What I'm Reading: Russo/Ukranian War

By Rich Kozlovich Tags: The World's Nine Orders 

Most of what I'm offering here is from Geopolitical Futures, a subscription site, to which I highly recommend subscribing. Since I can't link the information you will have to take my word for what's being offered here.....  or not...  just as it pleases you. 

  

It turns out Ukraine is launching drones from inside Russia.  I think that's profound and provocative, as it means a lot more is going on than is being reported inside Russia and the surrounding countries many of them former Soviet Union countries.  Armenia is seeking membership in the EU, potentially forgoing their strategic partnership with Moscow, which their economy can't afford.  But it's another thorn in Putin's side.   

• Ukraine destroys warehouse of 'Russia's Amazon' in huge strike on Moscow - as Putin's war hits home 
• Ukraine graveyard for Russian ships.

These new inside Russia drone attacks would seemingly force the Russian military to start focusing on the central Asian nations, which really adds to their demographics problem.  And now Kazakhstan is asking Putin to freeze the war.  Why?  Because Ukraine's attacks are hindering their ability to export oil.... and it gets even more interesting.  It turns out Chevron has talked to Trump about this.  Why?  

 

Chevron has a 50% stake in Kazakhstan's Tengiz oil field and 15% of the Caspian Pipeline consortium.   As I've watched what's been going on in Central Asia for the last couple of years it seems to me Central Asian nations are going to be a thorn in Russia's side, in spite of their claim they want good relations with Russia, they have their own interests, and Russia's aggression again Ukraine isn't their issue.  What's their issue?  

 

Oil and economics, and that's what drives the world's problems.  Then followed by ideology, often offered as an excuse over oil and economics.

 

Science doesn't grow in a vacuum, it grows like a virus, constantly expanding and morphing into new forms.  Starting at least 25 years ago, I took the position drones and lasers were the future of warfare, and was generally laughed at.  For many years I was an avid science fiction reader, and many science fiction writers are scientists who have access to information the rest of us are unaware of, and often times they include that kind of information in their writing;  expanding and extrapolated the information into future possibilities.  They included stuff about drones, lasers, power generation, etc., and it impacted my thinking making me pay attention to the development of these things.

 

Drones are here, and war will be dramatically changing from this point on, as they're going to become cheaper to manufacture, smaller, lighter, more deadly.  Laser weapons are already being used in some form or other and at some point they'll be small enough and powerful enough to be positioned in drones, and even in satellites powered by solar energy.   We're seeing the beginning of a massive shift in power, and it will grow.  Make no mistake, space exploration is all about the militarization of space, not bases on the Moon or Mars, and has been since the launch of Sputnik.

 

All this is another drag on their forces, and now North Korea is sending another 30,000 troops to fight in Ukraine as "well as more ballistic missile launchers".    There's a lot of corrupt chicanery by Russia going on over this issue of foreign "recruits" as Zimbabwe Investigates Recruiting Pipeline to Russian Army.  Other Russian recruiting schemes have been uncovered in Kenya, South Africa, India, and most recently Peru. Ukrainian officials say at least 1,700 Africans have been conscripted into service with the Russian army how effective they would be is debatable, as even Russian troops average lifespan is just 30 minutes.

 

Everything is about geographics demographics and economics, and Russia is facing a crisis in each of those categories.  Russia has three unsolvable problems.... at least at this point.  It's a massive nation and hard to control.  Their economy is based on central planning.  They're running out of bodies to thrown at Ukraine, and it's the part of the demographics pyramid that makes the the next generation, and supports internal economics.   That is a long term problem.  

 

It will take 20 years before they can start to fix their demographic pyramid, and another twenty years to fix it entirely.   That's presuming those who are left from this generation will want children.  Since the birth rate in Russia before this war was already so low it was predicted by 2040 the ethnic Russia population would be a minority in their own nation.   As things are now, I can't imagine that changing, and ethnic Russians may well be a minority soon.  

 

Things are getting so desperate for Putin and his cabal of sycophants they're now ... once again....talking the use of nuclear bombs.  I've been following this nuclear theme from the beginning, and in the beginning I chuckled as it seemed clear even Putin isn't that stupid.....but things have changed.  Putin has demonstrated three things.  One, he really is that stupid.  Two, he will do anything to stay in power.  Three, he might actually succumb to the urging of some of his sycophant supporters to nuke Ukraine to finally destroy them, and threaten Europe so he can continue to play the bully boy.  I think the last sentence is the key point in so many of the articles analyzing his actions.  

 

His nuclear threats to Europe are being taken seriously, and now:

 

"Turkey will deploy five F-16 fighters to Estonia to participate in NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission between August and November. The aircraft will patrol the airspace over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which lack their own fighter jets."

 

 Poland is preparing to vote on a full state of war readiness, which would:

 

"expedite the early deployment of troops, preparation of critical infrastructure and reception of allied forces. It would also simplify the implementation of defense projects related to the development of roads, railways, ports and airports."

 

What I really find confusing is his efforts lend military support to other nations like Mali.  He can't win in his own back yard and guess what, his forces in Mali were "ineffective" against Islamic militant groups.  Imagine that.

  

The next question about Putin himself; a leader who is living in a bunker makes one wonder just how secure Putin is after this massive....and I mean massive..... "special military operation" failure?  In the past I've said I believe in the background there's a Claus von Stauffenberg cabal in his military, and I think there's support by government officials.  I'm convinced he thinks there is also, which is why he's living in a bunker. 

 

Absolutely nothing he envisioned is working, at all!  His confidence level is in the toilet right along with his economy.  His resources are being depleted, including his demographic resources, he’s scared, he's confused, he's desperate, and he knows if he's overthrown he's dead, which may drive him to think he can have just a "small" nuclear military operation.   If he decides to go the nuclear route I think he will be overthrown. 

 

But there's hope.  Trump is sending Kushner and Witkoff off to Moscow, seemingly in an attempt to negotiate a peace.  Given their efforts involving Iran, I really don't think anyone should get all happy and optimistic. 

Putin is Between a Rock and a Hard Place

By Rich Kozlovich  Tags: P&D Geopolitics Edition: Russo/Ukrainian War, and Donald Trump, Putin

This piece was inspired by a podcast by George Friedman of Geopolitical Futures.   GF is a subscription site, and so I can't link it, and so too are some of my other observations, so you'll just have to take my word for what appears here.  Or not as it please you.  Otherwise information from non subscription sites are linked.  

