From its ancient Silk Road role to China’s BRI project, Uzbekistan is set to remain an important geoeconomic hub in Central Asia by Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and widely cross-posted SAMARKAND – The ultimate Silk Road city, set at an unrivaled Eurasian trade crossroads, is the ideal spot from which to examine where the New Silk Roads adventure is heading next. For starters, the upcoming summit of
by Nora Hoppe for the Saker blog Various notes and reflections by Nora Hoppe Judging by the many reactions of various journalists, analysts and lay persons around the world (chiefly in the West), many people expected the Chinese government to respond with immediate lethal force when Nancy Pelosi’s plane landed in Taipei. Many were even disappointed or… incensed – whether they are for or against the People’s Republic of China
by Jimmie Moglia for the Saker blog Words being arbitrary, they owe their power to association, and have the influence which custom has given them – for language is the dress of thought. Therefore on hearing the words “Democracy in America,” some will think of Alexis de Tocqueville’s book by the same title. Others, not having read the book (an enterprise of no mean feat), will think that it took
by Asia Teacher for the Saker blog A failure to understand why empires decline is also why history keeps repeating itself. As the US elite led elections continue what lessons can the US learn from the Roman Republic about its own decline? From the complex dialogues of ancient philosopher Plato and ‘The Republic’ in which he laments the end of Athenian democracy as it turns into an empire, the lessons
By James Tweedie for the Saker blog In a scene from the 1974 film The Four Musketeers, the second part of the previous year’s The Three Musketeers, the vain Porthos (Frank Finlay) shows the pious Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) his new trick: He draws his rapier and throws it into the bullseye of a target. Aramis tells Porthos to try that again, but with himself as a live target. The musketeer
by Jean-Pierre Voiret for the Saker blog First note: With all its problems, Needham’s Science and Civilisation in China (SCC) is definitely a tremendous contribution to the history of science and technology as well as a formidable vehicle for intercultural dialogue. Second note: A successor of Father Ricci S.J. in the Jesuit China Mission, Father Dominique Parennin S.J., was in my opinion the first man ever to formulate the so-called
By Batiushka for the Saker blog Introduction: European Z The collapse of the EU has never been a question of ‘if’, only of ‘when’. The decomposition of the Brussels Yoke of unelected bureaucrats has already long been visible and its collapse foretold years ago. First there was Grexit (which was averted at the last moment at huge cost), then Brexit, which actually happened, and then was an alphabet jungle of
By Marwan Salamah for the Saker Blog As the advanced economies appear to be stumbling inadvertently into stagflation and possibly worse, diversionary media tactics are rapidly being deployed. Voices are rising warning of the global debt crisis and how it is likely to push poor countries into tragic collapse. WHAT, WHO, & HOW BIG IS THE PROBLEM? Global debt is now claimed to exceed $300 Trillion, while the poor countries’
by Jean-Pierre Voiret for the Saker Blog The history of Chinese science and technology is particularly interesting because it is so different from the history of Western science and technology. This history was essentially rediscovered by Joseph Needham, a British scholar who was active until his death in 1995 at the Caius and Gonville College of Cambridge University. Joseph Needham, a biochemistry researcher by profession, had come into contact with
By Batiushka for The Saker blog (With apologies to the peoples of Austria and France) As we write, the wicked Austrian terrorist State under its manic leader Putzin continues its completely unprovoked invasion of East France. President Putzin is well-known, as he is very short (not that we wish to belittle him) and has only one testicle, as everybody knows. His invasion and occupation of East France have been going
By Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog Ukrainian forces have threatened civilians by setting up bases and operating weapons systems in populated areas, including schools and hospitals, as they battled the Russian intervention that began in February, Amnesty International said in a statement. “Such a tactic violates international humanitarian law and endangers civilians, as it turns civilian objects into military targets. The Russian strikes that followed in populated areas killed
by Jim Wehtje for the Saker Blog Dumping Russian vodka is easy, and you can smash the bottles publicly if outrage need be loudly demonstrated. Banning the soft power of Russian cat breeds in feline shows is also straightforward. Canceling Dostoyevsky from the classroom or living room bookshelf is another way to take a stand against aggression. Or perhaps ban Russian players from tennis tournaments, unless they take a disloyalty
By Batiushka for The Saker blog Sometime in the future a learned academic will be writing a weighty tome with the title The Decline and Fall of the Western Empire. Perhaps the Contents Page will include, among others, twelve chapters with titles something like this: World War One. World War Two. Korea. Vietnam. Palestine. Iran. Nicaragua. Afghanistan. Iraq. Syria. Ukraine. Taiwan. Indeed, Karin Kneissel, the former Austrian Foreign Minister, is
By @AlexanderIV17 (Twitter) for the Saker blog One of the favorite lines of the West propagandists is “ Russia doesn’t count, it’s about the size of Italy’s GDP” . I remember B.Obama saying something like that with scorn in December 2016, when D.Trump had just been elected and the Democrats were abuzz with all sorts of Russian conspiracy theories. Ever since the Empire and its minions, serfs and vassals have
By Pepe Escobar, with a special correspondent, for the Saker blog ISTANBUL – Guo Wengui, also known as Guo Haoyun, and by his English names Miles Kwok and Miles Guo, is a politically connected, self-proclaimed exiled Chinese billionaire who tried to start a U.S.-China war. On Feb. 15, the billionaire filed for Chapter 11, personal bankruptcy protection in US Bankruptcy Court in Bridgeport, CT, listing assets of just $3,850 and
by Jorge Vilches for the Saker blog Europe today does not have – or possibly never had – an effective vision of the no-nonsense existential strategy it required to subsist in peace. Furthermore, as if not aware of the coming debacle, EU leaders firmly insist on their failed policies. Now, former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder proposes to solve the EU’s self-inflicted ´gas crisis´ by launching the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas
Washington’s hard power display of taking out Al-Qaeda’s Al-Zawahiri will not be reciprocated by Beijing over Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan. It does however, definitively bury the decades-long era of cooperative US-Chinese relations. By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and widely cross-posted This is the way the “Global War on Terror” (GWOT) ends, over and over again: not with a bang, but a whimper. Two Hellfire R9-X missiles
By Cynthia Chung for the Saker blog “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.” Henry John Temple, aka Lord Palmerston (Britain’s Prime Minister from 1855-1858, 1859-1865), oversaw Britain’s First Opium War (1839-1842) as Head of Britain’s Foreign Office and the Second Opium War (1856-1860) as Britain’s Prime Minister against China. Snow
By Tarik in the Vineyard Today I’ll spare you, I’ll keep it short, sweet… and sour. I want to talk about Bitcoin. Don’t worry I wont try to convert anyone either way. I mean, there’s no denying it was(is?) an exceptional opportunity to amass literally obscene fortunes, if you new what you were doing, or just lucky enough to have jumped in at the right time, even after the latest
By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and widely cross-posted The SCO and other pan-Eurasian organizations play a completely different – respectful, consensual – ball game. And that’s why they are catching the full attention of most of the Global South. The meeting of the SCO Ministerial Council in Tashkent this past Friday involved some very serious business. That was the key preparatory reunion previous to the SCO summit
