sea

After the Hague officially denied China’s claims over the South China Sea, China has continued using its artificially-created island chains to advance their take over of the economic zone. The island chains, running from Japan to Indonesia, are being used by China as platforms to quickly project military force in the area, housing communications systems and landing strips for aircraft. The first resource the Chinese intend to exploit, to the exclusion of others, is fishing.

Beware the invasion of China’s ‘little green boats’

The Chinese are now sending armed escorts to accompany hundreds of fishing boats to fish off of the disputed Senkaku Islands, officially recognized as Japanese territory. The Japanese have yet to respond militarily, sending Coast Guard vessels to drive the fishers off.

Second, the Chinese maneuvers around what they call the Diaoyu Islands appear to be part of China’s larger strategy to gain control of the shipping lanes of the East China Sea, similar to its construction of artificial islands in the adjacent South China Sea.

However, the Japanese have continued their recent trend towards rearmament in anticipation of trouble with China as well as North Korea. Japan has looked to purchase 11 AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles, a fleet of F-35 fighter planes, Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, and Chinook helicopters. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a major Japanese defense contractor that outfits the Japanese military, has also entered into negotiations with the colossal American military industrial complex to develop armored vehicles for export.

Japan wants British weaponry for South China Sea standoff

Mitsubishi Heavy discusses U.S. armored vehicle tie up after losing sub deal

After a much-anticipated Japanese contract to build submarines for Australia fell through, the West has begun to question Australia’s support. Since the mighty American economy has become stagnant for nearly a decade, the lure of forming economic ties with China is very strong to the Australians.

US army official asks Australia to either pick Washington or Beijing over South China Sea row

Australia is a major participant in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and part of a group of nations opposing China’s recent expansionist policies. This group also contains Vietnam, who has recently installed missile batteries on islands bordering Chinese claims. New  Zealand is another member, expecting to benefit from the TPP, and the Philippines arguably have the most to lose from China’s territorial seizures.

All in all, the picture in Southeast Asia is changing quickly, and is starting to show signs of a shrinking US presence. Although the US is still obliged by treaty to defend the Japanese in a time of war, Japan has decided to hedge their bets by developing their own military industry. Losing Australia in the conflict against China is a real possibility as progressive Keynesian economics, stimulus policies, and the long-standing myth of “quantitative easing” are beginning to lose their prestige.

 

Vladi’s World: A Look Inside Putin’s Plans for Russia

In a previous piece about events in Eurasia I focused on Russia’s larger geopolitical goals and only briefly mentioned the New Silk Road Initiative and its economic implications. Now, we shall delve further into the latter. This article is from Mr. F. William Engdahl, whose research is admirably impeccable in its thoroughness.

Putin: Nyet to Neo-liberals, Da to National Development

The focus of the article is the Stolypin Club, an economic think tank inspired by the ideas of 19th century German-American economist Friedrich List. Compared to Putin’s other advisors, Alexei Kudrin the flustered Keynesian and the monetarist sect who recommend no action be taken, the Stolypin Club have developed a plan to reinvest in Russian education and healthcare to bolster their economy with skilled workers, the cessation of debt-based money, and the deliberate hording of gold (along with ally China) to use as a backing for the Ruble in opposition to the Dollar.

Friedrich List was the developer of “National Systems,” an old concept very much opposed by the Globalists in London, Berlin and Washington. List believed that the touting of international free trade (think TTIP, TPP, and NAFTA) was really a ruse to make the economies of less developed nations dependent on first world manufacturing or services. Instead, List suggested that an economic or customs union be developed for the region first, and when economic, technological, and cultural parity or near-parity is attained between the members of the union, the whole may be solidified under one government, treaty, or set of laws. Friedrich List’s ideas were rather well-received in his time, as Prussia used his principles to develop the massive Zollverein, a 164,000 square mile economic union controlling tariffs and economic policy between the German states in the 1800’s. By 1871, the region had solidified itself into the German Empire, the economic colossus that took the world four years to subdue in World War I. What’s more, List’s ideas would go on to inspire the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the EU.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a penchant for economic and customs unions among the members of the Stolypin Club, and we find just that.

Both Titov and Glazyev, an adviser to Putin on Ukraine and other matters, are founding members of the Stolypin Club in Russia. In 2012 Glazyev was named by Putin, then Prime Minister, to coordinate the work of federal agencies in developing the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, today the Eurasian Economic Union.

Combine this outlook with Putin’s offer of partnership to Turkey along with the rest of Eurasia, it’s even more proof that Russia is attempting to free up and organize trade in Central Asia. Connecting Russia and China to this potential Zollverein would be the New Silk Road Initiative, an infrastructure project creating highways, rail lines, and communications systems throughout Asia and the Middle East. With the prospect of establishing a continent-wide trade system and a possible economic union in the South China Sea, China and Russia may have an economic basis to sustain their currencies outside of the Dollar system, which the Ruble had been pegged to for 24 years after the State Bank of Russia was privatized in 1990. The use of gold as a backing, however, has nearly no effect on the Dollar, but would be very useful in a time of war or in the aftermath of an economic collapse.