The Russian oligarchs, former criminals, many of which formerly worked in Soviet intelligence agencies, are outraged at Putin.  They created him and now because of him all their money that’s tied up in European banks are closed to them, they can’t get at it.  

Putin's facing serious economic issues, and it's being reported the Russian economy is suffering, that Russia's economic growth plummeted after Trump took office, and their economic minister says the country is on the brink of recession.  Now  OPEC is going to boost oil production which will cut into Russia's income stream.

Trump was catering to Putin for quite a while, and while Trump is a brilliant negotiator, there’s a difference between economic negotiations, and the negations dealing with national pride..... and survival for Putin.  But Trump is still Trump, and he’s had it with Putin, giving him a deadline for massively larger sanctions and sanctions on anyone who trades with him, and he’s not Obama.

• Clock Ticking For Russia During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump said he believed he could end the Russia-Ukraine war with a few phone calls. I thought he could, too. I thought Russia and Ukraine were both weary, to put it mildly, and would be happy to be given a way out by the U.S. But we were wrong. Ukraine wanted to negotiate an end to the war, but Russia didn’t. ........
• Trump's Eyes Opened on Putin. Now What Will He Do?  - "I'm not happy with what Putin is doing. He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin," said Donald Trump on Truth Social over the holiday weekend. 
• Trump Warns Russia: Make Peace With Ukraine in 50 Days—Or Monster Tariffs  - President Donald Trump told reporters during a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte on Monday that European NATO members would fund billions of dollars of American military equipment, including Patriot missiles, for Ukraine and threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with a massive 100-per cent indirect tariff if he did not make peace in 50 days....
• Trump’s Ukraine Ultimatum: A Promising First Step - President Trump’s July 14 ultimatum to Vladimir Putin—demanding peace in Ukraine within 50 days and threatening secondary sanctions on countries like China and India if they continue funding Russia’s aggression—is a welcome and long-overdue step. But it is just that: a first step. If the goal is peace and deterrence of future wars, the United States and its allies must go further.......

What Putin is doing in these negotiations are what the Russians have always done.  Talking a lot,  saying nothing, delaying, and all the while pursuing their goals threatening to take more and more dramatic actions in order to force everyone to give in, "pounding Ukraine with missiles and drones a day before the two sides meet for a new round of direct talks in Istanbul."  

His military is undermanned and disgruntled sending Smartphone videos of protest back to their families.  A Ukrainian drone attack destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russian territory, and Russian retribution for daring Ukrainian strike is postponed, perhaps indefinitely:

Ukraine’s June 1 strike on four Russian airbases exposed severe vulnerabilities in Russia’s air defenses, prompting patriotic outcries and demands for retaliation despite censorship and subdued official responses. Russia’s retaliatory strike on June..

Having around a million casualties from his war with Ukraine, and hundreds of thousands of them dying, Putin faces not only a serious manpower issues for his military, he also faces a serious labor gap.  Now Putin's Ministry of Education is floating the idea they should try to recruit workers from Africa, Latin America, and India, but these are untrained people who will be expected to fill jobs that are far more technical than they capable of performing, in a culture with a language they're don't speak.  That will take time to train them properly.  This isn't a short term fix that can help Putin. 

He's incapable of meeting the needs of his military any longer, and has asked Laos to send "engineering troops to help de-mine the Kursk region".  Laos sent 50 engineers, even "providing rehabilitation support for wounded Russian soldiers."

North Korea is sending "25,000 more troops, 1,000 combat engineers, and 5,000 "military construction personnel to help rebuild Russia's Kursk region," and now Putin’s surrender to Islam:

In March 2025, tens of thousands of Muslims flooded Moscow’s streets for Eid al-Fitr prayers. Loudspeakers blasted the Islamic call to prayer, echoing under the gaze of the Kremlin itself. This wasn’t simply a religious gathering. It was a state-enabled spectacle of Islamic dominance in Russia’s capital—a country once considered the stronghold of Orthodox Christianity. The government not only permitted the display but also provided infrastructure and protection.

He attacked Ukraine only to abandon Russia to elements that will destroy Russia from within.  

Putin has a Central Asian problem.  Former Soviet Republics are, like Kazakhstan, moving in directions that are clearly meant to neutralize Russian influence.  Kazakhstan is negotiating with Pakistan on military issues, and has aims to modernize their military via what they calling multivector diplomacy

Central Asia’s Water Crisis Becoming Russia’s Problem: To the extent that happens—and Moscow’s behavior makes such an outcome ever more probable—three developments are almost certain. 

1. First, the Central Asian countries are likely to distance themselves from Moscow, even as an ever-increasing number of their citizens migrate to Russia to access sufficient water.  
2.  Second, the PRC, Afghanistan, and possibly other countries further from the scene will expand their influence in the region at Russia’s expense.
3. Third, Russia will likely become the site of more ethnic conflict and the political instability that such a development entails. Had Moscow taken a different position on diverting some Siberian river water to Central Asia or even shown itself more sympathetic to the problems of Central Asians, it might have avoided all these unwelcome outcomes. It may now be too late for the Kremlin to recover...............

The Caucuses, which are historically notorious for instability, are growing more and more unstable, and it's clear Russia is so tied up with Ukraine they're losing control involving their own region of Dagestan, along with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and now Turkey is involving itself.  Just about everything the Russians have done has exacerbated the issues there. 

The Poles have to worry about everyone.  They don’t like the Ukrainians, the hate the Germans, and they fear the Russians, and rightly so since the Russians are talking about the “final act” an attack against European cities, and presumably they mean nuclear attacks.  Which probably means they’re just talking since you don’t tell the enemy what you’re planning to do.  But Putin is in trouble, and if he can’t do something radical to win this war, he’s toast. 

• Kremlin Increases Anti-Poland Propaganda Executive Summary: Russia is intensifying its hybrid warfare against Poland through cyberattacks, sabotage, and disinformation, while portraying Polish defensive actions as provocations to fuel domestic narratives and justify ongoing hostility. Kremlin propaganda is beginning to..
• Pivotal Poland: Europe’s Rising Power Announcing – Promethean Liberation: Russia’s Emerging National and Regional Movements - The invasion of Ukraine has accelerated the decline of the Russian state and raised the prospects for domestic turmoil. It has resulted in an unsustainable militarization of the economy, falling state revenues, shrinking financial reserves, military failures, and signs of mounting regional and ethnic unrest. Without structural reforms that boost the civilian economy and absent any autonomy among Russia’s 83 republics and regions, the federal structure will become increasingly unmanageable and vulnerable to movements demanding sovereignty or secession.

And now Germany is promoting the idea Ukraine should be part of NATO.  It's not going to happen for a number of reasons, including everyone is getting really tired of Zelenskyy.  

Putin turned Russian politics in its head, and while Stalin never feared the other institutional structures of the communist regime because they all understood Stalin was the new Czar.  Everyone between Stalin and Putin did fear them.  Putin, like Stalin, doesn’t fear them, but he’s not Stalin, and he never built a structure around himself as Stalin did.

If he makes a peace with Ukraine after over three years of war, and a million casualties with the hundreds of thousands of young Russian men dying, billions of dollars in military costs, multi billions lost in economic sanctions, he’s toast.  So, he threatens use of nuclear weapons, which he doesn’t dare do now since Europe fears him and is reaming itself against him.  He’s threatening to attack Europe via an air war for arming Ukraine, but Europe is doing it anyway, and now Germany has deployed military brigades in Lithuania.

Their banking system is collapsing, the Russian people are not happy, but Putin is making it clear he’s in charge, he wants what he wants, and Europe had better be prepared for war, but I do believe there's a von Stauffenberg cabal within his military, and his government, and if that's true, he's not going to last much longer, especially if Trump imposes more economic sanctions on Russia and all those doing business with Russia.  

Escalation? Putin Reacts to Long-Range Missiles in Ukraine

Biden makes provocative call to muddy the waters before Inauguration Day. 

By Dave Patterson | Nov 20, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags:  Articles, Military Affairs, Opinion

Just two days after President Joe Biden removed the limitations on Ukraine’s use of long-range tactical missiles, Kyiv launched six ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) into Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had requested permission to hit military locations inside Russia with these weapons for almost a year. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin reduced the threshold for his country to employ nuclear weapons.

Putin Reduces Threshold for Using Nuclear Weapons

When Biden relented and permitted the use of longer-range missiles, the White House said the decision was a response to the 11,000 North Korean combat forces joining Moscow’s troops to win back lost real estate in the Kursk Oblast. The reversal of US policy was surprising since the reason for the prohibition was that Ukraine striking inside Russia would escalate the conflict. “The United States previously limited Ukraine to using the Army Tactical Missile System within its own territory out of concern, in part, that Russia could respond with force against US and allies’ interests beyond Ukraine,” a prominent Washington, DC, news source speculated.

Nonetheless, Putin’s reaction was not long in coming. On Nov. 19, the Kremlin leader signed a revised nuclear deterrence doctrine for the use of its atomic weapons. The New York Times explained:

“Asked whether Russia could respond with nuclear weapons to such [long-range missile] strikes Dmitri S. Peskov, Mr. Putin’s spokesman, repeated the new doctrine’s language that Russia ‘reserves the right’ to use such weapons to respond to a conventional-weapons attack that creates a ‘critical threat’ to its ‘sovereignty and territorial integrity.'”

The United States, France, and the UK, all nuclear-capable, assisting Ukraine, opened the aperture of acceptable rationale for Russia to activate its nuclear arsenal. “The new doctrine asserts that Russia could use nuclear arms in the event of an attack by a nation backed by a nuclear power,” the NYT reported.

According to an Associated Press description of the Kremlin’s new “Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence,” it now includes possession by an adversary of atomic weapons that could attack Russia, and military exercises close to the Russian border are justification for Moscow to deploy nuclear weapons. It also includes potential attacks against its ally Belarus with conventional weapons as a reason for Russia to retaliate with nukes.

In the past, common wisdom maintained that if belligerents kept the level of combat to conventional weapons, nuclear weapons would not be utilized. However, Putin has warned, even before releasing the revised nuclear doctrine, that the use of long-range missiles supplied by the West to attack Russia would constitute war. Regarding Ukraine employing ATACMS inside Russia, “Asked … if such a Ukrainian attack could potentially trigger a nuclear response, Peskov answered affirmatively,” the AP reported. Also concerning is what most nations in the nuclear club believe to be a foundational principle of nuclear deterrence, “compliance with international obligations in the field of arms control” was previously part of Russia’s nuclear doctrine. The concept is missing in the latest version.

New Nuclear Doctrine Complicates Trump’s Deterrence Policy

What this means for US national security policy going forward is debatable. Many believe it is a slippery slope to World War III. The consensus is that the introduction of ATACMS into the Ukraine conflict will not result in the use of nuclear weapons by Russia and a response in kind by the United States and NATO. However, most observers believe the current elevated tensions in the Ukraine-Russia war will significantly impact the decision-making of President-elect Donald Trump, waiting in the wings.

Two schools of thought on the Kyiv-Moscow problem facing the incoming Trump administration: The first is that the use of long-range missiles and the reaction inside Russia will provide Trump a stronger hand in negotiating a solution to the fighting with both sides.

Bored? Check This Out!

On the other hand, the second line of thinking is that the Biden administration has muddied the waters, undermining Trump’s negotiating position. A Just the News report makes a compelling argument. It explained that former National Security Chief of Staff Fred Fleitz believed that Biden was against Ukraine using “US-made missiles to strike deep inside Russia before the election, and his lame-duck decision this weekend to authorize it now smacks of an effort to thwart Trump’s effort to create a ceasefire and peace deal.”

The more apt criticism is that Biden authorizing Kyiv to employ the long-range capability of ATACMS now is an example of US incrementalism, which has devastated the Ukraine war effort. Every delivery of Western weaponry to help the Ukrainians has been months after requested and needed.

However, whichever line of reasoning prevails, it’s safe to say that Trump and his national security team will have their work cut out on day one.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.

~

Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Dave Patterson

Let's Try and Get This Right, Just Once, Please! The Russo/Ukrainian War is All Putin's Fault!

By Rich Kozlovich Tags: P&D Geopolitics Edition: Russo/Ukrainian War, and Donald Trump

 

I've taken the position this war was created by Europe, let Europe fix it or not, but I really am sick of this clabber about how the west forced Putin to attack. That's simply nonsense, he's been pulling this crap for decades on his neighbors.