With the monetarists silent and the Keynesian policies being passed over, the Stolypin Club may have Putin’s ear, now. Given these clearly anti-Globalist policies and Nationalist tendencies, we can certainly expect the Globalists to gnash their teeth and shake their fists at Russia. If Putin decides to carry out these proposals, and attempt to break out with the Ruble, expect to see a sudden surge of counterfeiting of the Russian currency. Also expect to see sudden glitches and hacks in the BRICS global payment system, which competes with the West’s SWIFT system. Either way, it would be a good idea to keep an eye, or maybe both eyes, on the Stolypin Club.

TPP Treaty Under Fire, China Advancing Take Over of South China Sea

A few weeks ago, I speculated that the purpose of China’s creation of artificial island chains and military outposts was to be able to project military force quickly anywhere in the South China Sea. With this new ability, China could exploit oil reserves and other natural resources to the exclusion of other Pacific countries, establish and enforce treaties and agreements, and control trade. As it turns out, the Chinese have begun to do just that, with fishing.

China tightens fishing rules in ‘territorial waters’

With the presence of Chinese forces, Chinese threats will now have teeth and can begin to influence activity in the area. If my suspicion is correct, the Chinese are aiming to establish a sort of economic or customs union and assume control of trade in the Southeast Pacific to their own benefit. After the latest Hague ruling for the Philippines and against China’s claims went ignored, US attempts to rally the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, against China failed. Two members friendly to China, Laos and Cambodia, prevented any official denunciation from being issued by the group.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is the Obama Administration’s foreign policy answer to China’s expansionism. The “soft power” tactics of the current administration are an attempt to entice regional cooperation by removing tariffs, expanding corporate powers in domestic and international law, and protecting workers’ rights. However, there are an equal number of criticisms to the treaty, including the loss of national sovereignty, the loss of jobs, and the industry influence and secrecy mandated during its drafting. The proposal is so unpopular domestically that both presidential candidates have sworn to reject the treaty, although I suspect that both will still pass it in a modified form. Due to a loss of trust and legitimacy in international matters, US soft power diplomacy is far less effective. But the Obama administration will continue to ham-fistedly cram a square peg in a round hole.

Obama defends TPP amid growing criticism

In contrast to that strategy, Donald Trump has threatened to pull the 29,000 strong US force out of South Korea, much to our allies’ dismay. The chances of this happening are almost zero, but it serves as a reminder to the Southeast Pacific of the stabilizing contribution America has been making for decades in the region. Without the US military stationed on the 38th parallel, the rest of the region will have to deal with the belligerent, unreasonable North Korean regime. As bases in Japan and Turkey are facing widespread anti-American sentiment, Trump’s Nixonian behavior is an abrupt change of strategy in this theater.

Trump not first to mull U.S. forces pullout of South Korea but North threat has Seoul on edge

If tensions boil over between China and the Philippines, we could see an escalation of the guerilla insurrection in the Philippines, China’s key rival for resources in the South China Sea. A recent truce between the Filipino government and Maoist Communist rebels suffered a setback when the Maoists attacked and killed a Filipino militia member. If the Chinese were so inclined, a covert proxy war in a historically unstable country could remove the Filipinos from the picture.

US Military Bases Facing Expulsion, Has Trilateral Foreign Policy Failed?

Make no mistake, I love America. Even with all of our selfie sticks and deep-fried twinkies, I love this country. But I have to give credit where credit is due, and I have to seriously consider if Russia, and Putin in particular, has bested this country in the realm of geopolitics, for now. The petrodollar hegemony is under siege, GMO’s and trade deals are being rejected, the EU is in danger of disintegration, and our allies are turning to Russia. One of those allies is Japan, who has recently invested in the Russian oil project in the Irkutsk region of Eastern Siberia. Wary of an aggressive China, Japan has recently set off on a course of rearmament and military revival, rather than relying on the US as a guarantor of protection. Relations between the US and Japanese Okinawa have soured to the point that the US has agreed to move its base to a remote location, away from a local populace deeply angered over a history of criminal conduct involving members of the US military. The US wore out its welcome in Okinawa.