One writer claimed Putin was forced to attack because feared the loss of Ukraine to the West. How could Russia lose Ukraine? Russia didn't own Ukraine, so how could they lose it?  Ukraine wanted to be part of the E.U. and join NATO, and any clabber about Russia being afraid of NATO is strictly propaganda to justify his aggression in these former Soviet states.

Russia Was Scared, So They Had to Attack Ukraine! Part I
Russia Was Scared So They Had to Attack Ukraine, Part II

 It's called revanche, the desire to require lost territory. Everything else is horsepucky!!!!!

This Russo/Ukrainian War is About Revanche, not World Conquest

So many writers will post some good stuff over this conflict, and what needs to be done, and then ruin everything by coming back and blaming the wrong people for this mess. One writer nonsensically claimed:

 "There has been enough recklessness in our relations with Russia over the past decade, starting with the Maidan coup that was engineered by Victoria Nuland."   

The Maidan coup was engineered by Victoria Nuland?  What nonsense, while it's true the US supported this effort for freedom by Ukrainians, this is all ....every bit of it.... on Putin!!  

 Ukraine Isn't Our Fault, Nor is it Our Responsibility!

Let's stop this clabber how the west forced his aggression on Ukraine.  The Maidan revolution was triggered by the government's abandon of the Ukraine constitution by then President Yanukovych, who years earlier the Russians tired to assassinate by poisoning him with dioxin, and they were sick of the corruption, the abuse of power, the impact of Ukrainian oligarchs on their economy, police abuse of power, all of which entailed human rights violations, all of which were extended through the revolution. 

Ultimately what did Russia do as a result of this effort in freedom?  Putin invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.  Putin's rules.  Stay obedient or I will invade.  Don't do anything that may diminish Russian influence, or I will invade.

It's the Balkans Again!
P&D Geopolitical Edition: Russo/Ukrainian War, Strategy
Economics and the Russo/Ukrainian War
Decisions Clouded by the Fog of Misdirection, Misinformation and Ideology
P&D Today

This entire mess is all on him. If you really want to extend the blame to stupid Europeans who embraced green energy insanity, or Biden for destroying American energy independence, all of which put the Europeans at the Russian's mercy causing a rise in energy costs and ultimately funded Putin's invasion, then I will give you that. Otherwise.....this is all on Putin, period. 

 

It's a Purge, and a Tell!

By Rich Kozlovich

This is a May 20, 2024 FREE article by George Friedman at Geopolitical Futures (I recommend subscribing) , A Government Shakeup in Moscow saying;

The Russian government announced last week a massive shakeup of its senior staff. Several ministers in civilian sectors such as energy, agriculture, industry and trade, and transportation were relieved of their positions, but the most notable departure was Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was replaced by Andrei Belousov, a former assistant to Vladimir Putin and a former minister of economic development............Putin has made every effort to dismiss the idea that the team that managed the war failed............[yet] one senior Defense Ministry official was arrested and charged with corruption. Whether this is a single event or the beginning of more arrests (or worse) is yet unknown.........  But after two years and limited advances, you don’t need a diversion of weakness. It’s already there.

 

It's being emphasized this isn't a Stalinist style purge, but lets not lose sight of the fact Putin is a vile murderous monster, corrupt to the core, and ex-KGB Colonel who surrounded himself with incompetent sycophants, both in the military and in the domestic arenas.  To understand what's going on we really do need to get that, and this really is a purge. 

 

I've said for some time there's a Claus von Stauffenberg cabal within Putin's military, and truth be told, I think there's Stauffenberg style cabal within their domestic leadership also.   And while this isn't a Stalinist purge, it's a purge nonetheless. 

 

Ukraine is running out of people, their government officials are still corrupt, and clearly corrupt beyond the pale.  Furthermore, they really are now a fascist regime, and from reports they've lost the confidence of Ukrainian people, who are avoiding conscription by fleeing the country and saying they're not planning on returning....ever.

 

Update 5/21/24, 4:51 PM - I guess Zelenskyy (correct spelling by the way) Hasn't stolen enough yet, so,  Zelensky now ruling under martial law after suspending elections until after war

 

Putin will not give up, no matter the economic or military costs, because if he stops, he's out.  And just like Stalin, it's not "the plan" that's at fault, it's the failure to implement "the plan" properly, and so those who've failed "the plan" have to suffer the consequences, and it's a purge.

 

As they say in poker, it's also a "tell".  Tells are noticing small behaviors and/or demeanor when the pressure is on, and this is a tell he's losing confidence, and he's scared.  If NATO countries engage in this mess with boots on the ground, it's over for Putin, since the demographics will change dramatically, and that's his only real advantage.   Here's a map provided in George's article.

 

 

 

After two years of failure, with massive losses in equipment and man power, they're launching a new offensive, but he can't fund or train his military properly, his military leadership is incompetent, and he can't even manufacture his military needs, and what he has is substandard.   He's being forced to buy military hardware from N. Korea and Iran, can you imagine that!  Seeing that does not give credence to Russia's industrial abilities, or the competence of those dealing with the nations domestic/economic issues, after all, they're still commie central planners and Putin sycophants.  Will this push also stall and add more failure? 

 

He has on a number of occasions threatened using nukes, but I don't think his military will allow him to do that, and if he tries, I think they're overthrow him.  The Soviets overthrew Khrushchev for a whole lot less, but Khrushchev wasn't feared as the monster  as Stalin was, and Putin isn't Khrushchev, who didn't execute people who tried to overthrown him at one time.  Putin will execute anyone who attempts a coup. 

 

One writer described Washington as high school with paychecks, it's even worse in Putin's regime.  He's surrounded by incompetent sycophants with no solutions in sight!  This really is a purge, and he's scared.

The World as I See It: March 23, 2024

By Rich Kozlovich

Issue, there are issues, tons and tons of issues, and organizing them into some coherent fashion is an inundating task, and truth be told, for a one man operation, it's impossible.  That's why so many sites have people, aka, analysts, who specialize on one issue, or area of the world, and this is especially true of geopolitical sites. 

However, the patterns of life repeat over and over again, and I see them more often and more clearly than most, which requires a lot of reading, especially history books.  It's my goal to try and help everyone to see those patterns, so, here's my contribution toward everyone finding, and understanding the historical and current patterns unfolding before us.  

 First, let me say I'm a bit stunned at Senator Fetterman, of whom I was very critical, and yet truth be told, he's probably turning out to be a better Senator than Ole Doc. Oz, who I think is weird.  He's taken positions that are in total opposition of the Biden administration and his party, such as saying Biden is dishonest, the mortality figures are a lie, and it's Hamas' responsibility to end the war.  

All the while the Biden administration keeps finding idiotic ways to impose a cease fire saying since it's impossible to move the people Hamas is using as shields, it's wrong for Israel to attack Hamas since those people might be harmed, just another one of the efforts by the administration to save Hamas.  How insane is that?  And guess what, the Russo/Ukraine really is a war now.  Russia Admitted it. I guess launching an attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure made it a war.  Remarkable! 

The system of America justice is in serious trouble.  Do you think Letitia James is a troublesome anomaly to the legal profession in New York?  She's not!  The New York Bar Association invited a Cuban Stalinist to speak to them on,....now get this..... "the newest developments in Cuba’s public health law."  Now how could anyone find fault with a man who has been a true Castroite all these years.  A tyrannous monster who murdered more people per ration than Joe Stalin?  Just a thought.  

I've written about these false vaccinations for covid from very early on, and make no mistake, these shots are causing major health crises, and this is going to continue for decades, and the FDA is making it worse by contaminating America’s blood supply. 

On Friday, Japanese researchers published a pre-print paper that warned about the risks associated with using blood from covid vaccinated people for blood transfusions and are calling on medical professionals to be aware of these risks.......‘The health injuries caused by genetic vaccination are already extremely serious, and it is high time that countries and relevant organisations [sic] take concrete steps together to identify the risks and to control and resolve them.....

So, remember when hospitals refused to treat people who weren't vaccinated, and they died?  Well, what happens when hospitals refuse to operate if you won't accept blood from those who were vaccinated?  Do they just let you die? 

Totalitarianism is coming to America, it' snot an if, it's a now, and what do we see from Republicans in Congress?   Resignations, and done in a troubling way, as if to destroy the Republican's ability to thwart Democrat treason.  You have to wonder what's wrong with their minds.  

Then we have free speech, which the left screams about all the time, but in reality, they're terrified of free speech, and an example of how they twist language to promote that which would be unacceptable if presented honestly.  This article, The Indecency Of The Decency Agenda, by Milt Harris explains how the left offers nothing by lies of commission, lies of omission, projection, and obfuscation.  

For some reason some nitwits decided squatters had rights, and they decided those rights should over ride legitimate owner rights.  Now owners have to play stupid games in order to get control of their own property because the law will not support them. How insane is that?

Russia is in a serious economic situation.  They're running deficits, foreign companies don't want to do business with them for fear of sanction, and even China is careful to not to anything to trigger more sanctions, and now Putin has decided to impose a personal income tax on Russians.  He tried to avoid anything that will impact how Russians live, and even trying to avoid mass conscription into their army, hence their extensive use of private armies and non-ethnic Russians.  But now that he's been reelected that will change, and those changes are going to force Putin to the negotiating table without as many aces to play.

In the 2024 election we're going to see some interesting activity among blacks.  Black men and younger blacks are moving to Trump, but black women are remaining loyal Democrats.  In spite of the clabber this article spouts, I think I know the real reason why.  Everything is about the basics, and illegitimacy is massive in black America, and so is government funding for all those illegitimate babies, which the Democrats will provide as much as is necessary to keep black women on the plantation, and voting for Democrats. 

The budget process is insane, and in spite of a lot of claptrap about concern over the debt, neither party is doing one darn thing about it.  In fact, with every budget they're making it dramatically worse.  And in spite of all the clabberous ideas that are presented, it's still all about the basics.  Cut the size of government dramatically, cut spending dramatically, and stop borrowing.  It really is that simple

Russia Sanctions – Biden’s Doomed Economic War on Putin

A sad case of geopolitical theater.

by Dave Patterson | Feb 27, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News Tags: Articles, Opinion, Politics

 

President Joe Biden threatened crippling economic sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine. Then Russia invaded Ukraine. The administration imposed a spate of economic sanctions in response – but Russia continued its invasion and subsequent war against Ukraine. Though the Kremlin initially had a bit of a hiccup in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when the European Union (EU) and the US imposed economic sanctions, Moscow found workarounds with the help of China, Iran, North Korea, and other allies. Russia’s GDP has rebounded. Why, then, does the president think a fresh new round of sanctions will fare any better?

Biden’s Sanctions Are Not Strategy-Driven

Like so much of Biden’s approach to the Ukraine crisis, there is no guiding strategy for the financial pressure. Sanctions have been applied incrementally with no specific objective other than the hope that economic pain will make Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cadre of oligarchs see the error of their ways and stop waging war against Ukraine. That hope faded quickly. In a recent Politico report, the failure of Biden’s sanctions is painfully evident. Politico explained:

“[T]wo years on, Russia’s economy has rebounded. Its factories are humming, its oil and gas sales are relatively strong, and its people are at work in a system retrofitted to be all about the war. Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, appears firmly in charge of the Kremlin, despite hopes that Russia’s elite would turn on him as the economic pressure grew.”

Not deterred by his sanctions failing to achieve the desired impact, Biden has issued hundreds more. “I am announcing more than 500 new sanctions against Russia for its ongoing war of conquest on Ukraine and for the death of Aleksey Navalny, who was a courageous anti-corruption activist and Putin’s fiercest opposition leader,” President Joe Biden announced in a White House press statement on February 24. “We are also imposing new export restrictions on nearly 100 entities for providing backdoor support for Russia’s war machine,” the statement reads. After more than two years of sacrifice, Ukrainian defenders “continue to fight with tremendous courage,” as Biden put it. The truth is the current US national security team didn’t put all the sanctions it had at its disposal into the fight.

The equivalent of 600 sanctions could have been implemented before against Putin to impede his war machine but weren’t. Using the death of the Russian dissident Aleksey Navalny as the motivation for the new round of sanctions seems more geopolitical theater than a move by the US to make a substantive difference in Moscow’s behavior. Those familiar with how Biden’s White House staff sees the world are skeptical that the new economic limitation on the Kremlin will matter much.

“Analysts also express doubt that the latest round will have much impact. Critics of the US sanctions policy say it is another utilitarian step that only creates an illusion of decisive US actions as Ukraine’s defenses are crumbling against Moscow’s invasion,” Ian Talley and Vivian Salama wrote for The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, the Biden administration has a habit of not having a coordinated or integrated approach to its attempt to clamp down on Russia’s ability to continue its war on Ukraine.