Abe, U.S. commander agree to carry out defense guidelines in steady manner

Due to a severe backlash against the refugee and migrant policy in the EU, which may have been the primary cause of the Brexit referendum, Turkey and its president, Recep Erdogan, were forced to capitulate to the Russians and end their effort to remove Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria. With the possibility that much of Europe could severely limit the amount of migrants and refugees entering their countries, Erdogan was facing the grave scenario of Syrian war refugees entering Turkey for asylum and having nowhere else to go. A massive influx of refugees staying in rather than passing through Turkey would have severe economic, political and social ramifications. Very shortly after Erdogan’s reversal of policy, a (possibly rushed) coup attempt failed to unseat him. Officially blaming the US, power to the Incirlik Air Base and thousands of US Airmen was cut off and no flights were allowed to take off from the base for two days. Last night, thousands of Turkish police officers have surrounded the base for a “security check” after local police were told of a second coup attempt. Nothing was found, but it is clear that the base, and the US, is no longer welcome in Turkey.

Report: 7,000 Turkish forces surrounded Incirlik air base overnight

US military bases are crucial to the projection of American power. With the ability to quickly form a military response, the US is able to establish and enforce treaties and agreements, protect allies, and deter rivals. When local opinion turns against the US, the military base and its inhabitants are often the first target of protests and enmity. The situations in Turkey and Japan, and the fact that this scenario is no longer an isolated incident, suggests that the foreign policy of the current administration has performed poorly.

The Obama administration belongs to the Trilateral Commission school of thought, with Zbigniew Brzezinski being the expert on foreign policy and a key founder of the group. There are clear parallels between current policy and Brzezinki’s policy during the Carter administration

• an aversion to unilateral policy and overt warfare
• a preference for covert armament and proxy wars, technological superiority and manipulation, and political and media pressure
• alliance building, support for the EU and control over Eurasia
• and most importantly, the abandonment of (Kissinger’s) balance of power strategy, as per Presidential Directive 18 on U.S. National Security, for a globalist, supranational hegemony led by Western financial elites, technocrats, and intelligence agencies.

Nation state as a fundamental unit of man’s organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force: International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation-state. – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages: The Technetronic Era, 1971

It should be noted that Brzezinski does not hold any official positions in the administration, and he has even criticized some of its decisions including the arming of rebels in Syria. Brzezinski even admitted that the US is “still the strongest, but we’re not necessarily the most respected or legitimate,” in 2014. This point, legitimacy and respect, is the linchpin of Brzezinski’s style of foreign policy, and the key failure of the Obama administration in implementing it. With the exposure of NSA surveillance, technological superiority and legitimacy are threatened. Due to unpopular economic policies and underhanded trade deals, our alliances and friendships are threatened. The policy of regime change, dubious support of “moderate” Muslim radicals in Syria, and drone warfare collateral damage degrades our reputation as a facilitator of peace.

There has been a schism in the leadership over these issues. Henry Kissinger, the purveyor of the balance of power strategy (AKA detente), has tacitly shown displeasure at the current state of affairs. In February, Kissinger met with Putin as the West was imposing sanctions and denouncing the Russian slow-mo invasion of the Ukraine. Kissinger even met with Donald Trump in May, answering Trump’s requests for help developing foreign policy.

Donald Trump to meet with Henry Kissinger, GOP’s foreign-policy eminence

“America first will be the overriding theme of my administration,” Trump said last month in a speech at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, where he also called globalism a “false song.”

 

China Defies Tribunal, New Zealand Picks a Side in the Pacific

Despite the ruling a week ago from the International Criminal Court rejecting China’s claims over the resource-rich South China Sea, China has continued to develop artificial islands and is setting up communication systems on them.

During US Navy visit, China vows ‘never to stop’ island buildup

The islands could serve as platforms for China to project military force throughout the region, allowing the control of trade and exploitation of oil reserves. Choosing to ignore the court’s decision is a continuation of the “slow-motion invasion” style of territory grabbing that China’s ally, Putin, utilized in the Ukraine. In light of these developments, the US Navy has been invited to make a port call in New Zealand for the first time in over 30 years.

US Navy to return to New Zealand after 30-year rift over nukes

The 30-year stand-off was due to a conflict between New Zealand’s anti-nuclear laws and America’s policy of neither confirming or denying the presence of nuclear weapons on its ships.

It should be noted that the US Navy has continued to apply their policy of neither confirming nor denying nuclear armaments on their ships, which could serve as a reminder, if not a tacit warning, to any Chinese attempt to impede “freedom of navigation” operations. By caving to the policy and inviting US presence, New Zealand is announcing their opposition to China’s expansionism, serving as an important stepping stone between America and Australia.

In stark contrast to these warming relations, the Incirlik Air Base, and a whole other nuclear matter, may represent a serious setback in US geopolitical positioning. With power to the base still cut off after 6 days, and fuel reserves rumored to hold out for less than a week, some commentators have begun to speculate if the base was being used as a bargaining chip in the fallout of Erdogan’s accusations of American involvement with the recent failed coup. In Okinawa, an unfortunate history of criminal activity involving servicemen has severely soured relations with the Japanese. A protest held two days ago drew over 60,000 people asking for the military bases to be moved out of Okinawa. As China seeks to expand their ability to project force in the South China Sea, the US’s first line of force projection is being contested.