For all its crowing about putting Russia in an economic vice, the US has not prevented Russia from profiting from continuing to sell refined petroleum products to the EU. “An EU sanctions loophole that allows imports of Russian crude if it’s refined elsewhere made Russia an estimated $1.2 billion from sales of fuels in the European Union last year,” OilPrice.com reported recently.

Russia Can Work Around Economic Penalties

The Biden administration may think it’s tightening the economic screws on Russia to reduce its warfighting capability, but the evidence doesn’t back that up. Instead, Putin’s close relationship with China’s President Xi has enabled the Kremlin to maintain a profitable trade relationship around the world.

Russia’s alliances with Iran and North Korea have kept the flow of ballistic missiles, drones, and artillery ammunition flowing. Furthermore, reports from inside Russia indicate Putin has put his country on a wartime weapons production footing, contributing to a positive, if not increasing, GDP.

The latest economic indicator as of September 2023, reported by Trading Economics, is that the Russian GDP Annual Growth Rate was 5.5%, compared with the US GDP at 3.3% as of December 2023. To paraphrase Inigo Montoya from the movie The Princess Bride, “President Biden, you keep using that word ‘sanctions.’ I do not think it means what you think it means.” Biden’s warfare by trade bans and penalties against Russia has not worked. Economic sanctions have not impeded the war on Ukraine – and there is little evidence they ever will.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.

Read More From Dave Patterson

 

Tucker Carlson's Putin Interview

By Rich Kozlovich

There's been a lot of talk condemning Carlson Tucker for interviewing Putin, and the EU wants to charge him with a crime.  Imagine that.  They let Islamists run rampant murdering raping, robbing, mugging, and rioting, but.... hey... let's get our priorities right.  Interviewing Putin!  Now that's criminal!

Let's face it, Europe is a moral and intellectual wasteland.  He should be applauded for his interview of Putin, that's what happens when leftists interview vermin, so why is Tucker being condemned?  And no matter how many lies Putin tells to make himself look reasonable and amenable, let's not be delusional, Putin isn't a normal guy.  He started this war, and he's a former KGB thug who has had his opponents murdered, even those who lived outside of Russia. I recommend reading Red Notice by Bill Browder. For those who won't order from Amazon, and I don't blame them, just google the title and there will be other options.

Before his Ukrainian War folly Putin was always a potential problem for Europe, but they brought it on themselves and now we're expected to spend billions of American dollars to fix something they broke, all the while they look down their arrogant snotty leftist Euro-trash noses at America.

Putin may not be nine feet tall but he's still a monster, and he will always be a monster, but this isn't our fight.  We have no skin in this game.

Europe broke it, let them fix it, and truthfully, Putin is the least of their problems. Immigration is the worst of their problems, and they brought that on themselves also.  It won't be long before Europe is enslaved by Islam, and Russia won't want it, we don't need it, and it won't be long before the EU collapses and Europe is doomed. They've done so many blatantly stupid suicidal things, and continue doing so, why would we want to help them? 

America's involvement in so may conflicts is inappropriate.  I've asked over and over again, how do we benefit from this or that action?  The answer ends up being the same...we don't....American multinational corporations do, you know, the ones who readily abandon the nation to manufacture overseas, after failing to deal with unions and government intrusion here.  All from the no guts, no glory corporate leadership.  The same kind of leadership that has embraced every leftist corruption there is to the detriment of their companies and the nation, the same way they found ways to do business with Germany during WWII.

There are "intense economic problems" emerging out of Europe, Russia, China, and now Japan has a massive national debt, and what's coming can no longer be stopped, and the EU will collapse as a result, including Ukraine, Russia, and China.  

 

However, let's do some supposing. Let's suppose there will be no economic collapse.  And let's suppose Russia invaded the rest of Europe and took them over.  Why would that be so bad for America?   

 

Would we stop trading with them? Ultimately, No!

Would that destroy our ability to feed ourselves? No! 

Arm ourselves? No! 

Fuel ourselves?  No!

Defend ourselves? No! 

Create our own internal market?  No!

 

So why would we really care? 

 

Furthermore, Russia would now have to manage and control a continent that's broke, has massive banking problems and debt, problems with retirement and health care, a huge culture division with an out of control violent Muslim population, and not enough manpower or economic wherewithal to manage it, especially when these nations start an underground resistance movement.  

 

America has been carrying these parasites on our backs since WWI, and America has spent untold gallons of American blood and billions of America's dollars on them, and it's time we stopped.  We just take our marbles and go home, and let Europe wallow in their misery on their own. They earned it.

See, problem solved. 

Putin plays for keeps

August 23, 2023  By Monica Showalter

In a chronicle of a death foretold, Wagner Group mutineer Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed along with nine others in a corporate plane crash, flying over Tver, a city just south of Moscow...........Sure, it could have been something weird -- a staged death or something. But I recall reading the forecast that Prigozhin was a dead man walking as an absolute certainty when his mutiny against Vladimir Putin last June mysteriously fizzled and ended. He would go to Belarus. He would focus on Africa. All was well that ended well.  But Putin would get him.  And based on what's known now, he did. Check out this tweet:........He obviously doesn't care that everyone knows he did it, and he probably wanted people to see exactly how he did it. ..........To Read More

Prigozhin vs Putin: The Non-coup Coup

The Wagner Group’s sort-of mutiny raises a big question: So what now?

By Dave Patterson June 28, 2023 Articles, Opinion, World @ Liberty Nation News

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed attempt to move on Moscow to address his Wagner Group’s grievances leaves a stability vacuum and many questions. On June 24, the Wagner Group, a private military company, occupied the Russian army headquarters of Rostov-on-Don and full-steamed up the highway toward the Kremlin. Putin called the paramilitary’s operation treasonous. And then, as quickly as it began, the would-be coup was over. What happened?

Is Banking Still in Turmoil?

The on-the-record story is Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko brokered negotiations between Putin and Prigozhin to prevent a bloodbath for the Wagner Group and the Russian military in defensive positions around the Russian capital. In other words, common sense prevailed. The more probable story is more like an organized crime tale.

Putin an Organized Crime Boss?

“Russian intelligence services threatened to harm the families of Wagner leaders before Yevgeny Prigozhin called off his advance on Moscow, according to UK security sources,” London’s Telegraph reported.

Prigozhin’s intention was to make a case for removing Sergei Shoigu, Russian minister of defense, and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, for incompetence and his belief that Russian regular forces had attacked the Wagner Group with missiles. As Prigozhin explained in an 11-minute audio statement quoted by Euronews:

“We started our march because of an injustice … On the way, we did not kill a single soldier on the ground … We entered and completely took control of the city of Rostov. The civilians were glad to see us. We showed a master class on how February 24, 2022, should have looked like. We did not have the goal of overthrowing the existing regime and the legally elected government, which was said many times. We turned around to not shed Russian soldiers’ blood.”

However, The Wall Street Journal reported: “Wagner’s forces shot down six Russian helicopters and an IL-22 airborne command-center plane [June 24], killing 13 airmen, according to Russian military analysts — deaths that will not be easily forgotten.” A critical part of the negotiated stand-down was that Prigozhin and his paramilitary group would receive pardons for their actions, and the Russian Federal Security Service would drop all charges. Press reports confirm that is the case.

The fate of the Wagner Group as a military organization also has been resolved, the BBC explained: “Russia’s defense ministry says preparations are underway for Wagner to hand over its military hardware. This follows Vladimir Putin’s confirmation that members of Wagner mercenary force who he said were mostly true patriots, who had been misled into a criminal adventure, could choose to join the regular military or return to their families or go to Belarus.” It’s unclear where Prigozhin is currently, but most believe he is in exile in Belarus.

Putin to Absorb the Wagner Group?

Assimilating the Wagner paramilitary into the regular Russian forces will be a challenge. The mercenary enterprise is a global organization with units spread from Syria “across Africa in places like Libya and Sudan,” Liberty Nation reported. Additionally, the private military company establishes and sustains Russian equities “engaging in unconventional warfare and enlarging Russia’s areas of influence.” The Kremlin has elected to let irregular militias take care of such operations rather than utilizing regular Russian military presence.

It is not lost on the Russian people that Putin’s authority and power have been challenged. Prigozhin’s ability to lead a military convoy nearly to the suburbs of Moscow unchecked raises questions about Putin’s grip on his military and his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. “There’s a lot of internal instability in Russia. Putin is in trouble because Russians see that the war is a disaster,” Marc Thiessen, speechwriter for President George W. Bush, told Fox News. Many commentators believe Putin’s position has been severely damaged, and perhaps fatally.

Three takeaways from the Wagner Group’s operations: The Russian military may not be as united as Kremlin leaders believed; Putin is not as revered a leader as he projects; and the future of his government is not assured. In this non-coup coup, neither Prigozhin nor Putin came out on top — this time.

Read More From Dave Patterson

Putin's closest cronies caught calling him 'Satan' and 'a dwarf'

March 29, 2023 By Monica Showalter

Somebody new going to fall out of a window in Moscow? Seems the tsar of Russia is not well regarded by the boyars he holds in his closest circle, and now the entire world knows about it. That's what we read in the Daily Mail:

Moscow's high society has been rocked by a scandal after a pair of prominent Vladimir Putin cronies were allegedly heard insulting the Russian despot.

Oligarch and former Russian senator Farkhad Akhmedov and high-profile Moscow music producer Iosif Prigozhin, both supposedly supporters of Putin, have been accused of calling him 'Satan' and a 'dwarf'.

An audio recording of what is reportedly a 35-minute phone call between the wealthy pair was shared by Ukraine's Channel Five and quickly jumped on by other outlets — as well as Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

In the audio clip, the pair are heard eviscerating Putin's invasion of Ukraine, slamming his Kremlin entourage over their failings, and even insulting his height.

Any public criticism of Putin in Russia is rare — not least among those who have benefited most from his consolidation of power. Those found guilty of insulting the Russian state, its army, or Putin himself face fines and even jail time.

While it's funny as heck to those of us on the outside, given how splendidly mean these two are in their toilet-mouthed mockery — calling Putin's deputy, Dmitri Medvedev, "undergrown," for one, and howling that Putin is being defeated by Kvartal 95, which is Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's entertainment production company — the leaked conversation tells us a lot about how the Ukraine war is going over in Russia, where losses are terrible, and daily reports of small-fry dissidents being arrested for protesting that war now seem to extend to a much higher circle. .............To Read More......

My Take - There were those who claimed this was just American propaganda, or arranged by the CIA.  Well, my response was you're kidding, right? It's recorded! Claiming it didn't happen, or this is a set up by the CIA, or mere propaganda is like criminals caught on tape committing serous crimes claiming they didn't do it. It was some relative who looks like them that did it.  

Whether the CIA recorded this or not is immaterial, and if this was recorded, and voice analysis affirms these were the people saying all this, it's not propaganda, it's fact. However, we now know they're as stupid a Putin for saying it over the phone. And if that's the quality of his inner circle, a seriously reduced inner circle, he's surrounded by idiots.  Oh, one more thing. They're going to "commit suicide" soon. Very soon. ................

 

That’ll Help! International Criminal Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Vladimir Putin

Chris Tomlinson 17 Mar 2023

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over allegations of war crimes in Ukraine, but the warrant is unenforceable — for now.  The ICC at The Hague announced that President Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseyevna are subject to arrest warrants and both face charges of war crimes relating to the transfer of people, including children, from Ukraine to Russia............A precedent for such a move has been seen in past war crimes trials, such as the trial of former Serbian president Slobodan Milošević, who was the first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes in 1999, a year prior to his overthrow in 2000..........Some world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have outright rejected calls for toppling the government of Russia............To Read More....

• International Criminal Court hits Putin with arrest warrant, By WND News Services, March 17, 2023 - The International Criminal Court (ICC) put forward a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrest Friday for the alleged illegal trafficking of children from occupied parts of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.  .The ICC said the war crimes were allegedly committed at least from February 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. The ICC also levied a warrant against Putin’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for the same offense, citing “reasonable grounds to believe” they bare individual responsibility................

As he again readies a nuclear weapon, is Putin crazy or crazy like a fox?

December 14, 2022 By Andrea Widburg

With news that Putin is taking steps to lend reality to his nuclear threats, we must hope that the administration is taking him seriously. Whether he’s genuinely planning to launch a nuclear attack, which would indicate that he’s crazy, or is merely doing an elaborate head fake, making him crazy like a fox, is a matter of life and death for the Western world. What’s concerning is that the Biden administration seems so blasé about the whole thing.

Since early in the Russia-Ukraine war, Putin has been making noises about dropping a nuclear bomb, if necessary—that is, if he thinks it’s necessary. For the second time in just three months, he’s preparing a long-range missile:...........To Read More....

No, Politico Europe, Putin is not making Europe “Green”

 CFACT Ed, By Robert Bryce, October 22nd, 2022| Energy | 231 Comments @ CFACT

In more than 30 years as a reporter, I have witnessed plenty of media puffery and mendacity. But last week’s inclusion by Politico Europe of Russian President Vladimir Putin on their “Green 28” list ranks as one of the most odious and disgusting examples of media misconduct I have ever seen.

The piece claims Putin is “the invader making the EU green,” and that by invading Ukraine, Putin has “achieved something generations of green campaigners could not — clean energy is now a fundamental matter of European security.”

Before going further, it’s essential to put Putin’s invasion of Ukraine into context. According to a report published last month by the United Nations, at least 5,700 civilians have been killed and some 8,300 others have been injured. On October 3, three analysts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that more than 7.5 million Ukrainian refugees “have been registered outside of Ukraine. Poland and Germany have received the most refugees — over one million each.”

Several news outlets have documented the reign of terror that Russian soldiers inflicted on the Ukrainians under their control, including rape, torture, and murder. Last month, The New York Times reported on findings by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, which “documented cases in which children have been raped, tortured, and unlawfully confined.” The September 23 article says that the U.N. had “added more chilling allegations to the list of crimes widely reported by Ukrainian and international investigators probing the executions of civilians in Bucha and the mass burial site found near the town of Izium after it was recaptured by Ukrainian troops this month. It added that the U.N. has “concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine.”

Geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan recently summed up Russia’s tactics in Ukraine writing, “There is now ample proof from many of the liberated towns of not simply Russian soldiers robbing and killing civilians, but of unit commanders setting up rape clinics and torture chambers for use by the men under their command. War crimes in a tactical sense.”

None of these facts merited a mention in Politico Europe’s paean to Putin, who by the way, ranks number 1 on their Green 28 list. The article barely mentions the fact that European countries are scrambling for all of the hydrocarbons they can find and that all of them are racing to refill their natural gas storage as rapidly as they can before winter sets in.

The article ignores the hard reality that European countries are racing back to coal. In July, the International Energy Agency reported that “Coal consumption in the European Union is expected to rise by 7% in 2022 on top of last year’s 14% jump. This is being driven by demand from the electricity sector where coal is increasingly being used to replace gas, which is in short supply and has experienced huge price spikes following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Several EU countries are extending the life of coal plants scheduled for closure, reopening closed plants or raising caps on their operating hours to reduce gas consumption.”

The article doesn’t mention the resurgence of nuclear energy in Europe or the fact that Germany has done an about-face and will be extending the life of some of its reactors. Nor does the article mention anything about fertilizer, even though some 70% of Europe’s fertilizer plants have been shuttered due to high natural gas prices.

More importantly, the article neglects to note that Europe drove itself into the ditch by spending too heavily on renewable energy over the past two decades while ignoring its growing dependence on Russia for oil and gas. Indeed, according to a recent report by John Constable of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, between 2008 and 2021, renewable energy subsidies in the EU cost consumers some $746 billion. Making matters worse, those subsidies are adding nearly $70 billion per year to consumers’ bills.

The result of all this malinvestment is obvious: Europe is teetering on economic ruin. Factories and smelters are being shuttered, many of them permanently. The U.K. now has the highest electricity bills in Europe and according to a report released last week by the British government, business bankruptcies in the country are now at their highest level since the 2009 financial crisis.

Instead of recognizing the staggering human and economic harm that Putin’s savage invasion of Ukraine has caused, Politico Europe claims that the invasion was well timed, coming two years after the European Union laid the “foundations of its Green Deal program for zeroing out emissions by 2050. That meant the policy machinery for a total remake of the European energy economy was already moving. All it needed was a nudge.”

A “nudge”? Really? No matter how many times I read those last few sentences, I can barely believe that any journalist could be so obtuse. It’s telling that the piece on Putin doesn’t have a byline. After all, who would want to put their name on a piece that reduces such a savage conflict to a “nudge”?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left thousands of civilians dead or injured and turned more than seven million Ukrainians into refugees. This week, the Russian military has been targeting civilians and purposely shelling the country’s electric grid as part of an effort to inflict as much suffering as it can on the people of Ukraine. And yet, Politico Europe concludes its piece on Putin by casting the war as positive because it will mean that the “EU becomes greener, faster, than before Russian troops marched across the Ukrainian border.”

This is shameful and repulsive. Politico Europe owes the public an immediate apology and a retraction.

Robert Bryce is the host of the Power Hungry Podcast, executive producer of the documentary, Juice: How Electricity Explains the World, and the author of six books, including most recently, A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations. Follow him on Twitter and TikTok: @pwrhungry

This article originally appeared at Real Clear Energy

 

Russia Is Losing India How Putin’s Ukraine Gambit Doomed a Long Partnership

By Happymon Jacob September 22, 2022

 India’s initial reluctance to condemn Russia for its war against Ukraine has been the subject of much debate and criticism in the West. In mid-March, Jen Psaki, then the White House press secretary, urged India to reflect on “where you want to stand when history books are written at this moment in time.” Numerous world leaders and diplomats have expressed impatience with India for effectively abetting a Russian agenda by remaining on the sidelines.

Some analysts and former policymakers in strategic circles in New Delhi insist that such a reproach is unfair and fails to appreciate India’s nuanced position on the war. India, they argue, is merely navigating between clashing geopolitical powers, Russia and the United States, that happen to be two of its major partners. Yes, India notably abstained from key votes about the war in Ukraine in the United Nations (in the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Human Rights Council, and the International Atomic Energy Agency). But it has also toughened its statements about the invasion, decrying the killing of civilians and the violation of national sovereignty. New Delhi has its own concerns, this line of thinking runs, and doesn’t want to jeopardize its relations with either Moscow or Washington.

A deeper look at Indian actions, however, suggests an altogether different reality. India is not backing Russia’s invasion, nor is it simply balancing between two major powers. Instead, a subtle but major shift is underway: India’s slow but inevitable decoupling from Russia...........To Read More.....